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There's definitely some suspicious stuff going on: - gave up waaaay too early compared to any pilot I've seen with an engine out - skydiving rig[1] (bulky, mo

There's definitely some suspicious stuff going on: - gave up waaaay too early compared to any pilot I've seen with an engine out - skydiving rig[1] (bulky, more/less easy to reach handles, steerable) instead of safety parachute[2] (light, one accesibile handle, none/little steering, not intended for high freefall speeds) - gopro on ~wrist~ selfie-stick - long and stable freefall before pulling - before jumping, he opens the door and looks straight down a few times, exactly like skydivers spot the landing zone before jumping Basically I feel like I've watched an experienced skydiver on a planned jump more than a pilot surprised by an engine out. [1] http://scrisc.com/image/cache/data/m2aad/tn_zoom_obrazek_88-700x700_0.jpg http://scrisc.com/image/cache/data/m2aad/tn_zoom_obrazek_88-... [2] https://www.chutingstar.com/media/catalog/product/cache/dc97733eb80fca7b98ca9f338944f881/r/i/rigginginnovations_p124aviator_6.jpg https://www.chutingstar.com/media/catalog/product/cache/dc97...

ZanyProgrammer 5y ago
On the ground he sounds like he's faking how difficult of a go it is-I had to watch it with sound off because of all his complaining.
- amelius 5y ago
  Yes, he says he needs water badly yet he's complaining loudly all the time. That's contradictory. If you need water and there is none, you better keep your mouth shut.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    That's not a core competency of YouTubers.
    - jcranmer 5y ago
      I know you're referring to the tendency of many Youtubers to not shut up, but every streamer I've seen has invariably had as part of their setup the "massive drink" in large part because incessant talking requires heavy liquid consumption. So I actually imagine most YouTubers are actually aware that talking is not the wisest idea in a dehydration scenario...
      - chaps 5y ago
        It's not exactly uncommon for someone lost to record themselves. If he died, the recording could give family and friends closure.
        ZanyProgrammer 5y ago
        I'm sure his family would appreciate his grunting, groaning and profanities.
Kye 5y ago
Alternate possibility: a skydiver had engine trouble during a non-skydiving flight and used his skydiving skills with the skydiving kit he had with him to escape the plane. Not to say I would be surprised if a YouTuber did a stunt for views, but there are other explanations. Even for the fakey stuff at the end. He is a YouTuber, after all. Playing stuff up is habit for them.
- pageandrew 5y ago
  Why would he have a wrist GoPro and a full skydiving rig on a non-skydiving flight?
  - andrewflnr 5y ago
    Recording the whole thing for other friends of the deceased, skydiving rig because it's what he's used to or had on hand. (Hypothetically of course)
    - pc86 5y ago
      To try and draw a technical analogy, wearing a skydiving rig in this instance is really like buying your grandfather a high end gaming PC so he can use email because "that's what you're used to." It's plausible, in the sense that those words in that particular sort of make sense, but realistically nobody would ever do it. Even if you've got thousands of solo jumps, if you're doing a non-skydiving flight and feel the need to wear a parachute (very few pilots ever do this), you're just not going to wear a full skydiving rig. It's several times bulkier, it's harder to move in the cockpit, and it doesn't fit the purpose, which is to allow you to bail closer to the ground after running your engine failure checklist and not die.
      - andrewflnr 5y ago
        Look, I'm not claiming it would be a good idea. But if you're the type who wants to wear a parachute despite it being non-standard, and you've got the skydiving rig taking up space in your closet, and would have to pay extra for the usual emergency parachute -- maybe you don't have a ton of money (after aircraft maintenance anyway), or even think the skydiving rig is "better" in some ill-specified way -- do you really think it's impossible someone would just use what they have? Like, if a high-end gaming PC is what you have on hand after upgrading, why not give Gramps a computer that will maybe take a little longer to bog down?
shortstuffsushi 5y ago
