Pilots Almost Did it But FAA Didn’t Like This Stunt at All

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Thankfully both stunt pilots walked away. Red Bull might give you wings but that doesn’t mean you won’t fly like a cow. One of the planes didn’t follow the plan and ended up nose down in the desert.

FAA defying stunt

This stunt wasn’t only “death defying,” the pilots went against FAA rules. They asked for permission and were told to forget it, so they did it anyway. There will be consequences.

Red Bull probably won’t be getting an insurance check for their intentionally trashed Cessna 182, either. Two cousins tried to trade planes in mid-air. That’s a no-no.

Skydivers Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington were supposed to “pilot their planes to 14,000 feet, then jump out mid-air at 140 miles per hour and attempt to switch planes as they dove towards the ground.” It almost worked.

One of the stunt pilots was successful. The other went home looking like Wile E. Coyote. The “blue plane” didn’t behave like it was supposed to after the pilot bailed out. Back, as they say, to the drawing board.

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It all happened Sunday evening, in rural Arizona. All went according to plan until “one of the two planes involved spiraled out of control.

It “landed” nose first and will never fly again. Everyone involved in the stunt emphasizes the positive, both pilots are safe and no injures were reported.

Cousins in history

Red Bull promised that these cousins would go down in history. Aikins will, as “the first pilot to take off in one aircraft and land in another.

Farrington went down by parachute while his plane just went down. Both will probably be charged with abandoning the cockpit in flight, to perform the silly stunt.

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Aikins made good use of his high tech batsuit but Farrington had to reach for his ripcord as the plane tumbled past him, totally out of control. That’s exactly why the FAA says the pilot has to be in the plane at all times. The Federal Aviation Administration listened to Red Bull lawyers try to talk them into allowing the sketchy stunt but they flatly refused to allow it.

The FAA has considered the petition, and finds that granting an exemption from § 91.105(a) would not be in the public interest and cannot find that the proposed operation would not adversely affect safety.

After the crash, all they can tell the stunt team is, “we told you so.” They already opened the official investigation.

All the numbers matched up and everything like that,” Farrington lamented, after reaching the ground. The whole thing was livestreamed on Hulu and Red Bull will have a long time living the images down.

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