Red Bull Plane Swap Pilot Appears to Post Instagram Confession

Friday, April 29, 2022 at 01:33 PM ET

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Luke Aikins said he received an email from the FAA denying his request for an exemption from certain federal regulations that would have cleared his team to perform the swap. [Photo: Chris Tedesco / Red Bull Content Pool] SI202204260695 // Usage for editorial use only //

Key Takeaways:

Luke Aikins, the lead pilot for the Red Bull Plane Swap, took sole responsibility for proceeding with the stunt after receiving an FAA denial for an exemption from regulations.
Aikins admitted to personally deciding to move forward with the plane swap without sharing the FAA's denial with his team.
During the live-streamed stunt, Aikins successfully swapped planes, but his partner aborted his attempt due to a spinning aircraft, which subsequently crashed.
The FAA is investigating the incident, and the potential penalties for Aikins are currently unknown.

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Luke Aikins, the lead pilot for the Red Bull Plane Swap stunt that streamed live last Sunday on Hulu, has apparently posted a message on his Instagram page in which he takes responsibility for continuing with the event without permission from the FAA.

In the Instagram statement, Aikins says he received an email from the FAA denying his request for an exemption from certain federal regulations that would have cleared his team to perform the swap, but says he kept that information from other team members.