I don't know a whole lot about skydiving or piloting (nothing in fact), but to each of your points: > gave up too early You and a couple other commenters mention this and not trying to land. Do we know how long it was before he gave up? Did he float 15 minutes before bailing after failing to restart, and that's just not included in the video? I understand landing on a small road would be possible in a plane like this, but since he's over mountains (3rd disclaimer, I don't know this area) - is it likely there would be roads available to him? > skydiving rig Is this because he is already a skydiver and/or was going paragliding (is this the same rig? Another thing I don't know). Would it make sense that this is just "what he has," as opposed to owning both a bail out and a sky diving kit? > gopro on wrist Wasn't it mounted on the plane dash, and he took it with him when he bailed? > long/stable freefall What is the norm for this? My thinking was this was to distance himself from the plane, which he later mentioned "came back around him" after he pulled. I don't have any opinion either way, but I'm curious to know more about why some of these details are "give aways" on it being fake
- arlcode 5y ago
  You want to pull the cord a few seconds after exiting. 1...2...3...pull. Freefall is not the goal when bailing in case of an emergency.
  - coryfklein 5y ago
    Unless you're a skydiver by trade in an emergency situation and you fall back on what is familiar to you? Let's say instead they did pull the chute immediately after bailing and then used the extra altitude to sail back to safety. Would you be more inclined to believe the stunt was real?
  - polack 5y ago
    Especially in a case like this when you need to hike your way out. Then why not pull ASAP and then fly back towards civilization and look for the best possible landing spot. You can also see much better landing spots when he's hanging in the shoot that he could easily make. So why the hell did he end up in a bush like that? And why go look for the plane? Like just focus on getting to safety. Nothing in this video makes sense.
walrus01 5y ago
In addition to everything you mentioned there's two fixed mount gopros, one on the wing aimed at the fuselage, and one on the tail aimed forward. Footage from these is seen in the first 15 minutes of the video. Absolutely some kind of publicity stunt.
- TylerE 5y ago
  That's not so unusual. Tons of student pilots mount external gopros for routine training flights these days.
- ehsankia 5y ago
  Not only it's not unusual for a Youtuber who frequently posts videos of themselves flying, but it also would explain why they would trek to the crash site, to recover expensive equipment, especially if the crash was nearby (which it was due to the plane turning and coming back and almost hitting him).
- progbits 5y ago
  I could believe that if the channel had a history of that kind of footage. But I just skipped around a few past videos (actually most of the channel content is not about flying) and couldn't see one. I'll let FAA assign blame, but sure does seem like he added that angle because it seemed like a cool shot for the crash. Edit: Also, he doesn't seem to fly with a full parachute normally, for example: https://youtu.be/OnOrfJo2LE0?t=253 https://youtu.be/OnOrfJo2LE0?t=253
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unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
The strongest tell for me was that he hiked first to the crashed plane. The broken plane isn't going to save him, ergo, by going there first he suggests he knows he knows that he does not need saving. The second tell is he didn't show the part where he declared a mayday to air traffic control, or radio anybody. Either it didn't happen, or the exchange explains why he knew he needed to hike rather than wait. The third is where he encounters the driver at the end and buries the lede-- plane crash-- instead making it sound at first like an emergency landing.
- db65edfc7996 5y ago
  From the safety of my armchair, it feels reasonable to go to a known landmark? It is a lot easier for search and rescue to find a crashed plane that a guy wandering on the ground. Additionally, the plane might contain salvageable food, water, medkit, etc.
  - lisper 5y ago
    All else being equal yes. But all else is far from equal here. The plane is on a slope in the brush. There is a clear flat riverbed nearby. When those are your choices, you definitely want to pick the riverbed because that's where water the the path to civilization are. And indeed he did eventually get himself to the riverbed. If he'd just landed there in the first place he would have shaved many hours off the hike and avoided nearly falling off a cliff.
  - jaxomlotus 5y ago
    In the video it sounded like he thought the plane had a water jug in it and was talking about how thirsty he was. That part was reasonable to me. But as a non-pilot the flight itself was pretty sketchy.
  - katmannthree 5y ago
