[imagesource: Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool]

The American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been having a whirlwind year.

Stunt pilots are taking extreme death-defying liberties in order to shoot a video that racks up views, and the agency has its hands full trying to crack down on them.

You may recall that influencer pilot who secretly but intentionally crashed his plane to get YouTube views, and who has since had his pilot licence revoked.

Now, the FAA is dealing with two pilots who took their Red Bull assignment to the absolute extreme, attempting a “plane swap” stunt back in April in Eloy, Arizona.

Cousins and experienced skydivers, Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington, cooked up a plan to fly their individual planes to around 3 600 metres in the air, where they would then nosedive the planes, jump out, and skydive into the other plane before landing safely.

Elaborate, risky, and extremely dangerous, especially because only Aikins was successful in completing the stunt.

Farrington’s plane spiralled out of control, forcing him to abandon it as it crashed to the desert floor:

Aikins had apparently put in a request for the stunt to receive an exemption from federal regulations before attempting it. The FAA says that was not granted.

USA Today has more:

Aikins posted on Instagram on April 29 he knew the request was denied but “made the personal decision” to go on with the stunt and “regret not sharing this information with my team and those who supported me.”

As a result, the FAA investigated and determined Aikins and Farrington violated three flight regulations and revoked their pilot licences.

Those violations, besides the obvious stunt, include taking their seatbelts off and leaving the aircraft unnecessarily.

The pilots’ actions were called out for being “careless and reckless as to endanger the life and property of another”. They also lacked a “degree of care, judgment, and responsibility required of a certificate holder”.

Aikins has also been ordered to pay a $4 932 (around R80 000) fine on top of losing his licence.

[source:usatoday]