Andy Devaney
Leticia Bufoni isn’t just pushing boundaries; she’s hurling herself through them at 9,000 feet. The Brazilian skateboarding icon has redefined the meaning of “air time” with her latest Red Bull project, Sky Grind — a stunt that combined a C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Fast & Furious franchise, a cameraman from Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and a skatepark built inside the plane itself.
Bufoni, one of the most decorated skateboarders on the planet, has six X Games golds, three silvers, and three bronzes to her name. But this time, she wasn’t chasing medals — she was chasing history.
In partnership with California Skateparks founder Joe Ciaglia, who also built the Tokyo Olympics skatepark, Bufoni became the first person ever to perform a skateboard trick inside an aeroplane — and then jump out of it.
Ciaglia’s team custom-built a functioning mini-skatepark within the aircraft, designed to hold steady mid-flight. “It’s the first skatepark designed inside an aeroplane,” said Ciaglia, who’s known Bufoni for over a decade.
Preparing for the feat wasn’t a simple case of “grab your board and go.” Bufoni trained for months at Aerotelier, an aero-sport base in Argentina, skydiving more than 100 times to get used to the sensation of freefall before taking her skateboard into the sky.
Wearing a 9.1kg (20lb) parachute, she launched herself and her board from the aircraft in late August, surrounded by a 50-strong crew. The entire event was filmed by Craig O’Brien — the same aerial cinematographer who dives alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Mid-flight, Bufoni pulled off the impossible — a “feeble grind,” a notoriously tricky move blending a 50/50 and boardslide. In essence, it’s a slide across a rail using the back truck while the front of the board dips toward the ground — only this time, the “ground” was several thousand metres below.
“It’s crazy to think that I’m the first person to skateboard inside a plane and do a feeble in the air,” said Bufoni. “That’s something I didn’t know if it was possible or not. I’ve never skateboarded on an aeroplane. That was one of the greatest days of my life.”
Red Bull Air Force veteran Jeffrey Provenzano, who trained Bufoni in skydiving, was equally impressed: “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.”
The result is part adrenaline, part artistry — and 100% Bufoni. With Sky Grind, she’s not just proving what’s possible in skateboarding; she’s rewriting the rules of gravity itself.
Watch the full Sky Grind clip HERE.
