Who is Tang Feiji, the Chinese influencer who recorded his own death while driving a strange helicopter?

His name was Tang Feiji, he was 55 years old and he died a few days ago while piloting his own helicopter.

Feiji lived in Sichuan, a province in the People's Republic of China, and had acquired the unique aircraft last year. As usual, whenever he went flying in it, he shared the adventure with his thousands of followers on Douyin.

And for some time now, he had become well-known on that country's networks for disseminating information related to airplanes and helicopters.

Last Saturday, September 27, Chinese influencer Tang Feiji took to the skies of Jiange County, Sichuan Province, unaware that it would be the last trip of his life.

He did so aboard the single-seat, twin-engine helicopter he had recently acquired, which could reach an altitude of 2,000 feet (about 600 meters) and a speed greater than 60 miles (90 kilometers) per hour.

The content creator decided to stream the flight live on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, where he was known as “Tang Aeronave” thanks to his knowledge of aviation.

However, shortly after taking off, his craft suddenly lost control and crashed to the ground, where it burst into flames.

Some of the video's hundreds of viewers began reacting to the incident with laughing emojis, perhaps thinking it was minor, while others, aware of the situation, flooded the chat with comments like "save him" or "call emergency services."

However, Feiji, who was not wearing a helmet or parachute, died after the incident. This was confirmed by rescuers and his family, who identified the body. The cause of the helicopter's abrupt crash is still under investigation.

Born in the Chinese city of Guangyuan in 1970, Tang Feiji became popular on the social network Douyin, where he posted content related to airplanes and helicopters, earning him the nickname “Aircraft.”

In recent years, Tang has gone a step further, uploading several videos of himself piloting aircraft.

In 2024, he also purchased a twin-rotor coaxial helicopter, which had a single cabin and weighed 115 kilograms. According to the state-run China News Service, he paid 350,000 yuan ($49,000) for it.

Last winter, after just six hours of practice, the influencer claimed he didn't need a pilot's license to operate his new aircraft, despite many experts advising him to do so, and told his followers he felt ready to take to the skies.

Following the incident that cost him his life, various Chinese media reported that Feiji had previously suffered two plane crashes, in which his vehicle fell from less than 30 feet due to malfunctions with the fuel gauge.

Now, Tang's Douyin profile has been set to private, in what appears to be a decision by his family to preserve his identity.