The popular Harlem Shake YouTube dance meme that went viral has reached new heights ... literally. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating a group of students from Colorado College who filmed a Harlem Shake video while on board a flight to San Diego.
The students filmed their own version of the meme while in flight approximately 30,000 feet in the air, which sparked the attention of federal investigators. No charges have been filed against the students for the video that was filmed on Feb. 15 during Flight 157 on a Frontier Airlines Airbus 320. The FAA is looking into the incident, trying to determine if there was any violation of regulations.
As commonly seen in a Harlem Shake meme video, one of the students is seen dancing in the aisle of the plane for roughly 15 seconds and then an edited jump cut shifts to a scene of everyone on the plane dancing wildly. Safety concerns may come into question since the video shows passengers jumping up and down and banging on the cabin's ceiling and walls.
"They are still looking into it, it's still open. I don't know where the [investigators] were told about it, but when they saw the video they just decided to look into it because it is better to be safe than sorry," said Tony Molinero, a spokesman for the FAA.
Some aviation experts say that the flailing of arms and jumping up and down depicted in the Harlem Shake video would not affect the plane's stability.
"..there is nothing from my observations and knowledge that would suggest a violation of an FAA regulation or that safety of the aircraft, crew or passengers were in jeopardy, as long as a member of the crew made the appropriate announcements after turning off the seatbelt sign," said aviation expert Steve Cowell, a consultant with SRC Aviation, a University of California Flight Safety Program graduate who was a pilot for 28 years.
As reported by the school's paper, the Catalyst, "All safety measures were followed and the seat belt sign was off," said Kate O'Malley, a spokeswoman for Frontier Airlines.
The FAA did not go into specific details about exactly what was seen in the video that made them want to investigate further.
"We will talk to the crew and things like that. The key issue was whether or not the seatbelt sign was on," said Moilnero. The FAA said the investigation may take another week or more.
