In the season finale of the HBO show The Rehearsal , comedian Nathan Fielder flew a fully loaded Boeing 737 to test his novel idea that fatal plane crashes could be prevented by creating better interpersonal communication between pilots and first officers.

In keeping with the show's premise, Fielder wanted to make his dry-run test as close to a real-life commercial airliner flight as possible—complete with a cabin full of passengers.

This naturally required Fielder to obtain a commercial pilot's license and buy (with HBO's money) a 737.

Neither is particularly easy, but it is relatively straightforward from a legal perspective. Flying with passengers, however, required Fielder to engage in an elaborate workaround of federal regulations that were, ironically enough, adopted as the last b

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