I can't imagine the government agreeing to a plea where this guy does not spend at least symbolic time in the pokey. The offense was too obnoxious and high profile to let him walk.
It's not just obnoxious, people hike out there regularly he could have hit and he could easily have started a significant fire in a vulnerable environment. He endangered others for a sponsorship deal and then engaged in a conspiracy to hide it.
I'm not going to lie - I find the video utterly fascinating and I think the world is a better and more interesting place now that it exists. It's a fascinating path permutation of the human condition / state space traversal.
I do think what he did was stupid and brazen and that he should be punished. The punishment should be dealt in such a way that nobody else attempts this again. I'm also glad nobody was hurt (the probability of that was extremely low).
But all of that said, I'm very glad that this video and anecdote now exist. It's incredibly fascinating. Nobody was hurt, and it's such a novel thing.
If you haven't seen the video, you need to see it.
> If you haven't seen the video, you need to see it.
I disagree entirely. It lacked novelty. The entire thing felt as contrived as an amateur stunt, which is what it was, and little more: a precious snowflake and overt narcissist desperate for attention.
I agree with you - it is just not interesting. It is in the same vein as many corporate promo videos. Here is a Red Bull video of someone riding a BMX bike in a bowl suspended underneath a hot balloon at 2000ft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mnizjZat3Q
The point of these outrageous videos is to get attention and promote a brand. Does it really work on their target market: jaded young adults?
Also, I can't tell if any of these videos are real anymore. I don't care because the novelty, the shock, the wow factor wore off years ago.
So someone jumped out of a crashing plane. Whatever. Could be fake. Could be real. Definitely not interesting anymore.
> I find the video utterly fascinating and I think the world is a better and more interesting place now that it exists. It's a fascinating path permutation of the human condition / state space traversal.
The Thomas fire [0] was only 5 years ago. It burned 100k+ acres, killed two people and indirectly killed 20 more, and cost "$2.2B USD" to deal with.
Southern California is not the place to drop planes out of the sky for lulz or money.
One take, perhaps the most natural one for humans, is to reprimand behaviors for their hypothetical outcomes. It's what the law does. It's what parents do. Admonition is a lesson to everyone.
But this is a rare, once in a universe event. And like with D.B. Cooper, Max Headroom, Chris McCandless, and every other wild act of rule breaking, I'm going to hold it close and wonder.
It's possible to hold conflicting opinions and emotions and simultaneously.
Honestly it's more indictment of human nature and the need for external validation. I hate the fact that people are watching it at all, it almost gives ammo for future potential copycats.
As an amateur working towards their PPL, the whole thing is just gross.
>It's a fascinating path permutation of the human condition / state space traversal.
that raises the question : do you somehow attribute value to human action based on unique-ness? If so, why? It's an interesting philosophy , but I don't understand it as far as 'human improvement' goes.
> I think the world is a better and more interesting place
I think it's unique, but I also think it could possibly set a (yet another) dangerous precedent among net celebrities seeking the next illegal-yet-doable way to make a name for themselves -- I think that itself and things similar to this are a net-negative for the world at large -- it'll likely lead to more dangerous behavior that is then punctuated by larger and more broad legislation that will reduce personal liberty for the sake of some YTers whims once.
There are plenty of fascinating real skydiving and real flying videos to watch. This stunt is revolting and an insult to pilots, skydivers, and the general public. Fuck him and the chute he jumped with.
The FAA will want to make it very unattractive for copycat YouTubers. “No bro, did you hear about that guy?” is what they want prospective YouTube aircraft ditchers to hear from their friends.
