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(CNN) Polish pilot Lukasz Czepiela made aviation history on Tuesday, becoming the first person to land an airplane on the helipad of Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel.
Czepiela was able to bring his specially modified light aircraft to a halt in just 21 meters (68 feet), landing on a platform just 27 meters (89 feet) wide, 212 meters (696 feet) above the ground atop the 56 – building story.
“The biggest challenge was the lack of external reference points, which are usually found in an airport where you have hundreds of meters of runway,” he told sponsors Red Bull.
This helipad sits above the 59th floor of the Burj al Arab hotel and watches over Dubai’s coastline. Since 1999, it has hosted an impressive lineup of international sports stars.
The helipad has been transformed into a car racing track, a boxing ring and the launching point for the highest kitesurfing jump of all time.
Tiger Woods teed off the helipad for the 2004 Dubai Desert Classic.
Anthony Joshua trained on the helipad in November 2017.
American golf star Cheyenne Woods visited the helipad during the 2014 Dubai Ladies Masters.
Andre Agassi and Roger Federer played a friendly match in 2005 overlooking the Dubai skyline.
The Burj al Arab stands at a height of 321 meters on its own artificial island in the Arabian Gulf.
Designed to resemble a sail facing the sea, the Burj al Arab is the world’s tallest building used exclusively as a hotel.
The Burj al Arab received the first-ever helipad license from the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority.
The stunt had been planned since 2021 and, according to Red Bull, required 650 test landings.
Czepiela’s day job is piloting an Airbus A320, but he has some impressive flying feats to his name, including winning the 2018 World Challenger Class title in the Red Bull Air Race, and landing a plane on a wooden pier in Sopot, Poland.
Czepiela managed to land the light aircraft on a platform just 27 meters wide, 212 meters above the ground.
Czepiela joins an elite group of sporting legends who graced the sail-shaped hotel’s helipad, including tennis champions Roger Federer and Andre Agassi, who played a match there in 2005, and former F1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard, who played donuts there in 2013 .