"The mountain will show you her mighty forces" Heli pilot Didier Delsalle 20th anniversary Everest flight interview

Twenty years ago on 14 May 2005, Didier Delsalle flew an Ecureuil AS 350 B3 helicopter to the top of Everest and gained an FAI World Record for highest take-off in a helicopter at 8848m. 

To mark the 20th anniversary of the achievement, Delsalle participated in an interview with FAI:

On top of the world: 20th anniversary of Delsalle’s helicopter record

20 years ago, on 14 May 2005, French pilot Didier Delsalle took a helicopter to the top of the world and gained the FAI record for highest take-off - from the peak of Everest at 8,848m.

After Jean Boulet made his FAI absolute altitude record in 1972 by reaching 12,442m in the Aérospatiale SA 315 Lama, certain members of the helicopter industry in France began to ponder the possibility of putting an aircraft to the ultimate test of landing on the world’s highest mountain.

The World Games 2025: how drone racing took off

Few air sports have enjoyed such a rapid rise as drone racing. It made its debut at The World Games 2022 just over a decade after the first hobbyists began racing drones in Germany and it’s back on the programme of the upcoming World Games in Chengdu (13–16 August).

As the technology around drones has risen steeply, the sport itself has grown, with a large following among young audiences around the world, particularly Asia.

Highlights of 2025 CIA Plenary and Subcommittee & Working Group meeting

The FAI Ballooning Commission's 2025 Plenary and Subcommittee & Working Group took place from 12-15 March at the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, India, reports Japan's Hiromi Furukawa from the FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA) Public & Media Relations Sub-Committee.

A warm welcome from the Aero Club of India

It was the first visit to India for many of the Plenary participants.

Beyond sport: Venezuelan Association of Aeronautical Sports' donation to new Rescue Group

FAI Member organisation, the Venezuelan Association of Aeronautical Sports (AVDA), has donated emergency medical equipment to a newly-established rescue group operating in Canaima National Park, a remote area of Venezuela only accessible by water or air.

The initiative was instigated by air sports pilots and athletes whose work and sporting adventures in this vast and isolated rainforest region between Guyana and Brazil have given them a unique insight into the importance of emergency medical assistance in this isolated region.

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