Two experienced pilots have been stripped of their aviation license by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US after they attempted a daring stunt involving a midair “plane swap” last month. According to USA Today, the FAA said they were investigating the incident and issued the following statement - "The FAA revoked the pilot certificates of the two pilots involved in the unauthorized Red Bull plane swap stunt on April 24, 2022, in Arizona…The attempted stunt resulted in the crash of one of the two single-engine Cessna 182 aircraft. The lead pilot requested an exemption for the stunt from the FAA, which the agency denied."
In an Instagram post, one of the pilots Luke Aikens acknowledged that the FAA had denied permission for the stunt but “made the personal decision to move forward” with it. He also said that he did “regret not sharing this information with my team and those who have supported me”.
According to USA Today, the documents dealing with the revoking of the license said, “Your egregious and intentional actions indicate that you presently lack the degree of care, judgment, and responsibility required of a certificate holder…Thus, your actions as described above clearly reflect a lack of qualifications necessary for airman certification.”
The two pilots - Luke Aikens and Andy Farrington - are cousins who had planned to pitch their Cessna 182 planes into a synchronised nosedive at 14,000 feet by stopping the engines and a custom-manufactured airbrake holding the planes in a controlled-descent speed of 140 mph. As part of the plan, the pilots were supposed to then exit their respective aircraft and skydive into each other's planes, crossing over each other mid-air and regaining control in under one minute.
However, the plane Mr Farrington was jumping into quickly began spiraling out of control into a downward tailspin, becoming extremely inconsistent with the other plane's altitude after the duo made their jumps. Mr Farrington was forced to parachute to the ground as his plane plummeted. Mr Aikins, on the other hand, managed to successfully complete the stunt into his respective plane.
Both pilots were unharmed after the botched stunt.
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