    It looks like he ditched it on the hurricane deck, that's as close to a landmark as you'll get in that range. It's more or less the midpoint of a 20-mile wide mountain range, pretty sure he could've glided far enough to get to plains on either side. It's worth noting that there's decent cell service there if you just hike up to a ridge. Fair number of other hikers out on the trails too, his odds of bumping into somebody within a couple hours was high.
riazrizvi 5y ago
What if it’s a scheme to collect commissions selling wallets?
- ShamelessC 5y ago
  Noooo. Couldn't be. \s Can't believe people are even seriously discussing this - the controversy over the fake is exactly the desired outcome.
  - riazrizvi 5y ago
    Right. The reactions to the post, it’s almost like watching a thought process evolving in slow motion. And I think there’s a beautiful robustness here to this socially engineered system, where those wallets still get sold.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Not sure about the US but in Europe I'm pretty sure that would fall under commercial use and not allowed on a PPL. Of course that would be the least serious infraction if he did it on purpose. Which I agree it has all the hallmarks of.
- spyder 5y ago
  Yea, I really want a wallet which is advertised with ashes of people. /s
gouggoug 5y ago
And to this already perfect list, I'll add the subjective: - terrible acting
- Strom 5y ago
  That was the main giveaway for me too. Sure there are lots of technical things that give it away, but this man couldn't act to save his life. When he first reached the tree with his parachute, I couldn't help but burst out laughing at his "anger".
  - ziml77 5y ago
    Oh man I skipped right over that. Terrible acting and he went for the cliche of getting stuck in a tree. If he's an experienced skydiver, surely he could have easily landed in a better spot.
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- ziml77 5y ago
  Bad writing too. If he wanted it to be believable he should have left out the crap about his friend's ashes. There's also the text at the beginning saying he didn't think he'd have the courage to share the footage, but then he ends up sharing something that he had to have spent a lot of time editing? If it was that traumatic, surely he wouldn't be able to have put that much effort into editing it like that. It's not like all cutting between all those angles was necessary to demonstrate that a parachute is handy.
biohacker85 5y ago
I don't have the relevant experience to judge one way or the other, but my internal BS meter was definitely going off. Main thing I can say is his reactions to the engine failure and troubles while on the ground didn't seem authentic.
urda 5y ago
The prepared selfie-stick was a really awful look. I couldn't' believe what I was seeing.
NikolaNovak 5y ago
Regardless of how prepared or experienced of sky diver he might be, the notion he'd selfie his way down and look at camera rather than doodoo his pants wondering if he'll live another day and looking for a place to land feels implausible for unplanned emergency excursion. Particularly telling moments are when he's steering parachute with one finger because others are holding the selfie stick; and the footage when he just landed and is trying to disentangle from bushes - but still prioritizing holding the selfie stick at correct angle. If somebody actually has those priorities in real emergency, dear gawd, I don't want to be near that person! (other inconsistencies have been well noted in op and in other posts)
Too 5y ago
Don't forget about the gopro batteries, they only last an hour tops, this guy keeps shooting for several hours. Even if you turn it off in between the shots it's hard to get a full days worth of video, unless you have spares batteries in you pocket, plausible given that he's a youtuber after all. At the end of the video you can tell he's an experienced skydiver, which could explain how lax he is in the air and with the camera handling, but then why the hell did he crashland into a tree on the side of a cliff when there is a flat field right below him 10 seconds earlier in the video. And why is he dragging his heavy parachute gear throughout the jungle when he's tired and water deprived?
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edelans 5y ago
no one mentioned how he films himself with LIGHTS ON drinking water from the river... If I was lost at night in this kind of bush, I guess I would try to save my battery.
sundvor 5y ago
One more thing, play it at 0.25x speed at 4:03 - then frame by frame it (double tap) until you see the hip mounted altimeter - white clock with a red "pie". It's visible for a few frames.. just, gold. (If his left hand has filled the frame you've gone just too far, still at 4:03.) Sure, a perfectly normal thing for a pilot to wear on a not at all pre-coreographed free fall plane ditch.
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ZanyProgrammer 5y ago

