Wingsuit Flying
Frédéric Fugen breaks down his flight of fancy over the Taj Mahal
The French aerial sports expert discusses the preparation and execution of his latest wingsuit project conducted over the monument of love in India.
2 min
The Taj Mahal Fly-by
Frédéric Fugen, Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard fly by the Taj Mahal
Frédéric Fugen, one of the best-known skydivers and wingsuit pilots in the world, added another first to his impressive resume in India.
The 43-year-old completed the first proximity fly-by of the Taj Mahal without the use of an aerial vehicle. Fred, in the company of friends and frequent collaborators Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard, made two wingsuit flights over the Taj Mahal on 11th and 12th October. The Taj Mahal Fly-by Project, which was originally scheduled for October 9, was delayed by a few days due to bad weather.
After jumping out of a plane at an altitude of approximately 1,500 metres above sea level, Fred flew as close as 510 metres to the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site and reached a top speed of almost 200 kmph. He safely landed at Gyarah Sidi (Eleven Steps), on the banks of the Yamuna River.
Frédéric Fugen about to jump out of the plane for the Taj Mahal Fly-by
© Red Bull Staff
How did the idea of doing a wingsuit flight over the Taj Mahal come about?
It’s an idea that came in collaboration with Red Bull India. Of course, I know the Taj Mahal but I never thought it would be possible to fly there. It’s such a protected place. And then in 2021, we came to India to meet people from Red Bull. They took us to the Taj Mahal and we started to imagine if it would be possible to fly there. We started to imagine the trajectories and what we could do, in terms of flying, in terms of wingsuit performance.
What are the things you look for in the recce?
We were trying to take different measurements like the altitude and the distance; at what altitude we need to jump, what distance we need to cover. And where can we land. That is a big factor. Once we have imagined the trajectory and know where we can land, then it becomes doable.
How long have you been working with the other athletes involved in the project and how was it doing this jump with Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard?
Before 2020, I was always with my teammate Vince Reffet. We did 20 years of flying together. But Vince passed away in 2020. Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard are two guys that I know for a very long time. We have been flying together for many, many years. Last few years, even before Vince passed away, the four of us were jumping together a lot. For me, it was very normal to continue flying with these guys. On top of being very good flyers, professional athletes and expert wingsuit pilots, they are first of all friends. We have a friendship that goes way back. We enjoy flying together. Even when we are not doing projects, we are jumping together and training together. It was very natural for me to try and involve them in this project.
Frédéric Fugen, Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard fly by the Taj Mahal
© Focus Sports
Did you have any special training or preparation for this jump?
We train all year long. We are constantly training and jumping. This is something to do consistently to stay current, to be precise, to fly together, to know each other even better. For the Taj Mahal Fly-by Project, we did a few jumps a week before we came to India to reproduce the same trajectory, the same speed. Since we knew what the plan was going to be, we did some specific jumps. We did some cliff jumps and helicopter jumps. This was in France.
There was some uncertainty and delay due to the weather. How did you guys stay focused?
We are used to it. Weather is part of the game, part of what we do. The one thing that has helped me a lot is the experience I have in competitions. I competed (in European and World Championships) for 10 years. And when you are competing, the jumping rhythm is very slow. You do maybe one or two jumps a day. Sometimes there is bad weather, you need to stay focused. So there is real work to do on your mind. To try and rest as much as you can. To try and stay focused, we try to repeat the jump in our head quite often. We talk about it. We try to go through the scenario again and again to make sure we are not forgetting anything. It is because of the experience that we can handle this situation.
For you, how was it, after the delay, to finally get onto the plane and make the jump?
The flight plan above the Taj Mahal was different than what we did because of two things. Firstly, the level of the river was much higher than last year so we could not land where we had originally planned. And also, we had to respect the distance of flying 500 meters above the Taj Mahal. It’s something we had to handle.
And when we were ready to go, there was some stress because of the waiting. We had to wait for Air Traffic Control to give our airplane the runway clearance and then we had to find the right slot to make the jump. The pilot of the plane was dropping wingsuit athletes for the first time. It was a very small plane and we were working with this pilot for the very first time. So that was a challenge. But he did a very good job. The jump itself was technical because we had to respect some distance for the heritage monument but try and go as close as possible within the limit. We had to make sure we stuck to the landing spot because there weren’t too many alternate landing areas. We could not fly as low to the ground. There were other difficulties so we were very focused on the jump and very happy once we did it.
Frédéric Fugen, Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard fly over the Taj Mahal
© Red Bull Staff
Can you describe the flight, from exiting the plane to the landing?
Even before the exit point, when we took off from the military base, it was already exciting. It was quite impressive to fly over such a big city like Agra. Just looking at the landscape, and doing my first flight in India was a very nice feeling.
We came to India last year but didn’t jump. And then we were here again, and it was kind of difficult, Because of the weather, we didn’t know if we would be able to jump at all. It was finally good to be on the plane. Then we had to keep communicating with the pilot to make sure we were dropped in the right place. During our wingsuit flight, it was nice to be in the air but we were very focused on making sure that we could open the parachute at the right altitude for the landing. There were a few moments, when we were looking at the Taj Mahal, very happy and enjoying the view, enjoying the flight above the Taj Mahal. It was a big pleasure.
During the wingsuit flight, we were also very focused on the trajectory, focused on how we were feeling, and we were also communicating quite a bit. We use radio systems so we can speak to each other while in wingsuit flight. Throughout the flight, we were speaking and giving each other information. I was the leader and had orange smoke; Vince Cotte was following me with the green smoke. The two of us were doing some formation-flying together. Aurélien was flying behind us and filming the flight.
How do you feel now that the project has been completed?
I would like to give a real big thank you to the people in Red Bull India. We came and did the flight, but I know for them it was a lot of work to organise this. It is the kind of flight that seems impossible because of the protected area around the Taj Mahal. And they did a great job to make this project happen. We had been working together for many months to plan the project together; the technical side of the flight, the safety, everything was planned. I would like to thank the whole team of Red Bull India for the huge work they did to make it happen and I’d also like to thank the Indian people for their warm welcome. Everyone was super nice to us.