YouTube "Influencer" faces 10 years in prison for shooting fireworks from helicopter at Lamborghini

[thewayne]

Wow. So much stupid in this!

This influencer decides to make a totally awesome Fourth of July video of a helicopter shooting fireworks at a speeding Lamborghini on a dry lake bed, and the Lambo shooting fireworks back at it.

What could possibly go wrong!

Let me count the ways....

-Fireworks are a weapon. A helicopter is an aircraft. You can't take weapons onto an aircraft without special licensing and permitting.
-The lakebed section was Federal property, and again, no permit.
-The helicopter pilot was not licensed for pyrotechnic use.
-No fire crew or accident crew on standby.
-The pilot turned off the helicopter's transponder during this insanity.

The pilot's flight certificate has been suspended, doesn't say for how long. And this influencer is looking at a good amount of time in the pokey.

The only good things to say about this is no one was seriously injured, and the long arm of the law caught up with these idiots.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/youtuber-charged-over-video-of-helicopter-shooting-fireworks-at-lamborghini/ar-BB1nPR88

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/youtuber-alex-choi-lamborghini-fireworks-helicopter-stunt/3430552/

Comments

[arlie]

Emphatic agreement here. There's a huge difference between "I want to share the cool stuff I know" and "I want to get lots of clicks and likes, and turn them into money and status".

I suppose the labourer is worthy of their hire, and influencers are basically working in the entertainment field, so perhaps I ought not to react with contempt for them and their chosen career. But OTOH, "influencer" implies to me that their goal includes changing the opinions and/or actions of those who consume the influencer's output, and when money/status is a factor, it's unlikely they'll try to get the desired effect by accurate communication. (In other words, I expect any "information" from them to be as reliable as advertisements and/or political speech.)

[thewayne]

I love sharing cool stuff that I learn about.  And there's three things that I'm absolutely certain of: I'm not making any money from my blogs, I'm not pandering to those who follow them, and no one thing that I write about is going to appeal to all of them and I'm not going to attempt to write that one thing to appeal to all of them.  I think the pandering for clicks to monetize is one of the keys.  There's always a financial motivation behind what they're doing.  I share stuff because someone will find it cool or interesting.

[disneydream06]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!