DARIO COSTA

Dario Costa (born 9 May 1980, Manchester, United Kingdom) born to an Iranian mother and an Italian father, is a professional race and stunt pilot, aerobatic performer, flight instructor, Pilatus PC6 Porter paradropping pilot, and author of a book and an aviation scientific publication.

Dario is the first ever Italian to qualify, compete and to win in the Red Bull Air Race. Dario is mainly known for various world-first flying stunts and world record’s including his childhood obsession to fly inside a tunnel. This dream he turned into reality on the 4th of September 2021 on a highway in Turkey, becoming the first ever to fly an airplane through a tunnel, to take-off from inside a tunnel and flying through two tunnels. He did it with the race and aerobatic airplane he has used since 2018 for all of his flying activity. He did an average of 303,8 km/h setting a total of 5 world records in a single 43,44.

Teaching as the youngest aerobatic instructor in Italy, while competing in aerobatics, Dario evolved with the sport and in 2011, while still teaching full-time, was contest director of the 2011 FAI World Aerobatic Championships.  Dario became Chief Flight and Ground Instructor at the biggest Italian flight school, obtaining the Master CFI-Aerobatics US qualification.

In October 2013, Costa joined the Red Bull Air Race World Championship as flight operations manager and ferry pilot with the goal to be racing soon. In 2016, Costa became the first Italian to ever qualify as a Red Bull Air Race World Championship race pilot and in 2017 became a Red Bull Athlete. In 2018 he finally got to compete and won a spot on the podium in his second race. In 2019 Dario won his second season.

New projects and upcoming races are what Dario is currently working on and he is committed to continue pushing aviation boundaries as much as he can. Thanks to the support of his partners, Dario has also been working on taking aviation to new endeavors, for example creating with Prada a race and stunt flight suit. With Red Bull’s support, they are testing a live onboard biometric system and a specifically designed seat to protect and reduce energy and g-force load on pilot’s spine.