Pilot Luke Aikins is seen successfully entering the silver airplane, during Plane Swap in Eloy, Arizona, on April 24, 2022. [Photo: Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool]
Key Takeaways:
The NTSB's final report concluded that a ballast shift caused one Cessna 182 to crash during the Red Bull Airplane Swap stunt after its pilot exited, leading to an unrecoverable spin.
The stunt involved pilots attempting to swap planes in mid-air after exiting their aircraft during a synchronous steep dive, but one plane failed to recover and crashed.
The FAA had denied permission for the stunt, a decision one pilot (Luke Aikins) was aware of but did not disclose to his team or Red Bull.
As a result of the unauthorized stunt, the FAA revoked both pilots' certificates for one year and proposed a fine for Aikins for multiple regulatory violations.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report regarding the crash of a Cessna 182 that was part of the Red Bull Airplane Swap stunt.
The stunt, which was streamed on Hulu on April 24, 2022, involved pilots and skydivers Luke Aikins, 48, and Andy Farrington, 39, flying a pair of modified C-182s.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
