David ‘Heavy D’ Sparks, the influencer of Discovery Channel’s Diesel Brothers fame, has been catching a lot of heat lately. He recently spent two nights in jail over allegedly unpaid legal fees in a case that a non-profit organization has against him. Now, Heavy D is in trouble again, and for a reason that has nothing to do with his other legal drama. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the legality of the flights Heavy D made in his Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk two years ago. But there’s a twist: I was a passenger on one of those flights.
A little over two years ago, my contact at the company that does public relations for Polaris Industries reached out to me with an incredible opportunity. I was among a handful of journalists invited to take part in Polaris Camp RZR, the California Imperial Sand Dunes desert celebration that’s centered on high-octane thrills. It was out there where I got absolutely nuts in a Polaris RZR Turbo R and a Polaris RZR Pro R alongside racing legend Tanner Foust. That year, the event took place on October 27 and 28.
The gathering that I attended, which was a little press event contained within the greater public party of Camp RZR, was already insane and the stuff of dreams. But then, it got better. That Saturday morning, the 28th, the Polaris crew got us up bright and early to race through the dunes to watch sunrise. Then, back at camp, we were told that we had just been invited to take a ride in a real Black Hawk helicopter. I’m pretty sure my Polaris rep wasn’t even done talking when I said yes. Mind you, I was at this event to experience a bunch of side-by-sides. A helicopter ride was never part of the deal. But as an aviation enthusiast, there was no way I could say no.
The Flight
The Polaris rep never gave further details about the helicopter other than the fact that it was a Black Hawk. There were a couple of helicopters buzzing around that day, and I assumed that they were just taking photos and videos of the hot side-by-side action. So, when Polaris said that our little group of journalists and influencers could ride in a Black Hawk, I thought of it as little more than a surprise treat from Polaris to pump up the action for us.
The flight itself was awesome. If you’ve been a reader of The Autopian for long enough, you know that my heart belongs to fixed-wing aircraft. But a Black Hawk? Oh, that’s crazy fun. Here’s what I wrote in 2023 about the flight:
Prior to this day, my most memorable helicopter ride was a helicopter tour of Chicago. I don’t even remember what model of helicopter it was, but it was a cute little guy. This chopper was a 1981 Sikorsky UH-60A and its large rotors were powered by a pair of GE T700-GE-701D turboshaft engines making 1,994 SHP each. Apparently, this helicopter is owned by YouTuber HeavyDSparks.
The pilots at the controls touched down and we boarded the helicopter with the engines hot. It felt like we were in a movie from the dramatic rotor wash to ducking under as we hopped in and strapped ourselves to the seats. The journalists at the event expected this to be a gentle tour around Glamis, but that’s not what we got.
The skilled pilots made this chopper do some impressive stunts. We got what felt like was just feet above the sands and the pilots performed dives so fast that air rushing into the cabin tried to rip my clothes off. The helicopter was flying so fast with the doors open that I couldn’t even muster a “holy shit” before the next maneuver. In addition to the stunts, we flew lower than the tops of the dunes. At times, there were side-by-sides on the ground sitting way higher than we were flying. I knew Black Hawks were versatile helicopters, but I had no idea these things were so agile. I began to wonder if we were going to do a barrel roll or something like a Red Bull stunt chopper.
The chopper ride was also a fantastic way to show the scale of Camp RZR and the Glamis dunes. Even when the helicopter flew higher, the dunes went straight to the horizon. If you squinted, you might have even seen side-by-sides off in the distance, too. The Black Hawk ride lasted about 15 minutes, and in the end, my heart didn’t stop rushing. The energy flowed through me so much that I felt like I wanted to jump out of a plane and go skydiving or perhaps take flight in one of the RZRs on site. How do you top a near-vertical dive in a military chopper? Someone’s going to have to get me behind the controls of a Boeing 747 or something.
I did not know the helicopter was owned by Heavy D until I got home, got curious, and entered the helicopter’s registration number into the FAA Registry N-Number Inquiry tool.
This was sort of weird. This helicopter was owned by a famous YouTuber, and not a single person at Polaris or otherwise told us who owned or operated the helicopter. Admittedly, I do not watch Heavy D’s content. Nor have I ever seen a single episode of Diesel Brothers. So, I don’t really know what the guy looks like outside of the occasional topshot from a news article.
But, honestly, I didn’t even care because that Black Hawk ride was off-the-charts fun. It was so fun that it was one of the focuses of the article that I wrote about Camp RZR.
The FAA Looks Into The Flights
A whole two years passed. That’s a long time in auto journalism, especially if you’re like me and you average something like 4,000 words a day. The memory of the helicopter ride and that weekend as a whole was getting more distant by the day.
