red bull's wings drown

a red bull race plane crashed into perth's swan river today. it is unknown whether the pilot had been drinking red bull or not. probably no, but in my initial ignorance i did wonder. the unfortunate pilot, adilson kindlemann was fished out of the water relatively quickly & is OK after being admitted into hospital earlier. his condition is described as "good".

the internationally acclaimed red bull air race was established in 2003 as an obvious marketing adjunct to the product's well known company slogan "red bull gives you wings". the event is usually held over water and tours many cities around the world.

pilots compete through a twisting turning slalom like course through pylons/air gates which are spectacular giant branded witches hats/traffic cones. the competition has been so successful for the brand that video games on iphones/playstation etc are prevalent. the multi-platform global audience is huge. it's been a marketer's wet dream.

the sport is visually spectacular & obviously gives extreme junkies and plane spotters a serious adrenaline kick. it's the most watched sport in brazil. in many countries the pilots are heralded as iconic sporting super heroes.

still the risks are immense. deaths do occur, none so far in the red bull race's history, but not everyone has been so lucky.

because of this red bull has actually initiated a rigorous underwater emergency training programme which commenced this season for the first time. this may or may not be part of the success in the safe extraction of today's crashed aviator.

people love success but ultimately they love fail. the only thing better than seeing a pilot against the odds pull out of a crazy aeronautical feat is watching the plane crash. which i guess keeps the extreme aficionados hanging in the... wings.

[photo copyright: www.aviationnews.eu]