Launching fireworks from a helicopter sounds like fun. The sound of fireworks being fired from a helicopter towards a Lamborghini sports car real It’s funny, especially if everyone in the helicopter and everyone in the Lamborghini agrees. Alex Choi, A Youtube and Instagram A California-based video blogger made a video of him and his team doing just that. But he forgot to ask permission from one important group: the federal government.
Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve be accused Cui is charged with “causing to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft” and is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The indictment also revealed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revoked Choi’s helicopter pilot’s license in January 2024 for flying less than 500 feet away, failing to display the helicopter’s registration number, and causing “a hazard to personnel or “Hazard to Property” does not require a FAA exemption.
By all accounts, the only danger is to those directly involved in the video, which has been removed from Choi’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. (Clips of the stunt can still be found elsewhere.) Choi and his team filmed the stunt on the dry lake bed of El Phantom, an off-road recreation area miles from any town. The indictment quotes Choi talking about his “crazy stupid ideas,” and one of his staff members said the fireworks were “loud; actually scary,” which only made the video sound cooler.
The FAA acted quickly after learning of the stunt. Choi posted the video on the Fourth of July last year. On July 18, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors interviewed the person who delivered Choi’s car. Days later, the FAA found the helicopter pilot, and a Bureau of Land Management agent went to the dry lake to photograph Choi’s tire tracks. The indictment states that because the lake bed is federal land, Choi should have obtained a federal permit.
Shortly after the FAA trial began, Choi texted a colleague that the FAA inspector “had a personal issue with my helicopter pilot friend and every time I filmed with him, I tried to get information about him.” more information so that he could pursue him,” according to the indictment.
The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation subsequently decided to file criminal charges against Choi. The law banning explosives from being carried on planes is clearly aimed at would-be bombers, but the federal government believes the law applies to launching explosives outside of And airplanes.
The case against Choi is similar to the Austin Howert case from about a decade ago. In 2015, when consumer drone technology was in its infancy, a teenage Haughwout filmed himself flying a pistol-mounted drone and shooting into the woods. The 14-second video is titled “flying gun,”caused National media panic On the dangers of armed drones. Haughwout also posted a video of himself grilling meat on a barbecue Drone mounted flamethrower.
The FAA subpoenaed Howert and his father because the videos showed potentially unsafe conditions in flying the plane. The Howart family fought the subpoena in court, arguing that the drone was not an “aircraft” within the jurisdiction of the FAA. (Their lawyers compared the situation Ask the FAA to regulate baseballs, paper airplanes, or birthday balloons. Judgment in favor of the case Although Howert was not charged with an aviation crime, the case set an important precedent for the FAA’s ability to regulate drones.
Since then, the FAA has begun scouring social media for potential drone violations. Earlier this year, the federal court prohibit Philadelphia YouTuber Michael DiCiurcio was fined $182,000 for violating FAA regulations after flying a drone. Produced by DiCuccioine slapstick film he himself fighting birds, buzzing fishermenand bump into myself using his drone while narrating in a thick South Philly accent.
Last year, aviation video blogger Joe Costanza asked a friend to use a drone to follow his small Piper Cub aircraft along a private runway. When Costanza posted the video to a Facebook group and joked that “the pilot knew the drone was there because I was flying it at the same time,” he was contacted by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. . Ultimately, the FAA did not file any charges, but Constanza Upload to YouTube Complaint Investigation.
“You know, we have to investigate every complaint, no matter how silly or unusual it is,” the inspector said, according to Constanza.
