Chile: Former Air Force pilot becomes first person to fly in and out of active volcano

A video of a mind-boggling stunt performed by a former Chilean pilot has now become a new social media hit. Sebastián 'Ardilla'' Álvarez, whose nickname means 'Squirrel', recently became the first person in history to fly in and out of an active volcano, reported CNN. The 36-year-old was not on a plane or helicopter but was just wearing a wingsuit when he jumped right into an active volcano. The entire video of the stunt is shared by Red Bull, showing the death-defying feat performed by Sebastian Alvarez last month at Villarrica volcano, which the indigenous Mapuche tribe calls 'the Devil's House' due to its frequent eruptions.

Everything started because I had the dream of flying. Since I was a kid, I just wanted to fly--and somehow, I made it happen," he told CNN. The adventure-seeker jumped out of the chopper at an altitude of almost 2.2 miles and reached speeds of over 280 km/h (about 176.5 mph) before flying into and out of the 200-meter (656 foot) wide crater of the volcano.

Chile: Former Air Force pilot becomes first person to fly in and out of active volcano | WATCH

"This is by far the most extreme project I’ve ever done," the Chilean Air Force, Wingsuit Pilot told CNN. "That’s for sure. Especially because of all of the factors: it was an active volcano, it was at a high altitude, cold, windy, and so there were a lot of things that I needed to take care of." The rare stunt performed by Álvarez was based on mastering a technique called 'flaring,' gathering enough speed vertically before transferring it into horizontal speed by opening the wingsuit. To achieve this feat, it took Álvarez more than a year, which included high-level practice jumps. In addition to this, the skydiver also aced complex calculations using speed, distance, and pressure of the air. However, he revealed that the real preparation for the jump began much earlier.

Mentally, it was going to be really hard because, again, my mind doesn't want to be there, but you need to kind of force it to make it happen. I enjoy doing these projects because I really like to push the sport a little bit more, "he added.

(Image: Screengrab from Redbull YT video)