Event organizers said two pilots on separate planes planned to parachute into each other’s planes, leaving each plane unmanned for less than a minute. But one of the pilots did not make it to the other plane. The plane “crashed after getting out of control” and its potential pilot “landed safely with a parachute”, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Both pilots survived the failed change of pilots, which included two single-engine Cessna 182s that flew up to 14,000 feet and then descended in a tight formation dive.
Organizers have asked the FAA for special permission to hold the event, which was sponsored by energy drink company Red Bull and aired on the Hulu streaming service.
They outlined a number of precautions, including practical escapes with the help of “safety pilots”; holding the event over a remote section of the desert; and equipping both aircraft and pilots with parachutes in the event of an accident.
“To date, we have conducted more than 100 vertical dive test flights with zero safety issues,” organizers wrote in a request to the FAA in February.
On Friday, the FAA rejected a request to leave the planes empty during the TV stunt, noting that the team “may continue to carry out this demonstration in accordance with FAA regulations, including an additional pilot for each aircraft.”
Neither Red Bull nor Hulu responded immediately to CNN’s request for comment. Emails to pilot Luke Aikins – who is also a world-renowned paratrooper – and a professor at the California Polytechnic State University, whom organizers said had consulted, also received no response Monday.
A video of the three-hour show featuring the event was not available on Hulu’s website Monday morning.
The event was attended by Aikins and his cousin Andy Farrington, both pilots and stuntmen, whose biographies mark thousands of flying hours. Organizers said the pilots plan to restore the planes before they reach 4,000 feet.
Aikins’ fame includes a successful jump of 25,000 feet without a parachute. A veteran of about 21,000 jumps, Aikins has worked as a stuntman and consultant on Hollywood blockbusters and trained seals for the US Navy.
Farrington has made more than 26,000 parachute jumps, according to his biography on the Red Bull website.
The FAA did not say what penalties could be imposed on those involved.
Last week, the FAA announced that it had revoked the YouTuber pilot’s certificate, which the agency said crashed its plane on purpose. Trevor Jacob posted a video in December showing him parachuting from a plane he claimed had damaged the engine. The FAA says Jacob was “careless and reckless.”
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