Skateboard superstar skates out of plane at 9,000 feet

Brazilian Leticia Bufoni’s recently skateboarded off a rail from a plane at 9,000 feet for her “Sky Grind” project.

The project involved an aircraft from the Fast And Furious movie franchise, a skydiving expert from the Mission Impossible film series, skate obstacles, parachutes — and potentially the most hair-raising skateboard trick ever recorded, according to officials with the Red Bull Air Force.

Bufoni has carved out a reputation as one of the best global skaters with six X Games golds to her name, three silvers and three bronzes.

For this project, the São Paulo native intensified her physical training in the months leading into the stunt at Aerotelier, an aero-sport base in Argentina, by skydiving more than 100 times.

When she felt ready, she traveled in late August 2022 to Merced, California, to perform the stunt in a tailor-made skatepark inside a C-130 Hercules.

California Skateparks founder Joe Ciaglia, who built the skatepark used in the Tokyo Olympics, created the skatepark inside the airplane.

Wearing a parachute of almost 20 pounds, she skateboarded and jumped on Aug. 30, and was captured by Craig O’Brien, the same cameraman who jumps with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible — Fallout.

Bufoni nailed the “feeble grind” — a difficult trick that combines a 50/50 and boardslide trick — while in the air.

“It’s crazy to think that I’m the first person to skateboard inside a plane and do a feeble in the air,” she said. “That’s something I didn’t know if it was possible or not. I’ve never skateboarded on an airplane. That was one of the greatest days of my life.”

Red Bull Air Force member Jeffrey Provenzano, who trained Bufoni in skydiving, added: “As a skydiver, she is amazing. I was surprised. Athletes tend to learn fast, but she was beyond expectations. She gave 100% of attention to all of the details.”

You can see a video of the stunt here.