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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Lydia Smith

Wingsuit flyers jump from top of mountain into flying plane in extraordinary stunt

French wingsuit flyers completed an amazing stunt after a base jump from the top of Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland.

Thrill-seekers Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet, otherwise known as the Soul Flyers, managed to land in a moving plane in mid-air.

The pair’s stunt was sponsored by Red Bull, which regularly backs extreme sports

Mr Fugen and Mr Reffet had been training for months for the stunt, completing more than 100 test flights in Empuriabrava in Spain.

Wingsuit flying - or wingsuiting - is the sport of gliding through the air using a wingsuit, which expands the surface area of a wearer using material between the arms and legs.

In an interview on the Red Bull website, Mr Reffet said the pair wanted to recreate a stunt carried out by wingsuit flyer Patrick de Gayardon 20 years ago

Mr de Gayardon leapt from an aircraft and flew back into a plane, but Mr Reffet and Mr Fugen decided they would start with a basejump.

“We're used to jumping from the plane, but here you have to enter into it,” Mr Reffet said.

“You're falling down and all of a sudden there’s no air anymore.

“When you're in the plane and you see your friend flying closer and closer, it's incredible.

“It was very emotional for us because we worked hard to make it happen.”

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