The pilot risked his life to land the plane on the helipad at an altitude of 212 degrees

Luke Chibiella, 39, has spent his life striving to outdo himself and his extraordinary flying skills. In the early hours of March 13, he added another achievement to his illustrious record after becoming the first person in history to land an aircraft on the helipad of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, the tallest building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Former Red Bull Air Challenge champion Cippella stopped his Carbon Cup/STOL (Carbon Cup) at just 27 metres but landed successfully after 20.76 metres.

Although the aircraft was designed to make sudden landings in normal circumstances, landing the aircraft on a platform 212 meters above a 56-story building, without any visual cues to guide the pilot, meant that Chipiela’s historic landing was an extraordinary situation.

“The biggest challenge is the lack of external reference points, which are usually hundreds of meters of runway at an airport,” said Chibila, who now captains an Airbus A320.

Cibiella has been preparing for this moment since 2021, completing a total of 650 trial landings in Poland, the United States and Dubai to gain the confidence and ability to do this on a heliport with no obvious reference points. However, all these experiments were conducted on the ground, which is completely different from what happens when landing on a high-altitude surface.

The Polish pilot added: “Usually when approaching a runway I can see how high I am above it and can easily control my landing path. Today the ground was more than 212 metres below me and the helipad disappeared in front. The shrinking of the front of the aircraft was happening simultaneously with the shrinking of everything around me.”

When the last reference point in front of me disappears, I must rely on my experience and feel if I want to successfully stop the aircraft before the available space is exhausted.”

With the legendary landing of the Chipila, it is not the first time that this self-designed building, inspired by the shape of a sail, has been the scene of a stunning event.

He said: “My biggest passion is flying under the bridges in Warsaw, which has a difficulty rating of 5 out of 10. I landed on the Sopot Pier, the longest wooden pier in Europe, in 2019, which has a difficulty rating of 7 out of 10. However, landing at the Burj Al Arab Hotel is a score of 11 out of 10.”

He added: “We need the right wind speed and direction: too little wind would prevent me from stopping, too much wind would create severe turbulence and scatter my plane like autumn leaves.”