UAE | Leisure
Wing-walker shocks crowd as she 'falls' off aircraft
South African wing-walker Bernice Esther Joyce yesterday shocked thousands of spectators at the final day of the Al Ain Aerobatic Show 2006, when she appeared to fall off the wing of an aircraft.
- By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Al Ain: South African wing-walker Bernice Esther Joyce yesterday shocked thousands of spectators at the final day of the Al Ain Aerobatic Show 2006, when she appeared to fall off the wing of an aircraft.
The show commentator's words that "she has fallen down into the desert" stunned spectators. Many of them jumped up from their seats to look at the aircraft circling above the desert.
36-year old Joyce had actually fallen inside the aircraft, a Boeing Stearman. Seconds later, she reappeared and completed the display.
A giant television screen had showed Joyce struggling with a supporting belt and then attempting to enter the aircraft. The plane then flipped to the other side and nobody could see her falling inside the plane.
Will Curtis, a British pilot, yesterday set another world record by cutting 11 ribbons with the propeller of his aircraft, flying as low as five metres from the ground.
He had already set a record of cutting eight ribbons on the second day of the Al Ain 2006 show. The 11 ribbons were mounted on poles that were held by 22 people in front of the VIP pavilion.
He also set another world record on the final day of the show with a successful limbo run by flying underneath 11 ribbons at a speed of 150 miles per hour in crosswinds.
Curtis is a member of the British Honda Dream Team and flies a Sukhoi Su-26.
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