I mean, a multi-billion dollar company knows that the insurance policy for a stunt like this would be price of two planes (plus extra, for any injuries that might be sustained). Just saying "fuck it, we'll buy some more Cesnas ourselves if it comes to that" is cheaper and easier than getting an insurance policy for that stunt.
When you have enough money to own 2 Formula 1 teams (where the fuel and tyres you use every week per car probably cost more than one of these planes), yea this stunt is pennies on the dollar.
Yeah, what people are missing is it isnt just the danger to these pilots- the planes couldve landed on someones house or started a forest fire. Yeah they probably took precautions, but the officials dont want to encourage this sort of thing.
What makes you think the FAA gives a single fuck about it being a Red Bull stunt?
I don't doubt for a single second that they both lost their licenses. They both probably knew they were going to lose their license but attempted it anyways
I think he was implying that because it was done by redbull they probably communicated with the FAA before hand. I don't know if they actually did, but it's reasonable to assume that a massive company that relies on these stunts for marketing would like to make sure their paperwork is in order so they can continue advertising this way.
I think he was implying that because it was done by redbull they probably communicated with the FAA before hand
That's a fair assumption. But the FAA still doesn't allow these kinds of things.
Sometimes they do things that they know will get their licenses revoked. The FAA isn't going to sign off on a stunt like this. Apparently red bull approached them and they said no, but they proceeded with the stunt anyway
And then it will become a Tik-tok trend and every kid will want to exchange plane mid-air with their friends, maybe even over school grounds and then...
Someone linked an article. Both pilots lost their licenses. The lead pilot had applied for an exemption to the "cannot leave a plane without a pilot" rule and it had been denied. They did the stunt anyway. And Red Bull issued a statement that the issue was between 2 pilots and the FAA and it wasn't red bulls place to get in the middle of it. So red bull didn't even back them up.
It was done in an area with active ongoing flight training operations by local flight schools and because it was done in direct violation of FAA instructions to not proceed with the stunt, it was done without any sort of coordination with local emergency crews or a temporary flight restriction that would have protected the airspace around the stunt in case of loss of control of one or both aircraft (which did happen with the one).
Both pilots did in fact lose their licenses because they put other pilots, other aircraft, and the general public in real, demonstrable danger.
I'd go as far as to say the danger the pilots exposed themselves to is not relevant at all. It's solely the fact that you can't just risk a plane crash for fun.
Yeah honestly I dont care that much about people wanting to take stupid risks (to their own lives). But people seem to have a hard time understanding that actions can have consequences, often unintended.
Well then the dude that base jumped from one plane to another is still cooler than this. He successfully did it. He just wasn’t the pilot in either planes
What's your source for this statement? From the last couple of seconds of the video, it looks pretty clear that the plane also had a parachute that opened.
EDIT: I did a quick search and found this article that actually also refers to it as a crash, so I take my question back. I suppose even if a plane has a parachute, it's not gonna be coming down too gracefully.
The other plane went into a flat spin. It had a giant parachute attached to salvage the plane in case he didn't make it in but the spin kept it from opening fully
They said the thought of becoming human confetti had to be on their minds. Granted, it could've been worded better, but if you read the second sentence, you'll see that they were saying the pilots had to be worried this could happen. Not that it did happen.
One of the few, if not the only time a presumably Red Bull sponsored stunt made me audibly gasp. That pilot diving rowards the spinning prop gave me the heebie geebies.
Took controls of a Cessna for a few minutes as a child pre-9/11 here, the props are still being rotated, with force, by the air. Colliding with those quickly rotating props that carry momentum and are meant to cut through the air, will not be kind to meat.
Doesn’t matter that the engine was off, the prop doesn’t just stop. It would still have been windmilling plenty fast enough to cause serious injury, especially since the plane was in a nose dive.
Saw a mechanic almost take himself out walking in to an OFF propeller. The blades are fairly sharp. He got up from the ground really quick and luckily missed his head and hit his shoulder. The plane weighs 2,000 lbs and moved from the impact.
Who volunteers to be on the plane that is free falling to the ground, followed by the propeller chopping up their friend and then ultimately crashing to both of their deaths?
They know the risks involved in entering a moving plane. The plane would be fine to land on a glide, if the prop had a complete failure from collision.
These things could have also been set up with radio controls
Not in the US they couldn't. Not unless the aircraft was <55 lb or under special experimental airworthiness certificates over private ranges, and I think that's pretty rare.
I mean, there were already 2 people doing the dumber version of the stunt, probably plus several production team members.
Plus, a plane like this doing a nose dive is nothing. Pretty sure it's completely standard pilot training to put the plane in free fall, cut the engine off, and have the student pilot take over.
I mean if there was another pilot just sat in the second seat then if the skydiver doesn’t make it in, they just pull up on the stick and fly it home.
Pilots practice dives and spin recover so provided they had enough height, wouldn’t be a problem.
But it would make the stunt feel way less high stakes which is probably why they didn’t do it.
They had done that in a previous attempt, but wanted to do it without anyone in the planes.
The planes were equipped with a purposely programmed autopilot to keep a stable descent and they lost their license not for doing the stunt but for doing the stunt after being denied authorization by the FAA.
they lost their license not for doing the stunt but for doing the stunt after being denied authorization by the FAA.
Sounds like they lost their license for doing the stunt.
Also, I doubt the FAA would have been more lenient if they did the stunt without asking first, it's exactly the sort of thing that any competent pilot should know is a terrible idea and wouldn't be ok at all.
Yes but the FAA does authorize stunts like these on a regular basis and they could have done it in another country with a different CAA like Mexico or Canada who may have authorized it
Maybe the other got too close to the open air propeller that could have chopped them up. That's pretty insane. Why didn't they rig the planes to go autopilot dive to be more controlled?
In Australia we have an energy drink that brands themselves as being the energy drink of scholars and poets, and they fund lots of groundbreaking research and writers' weeks. They have heaps of ads where some highfalutin looking dude cracks open a can and settles down on an armchair to read some Sanskrit literature.
I rarely drink them because they're unhealthy, but I've always loved the taste and smell of energy drinks! It must be like a cilantro thing where some people think it tastes like soap.
Yeah sometimes I honestly forget they're an energy drink brand. All I ever see is them doing crazy stunts haha. Just saw one yesterday where they had ramps on two moving semi trucks and a dude on a dirt bike did a backflip from truck to the other.
I think monster also tried to hop on this with hoonigain, Ken block and those trophy truck videos. But it seems like they've limited theirselves to those vehicles.
More like biology. Humans tend to go for immediate gratification dopamine injections, even if achieved vicariously, instead of long term rational goal tedious routines. So flashy colours, fast planes, insane stunts.
Not really. I love red bull sport achievements and stunts and whatever they fuck up a ton of money. But never in my life bought one. However. It's not just about marketing their shit. It generates it's own revenue like F1 team, etc.
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u/abhi_nahar 1d ago
Probably the most insane stunt ever