On the ground he sounds like he's faking how difficult of a go it is-I had to watch it with sound off because of all his complaining.

amelius 5y ago
Yes, he says he needs water badly yet he's complaining loudly all the time. That's contradictory. If you need water and there is none, you better keep your mouth shut.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  That's not a core competency of YouTubers.
  - jcranmer 5y ago
    I know you're referring to the tendency of many Youtubers to not shut up, but every streamer I've seen has invariably had as part of their setup the "massive drink" in large part because incessant talking requires heavy liquid consumption. So I actually imagine most YouTubers are actually aware that talking is not the wisest idea in a dehydration scenario...
    - chaps 5y ago
      It's not exactly uncommon for someone lost to record themselves. If he died, the recording could give family and friends closure.
      - ZanyProgrammer 5y ago
        I'm sure his family would appreciate his grunting, groaning and profanities.

Kye 5y ago

Alternate possibility: a skydiver had engine trouble during a non-skydiving flight and used his skydiving skills with the skydiving kit he had with him to escape the plane. Not to say I would be surprised if a YouTuber did a stunt for views, but there are other explanations. Even for the fakey stuff at the end. He is a YouTuber, after all. Playing stuff up is habit for them.

pageandrew 5y ago
Why would he have a wrist GoPro and a full skydiving rig on a non-skydiving flight?
- andrewflnr 5y ago
  Recording the whole thing for other friends of the deceased, skydiving rig because it's what he's used to or had on hand. (Hypothetically of course)
  - pc86 5y ago
    To try and draw a technical analogy, wearing a skydiving rig in this instance is really like buying your grandfather a high end gaming PC so he can use email because "that's what you're used to." It's plausible, in the sense that those words in that particular sort of make sense, but realistically nobody would ever do it. Even if you've got thousands of solo jumps, if you're doing a non-skydiving flight and feel the need to wear a parachute (very few pilots ever do this), you're just not going to wear a full skydiving rig. It's several times bulkier, it's harder to move in the cockpit, and it doesn't fit the purpose, which is to allow you to bail closer to the ground after running your engine failure checklist and not die.
    - andrewflnr 5y ago
      Look, I'm not claiming it would be a good idea. But if you're the type who wants to wear a parachute despite it being non-standard, and you've got the skydiving rig taking up space in your closet, and would have to pay extra for the usual emergency parachute -- maybe you don't have a ton of money (after aircraft maintenance anyway), or even think the skydiving rig is "better" in some ill-specified way -- do you really think it's impossible someone would just use what they have? Like, if a high-end gaming PC is what you have on hand after upgrading, why not give Gramps a computer that will maybe take a little longer to bog down?

shortstuffsushi 5y ago

I don't know a whole lot about skydiving or piloting (nothing in fact), but to each of your points: > gave up too early You and a couple other commenters mention this and not trying to land. Do we know how long it was before he gave up? Did he float 15 minutes before bailing after failing to restart, and that's just not included in the video? I understand landing on a small road would be possible in a plane like this, but since he's over mountains (3rd disclaimer, I don't know this area) - is it likely there would be roads available to him? > skydiving rig Is this because he is already a skydiver and/or was going paragliding (is this the same rig? Another thing I don't know). Would it make sense that this is just "what he has," as opposed to owning both a bail out and a sky diving kit? > gopro on wrist Wasn't it mounted on the plane dash, and he took it with him when he bailed? > long/stable freefall What is the norm for this? My thinking was this was to distance himself from the plane, which he later mentioned "came back around him" after he pulled. I don't have any opinion either way, but I'm curious to know more about why some of these details are "give aways" on it being fake

arlcode 5y ago
You want to pull the cord a few seconds after exiting. 1...2...3...pull. Freefall is not the goal when bailing in case of an emergency.
- coryfklein 5y ago
  Unless you're a skydiver by trade in an emergency situation and you fall back on what is familiar to you? Let's say instead they did pull the chute immediately after bailing and then used the extra altitude to sail back to safety. Would you be more inclined to believe the stunt was real?
- polack 5y ago
  Especially in a case like this when you need to hike your way out. Then why not pull ASAP and then fly back towards civilization and look for the best possible landing spot. You can also see much better landing spots when he's hanging in the shoot that he could easily make. So why the hell did he end up in a bush like that? And why go look for the plane? Like just focus on getting to safety. Nothing in this video makes sense.

walrus01 5y ago

In addition to everything you mentioned there's two fixed mount gopros, one on the wing aimed at the fuselage, and one on the tail aimed forward. Footage from these is seen in the first 15 minutes of the video. Absolutely some kind of publicity stunt.

TylerE 5y ago
That's not so unusual. Tons of student pilots mount external gopros for routine training flights these days.
ehsankia 5y ago
Not only it's not unusual for a Youtuber who frequently posts videos of themselves flying, but it also would explain why they would trek to the crash site, to recover expensive equipment, especially if the crash was nearby (which it was due to the plane turning and coming back and almost hitting him).
progbits 5y ago
I could believe that if the channel had a history of that kind of footage. But I just skipped around a few past videos (actually most of the channel content is not about flying) and couldn't see one. I'll let FAA assign blame, but sure does seem like he added that angle because it seemed like a cool shot for the crash. Edit: Also, he doesn't seem to fly with a full parachute normally, for example: https://youtu.be/OnOrfJo2LE0?t=253 https://youtu.be/OnOrfJo2LE0?t=253
- deleted 5y ago
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unyttigfjelltol 5y ago

The strongest tell for me was that he hiked first to the crashed plane. The broken plane isn't going to save him, ergo, by going there first he suggests he knows he knows that he does not need saving. The second tell is he didn't show the part where he declared a mayday to air traffic control, or radio anybody. Either it didn't happen, or the exchange explains why he knew he needed to hike rather than wait. The third is where he encounters the driver at the end and buries the lede-- plane crash-- instead making it sound at first like an emergency landing.