Then something happened that brought that memory back to the front of my mind. I was contacted by an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector yesterday. That investigator told me that he was conducting an inquiry into the flights Heavy D’s helicopter flew that weekend. Someone sent the investigator my article, and he contacted me to get my recollection of what happened that weekend. I was, after all, a passenger on one of the flights.
I told him pretty much what you’ve read here. I was a journalist invited to Camp RZR by Polaris, and my Polaris rep was quite hyped to tell us that we could fly in a Black Hawk. The flight was awesome, and none of us were told how Polaris somehow scored the opportunity, or who was even running the chopper. I didn’t even think it was Heavy D behind the controls. At least, not as I recalled my memory of the flight.
But I was curious. Everything seemed kosher to me. Why was the FAA interested in these flights?
The investigator told me that the scope of the investigation is unclear at this time. Basically, the FAA is just trying to get the facts to determine what will happen next.
Why The FAA Cares
The reason why the FAA cares about what happened in Glamis appears to have something to do with the fact that Heavy D’s helicopter, which was a military surplus Black Hawk, is under an Experimental certificate. As the investigator told me, whenever the military sells off its helicopters, they get a special airworthiness certificate that’s different than the certificate that the civilian version of the same helicopter would get. In this case, the civilian version of a Black Hawk is the Sikorsky S-70.
As the investigator told me, while a military surplus chopper is dirt cheap compared to a civilian version, the special airworthiness certificate attached to it comes with a plethora of limitations in the name of safety. With a regular certificate in an S-70, the investigator told me, you can use your helicopter to fly passengers, you can use it for hire, or anything else that you’d want to do with a normal aircraft.
However, since Heavy D’s Black Hawk has an Experimental certificate, the investigator said, the situation changes dramatically. For one, the investigator told me, the chopper is not supposed to be carrying passengers at all. So, the fact that this helicopter spent the day constantly picking up people and buzzing them around the grounds is a problem in the eyes of the FAA investigator. The other big question the investigator has is whether someone paid for the helicopter to fly people around. If so, that’s a problem.
Another problem is how the helicopter was flying. Since Heavy D’s helicopter has an Experimental certificate, the investigator said, it’s not allowed to fly low over a densely populated area. What does that mean? Per the FAA investigator, the presence of more than four vehicles counts as a densely populated area. Camp RZR had hundreds of vehicles and even more people.
This is made only worse, per the investigator, by the fact that the helicopter was performing high-speed, very low-flying passes over crowds of people and vehicles. So, at least as of yesterday, the investigator saw at least three issues to look into.
Update: I will also note that the investigator did not specify any specific regulations that they believed were broken. That said, a relevant regulation could be 14 CFR § 91.319 – Aircraft having experimental certificates: Operating limitations, which reads a little differently than what the investigator told me:
(a) Except as provided in § 91.326, no person may operate an aircraft that has an experimental certificate—
(1) For other than the purpose for which the certificate was issued; or
(2) Carrying persons or property for compensation or hire in operations that:
(i) Require an air carrier or commercial operator certificate issued under part 119 of this chapter;
(ii) Are listed in § 119.1(e) of this chapter;
(iii) Require management specifications for a fractional ownership program issued in accordance with subpart K of this part; or
(iv) Are conducted under part 129, 133, or 137 of this chapter.
(b) No person may operate an aircraft that has an experimental certificate outside of an area assigned by the Administrator until it is shown that—
(1) The aircraft is controllable throughout its normal range of speeds and throughout all the maneuvers to be executed; and
(2) The aircraft has no hazardous operating characteristics or design features.
(c) Unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator in special operating limitations, no person may operate an aircraft that has an experimental certificate over a densely populated area or in a congested airway. The Administrator may issue special operating limitations for particular aircraft to permit takeoffs and landings to be conducted over a densely populated area or in a congested airway, in accordance with terms and conditions specified in the authorization in the interest of safety in air commerce.
(d) Each person operating an aircraft that has an experimental certificate shall—
(1) Advise each person carried of the experimental nature of the aircraft;
(2) Operate under VFR, day only, unless otherwise specifically authorized by the Administrator; and
(3) Notify air traffic control of the experimental nature of the aircraft when utilizing air traffic services.
Also potentially relevant is 14 CFR § 91.119, which says:
§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.
(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
(d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface—
(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA; and
(2) A powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section.
What Could Happen
So, what goes on behind the scenes here? Well, the FAA’s investigation is in its very early fact-finding stages. The investigator is just trying to find out who was seated up front and who was flying the helicopter, what days the helicopter was flying, whether the pilots were paid to be there, and the type of flying done at the dunes.
Once the investigator is done gathering the facts, this information will be presented to the FAA. From there, the pilots might get a talking to about what they can and cannot do with a Black Hawk on an Experimental certificate. Depending on how the investigation goes, the FAA may take further action, including the suspension or revocation of the pilots’ certificates. If the FAA finds out that this was more than just pilots flying, and that Heavy D’s business was involved and was using the Black Hawk for commercial purposes, civil penalties may also be assessed against the business.
One thing to keep in mind here is that, even if the FAA does take the licenses of the pilots, they will be allowed to go through the process to potentially get back their license in only a year. The FAA is built around a safety culture. The idea is to make pilots and flying safer, not punish pilots for mistakes that can be rectified.
Based on what I could find through the FAA’s databases and Heavy D’s YouTube channel, Heavy D purchased the helicopter, registration N801WT, in the summer of 2022. The helicopter, which was manufactured in 1981, then embarked on an extensive renovation process that involved new paint, inspections, and more. The Black Hawk has also been modified to carry personal watercraft.
The big question right now is who was flying the helicopter and who was seated at the controls. At first, I didn’t think it was Heavy D. However, after reviewing my own photos and footage, I think he probably was in the right seat of the helicopter.
This Helicopter Flies Around A Lot
To be fair, it’s not like Heavy D ever made these flights a secret. There are endless videos of him flying this helicopter around Glamis, often with passengers on board. Here’s a video from a flight from only a few weeks ago during Camp RZR 2025:
Here’s an Instagram Reel of Heavy D allegedly flying his helicopter at Glamis only a few weeks ago:
Here’s a YouTube video from Sparks Motors, showing the helicopter being piloted at Camp RZR 2023, the event that I was at:
These are just a fraction of the videos. Click here to view a post on Facebook from someone else who got to take a flight in Heavy D’s helicopter in 2023.
It’s pretty clear from the near infinite videos online that Heavy D’s chopper has been flying these Glamis flights for multiple years now. I get why, too. I would be lying if I said the guy’s helicopter wasn’t wildly fun. I was only vaguely aware of Heavy D before–modding diesels or their emissions systems is not at all my thing–but the flight was fun enough that I’ve told other avgeeks, “I rode in a Black Hawk once.”
Granted, it doesn’t really matter how much fun any passenger had, because we’re not the ones Heavy D’s crew needs to be concerned with. That’s the FAA. Normally, I would not even report on a story like this, but I found it fascinating since I was a passenger on one of these flights.
Why Heavy D Has Been In The News
This might become yet another challenge for Heavy D. If you haven’t been following his other legal battle involving alleged tampering with diesel emissions equipment, I’ll let our friends at The Drive bring you up to speed. From an article published on October 7, 2025:
Dave Sparks—also known as “Heavy D,” one half of the internet-famous Diesel Brothers—was arrested Tuesday morning in Utah. Bloomberg Law wrote late last week that a warrant had been issued for Sparks’ arrest, as a federal judge found him in contempt of multiple court orders following a Clean Air Act lawsuit. This includes paying $844,000 in fees. Now, Sparks has been booked in Salt Lake City Jail, as first reported by TMZ and confirmed by The Drive.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby ruled in March 2020 that Sparks and three others must pay the substantial amount for tampering with diesel truck emissions systems. While Sparks and the other defendants uploaded videos of diesel pickups blowing black smoke to YouTube, racking up millions of views, those clips weren’t the only examples of tampering pointed out by the plaintiffs. Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment purchased a truck from Sparks Motors and had its exhaust emissions tested at a lab in Denver, Colorado. The results allegedly showed that the truck emitted 21 times more particulate matter than if it were equipped with an operational diesel particulate filter, or DPF.
While the news drew negative attention to Sparks and his companies back then, he has since built an even larger following online. His YouTube channel has 4.47 million subscribers, and his Instagram follower count is slightly below 3.9 million. Sparks famously bought Ye’s Ripsaw EV2 luxury tank in 2022, followed by several other high-profile purchases like a Blackhawk military helicopter. Collaborations with other YouTube personalities like WhistlinDiesel and Matt’s Off-Road Recovery have kept Sparks in the diesel truck community spotlight.
Unfortunately, for all of the coolness that his jetski-hauling helicopter is, all of the above is a lot less cool. Heavy D spent two nights in jail, and the civil litigation between him and the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment continues.
As for what Heavy D’s helicopter has been up to, it’s still too early to say. The FAA is collecting facts right now and will act based on the data that it gets. I have reached out to Polaris and Sparks Motors for comment, and will update this story when I hear back.
Topshot: Author/Autopian
The post The Feds Are Investigating Diesel Brothers Star ‘Heavy D’ Over Black Hawk Helicopter Flights During A Press Event I Attended appeared first on The Autopian.