db65edfc7996 5y ago
From the safety of my armchair, it feels reasonable to go to a known landmark? It is a lot easier for search and rescue to find a crashed plane that a guy wandering on the ground. Additionally, the plane might contain salvageable food, water, medkit, etc.
- lisper 5y ago
  All else being equal yes. But all else is far from equal here. The plane is on a slope in the brush. There is a clear flat riverbed nearby. When those are your choices, you definitely want to pick the riverbed because that's where water the the path to civilization are. And indeed he did eventually get himself to the riverbed. If he'd just landed there in the first place he would have shaved many hours off the hike and avoided nearly falling off a cliff.
- jaxomlotus 5y ago
  In the video it sounded like he thought the plane had a water jug in it and was talking about how thirsty he was. That part was reasonable to me. But as a non-pilot the flight itself was pretty sketchy.
- katmannthree 5y ago
  It looks like he ditched it on the hurricane deck, that's as close to a landmark as you'll get in that range. It's more or less the midpoint of a 20-mile wide mountain range, pretty sure he could've glided far enough to get to plains on either side. It's worth noting that there's decent cell service there if you just hike up to a ridge. Fair number of other hikers out on the trails too, his odds of bumping into somebody within a couple hours was high.

riazrizvi 5y ago

What if it’s a scheme to collect commissions selling wallets?

ShamelessC 5y ago
Noooo. Couldn't be. \s Can't believe people are even seriously discussing this - the controversy over the fake is exactly the desired outcome.
- riazrizvi 5y ago
  Right. The reactions to the post, it’s almost like watching a thought process evolving in slow motion. And I think there’s a beautiful robustness here to this socially engineered system, where those wallets still get sold.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
Not sure about the US but in Europe I'm pretty sure that would fall under commercial use and not allowed on a PPL. Of course that would be the least serious infraction if he did it on purpose. Which I agree it has all the hallmarks of.
spyder 5y ago
Yea, I really want a wallet which is advertised with ashes of people. /s

gouggoug 5y ago

And to this already perfect list, I'll add the subjective: - terrible acting

Strom 5y ago
That was the main giveaway for me too. Sure there are lots of technical things that give it away, but this man couldn't act to save his life. When he first reached the tree with his parachute, I couldn't help but burst out laughing at his "anger".
- ziml77 5y ago
  Oh man I skipped right over that. Terrible acting and he went for the cliche of getting stuck in a tree. If he's an experienced skydiver, surely he could have easily landed in a better spot.
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ziml77 5y ago
Bad writing too. If he wanted it to be believable he should have left out the crap about his friend's ashes. There's also the text at the beginning saying he didn't think he'd have the courage to share the footage, but then he ends up sharing something that he had to have spent a lot of time editing? If it was that traumatic, surely he wouldn't be able to have put that much effort into editing it like that. It's not like all cutting between all those angles was necessary to demonstrate that a parachute is handy.

biohacker85 5y ago

I don't have the relevant experience to judge one way or the other, but my internal BS meter was definitely going off. Main thing I can say is his reactions to the engine failure and troubles while on the ground didn't seem authentic.

urda 5y ago

The prepared selfie-stick was a really awful look. I couldn't' believe what I was seeing.

NikolaNovak 5y ago

Regardless of how prepared or experienced of sky diver he might be, the notion he'd selfie his way down and look at camera rather than doodoo his pants wondering if he'll live another day and looking for a place to land feels implausible for unplanned emergency excursion. Particularly telling moments are when he's steering parachute with one finger because others are holding the selfie stick; and the footage when he just landed and is trying to disentangle from bushes - but still prioritizing holding the selfie stick at correct angle. If somebody actually has those priorities in real emergency, dear gawd, I don't want to be near that person! (other inconsistencies have been well noted in op and in other posts)

Too 5y ago

Don't forget about the gopro batteries, they only last an hour tops, this guy keeps shooting for several hours. Even if you turn it off in between the shots it's hard to get a full days worth of video, unless you have spares batteries in you pocket, plausible given that he's a youtuber after all. At the end of the video you can tell he's an experienced skydiver, which could explain how lax he is in the air and with the camera handling, but then why the hell did he crashland into a tree on the side of a cliff when there is a flat field right below him 10 seconds earlier in the video. And why is he dragging his heavy parachute gear throughout the jungle when he's tired and water deprived?

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edelans 5y ago

no one mentioned how he films himself with LIGHTS ON drinking water from the river... If I was lost at night in this kind of bush, I guess I would try to save my battery.

sundvor 5y ago

One more thing, play it at 0.25x speed at 4:03 - then frame by frame it (double tap) until you see the hip mounted altimeter - white clock with a red "pie". It's visible for a few frames.. just, gold. (If his left hand has filled the frame you've gone just too far, still at 4:03.) Sure, a perfectly normal thing for a pilot to wear on a not at all pre-coreographed free fall plane ditch.

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