Flying Beast

Gaurav Taneja (Hindi: ; born: ), better known online as Flying Beast, is an Indian YouTuber and vlogger who uploads daily vlogs and occasionally travel vlogs.
== Career ==
In 2017, he started a channel named FitMuscle TV, where he posted videos on fitness and bodybuilding, all the while serving as a flight captain for . Later that year, he started his vlogging channel, Flying Beast, where he posted vlogs from his profession and daily life.
The channel gained traction fast, and he posted to the channel consistently. In April 2019, he shifted from IndiGo to serving as a captain at . He gained media attention in 2020 when he was suspended from his job for allegedly calling out safety concerns at AirAsia, where pilots were instructed to alter flight settings to save fuel, putting passengers at risk. Additionally, AirAsia pilots were also hesitant to take sick leaves fearing punitive action, and the airline was not strictly adhering to the SoPs issued by the government, on flying amidst COVID-19 times.
Taneja raised the issue on Twitter, prompting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation into conducting an enquiry, which was also rushed because of the accident. Two senior executives at AirAsia were suspended in the aftermath. After the incident, Taneja transitioned from working in the aviation industry to a full-time content creator. In 2023, he remarked that he now "earns more than the AirAsia CEO who fired him."
== Personal life ==
Gaurav Taneja was born on 9 July 1986 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to parents Bharti Taneja and Yogendra Kumar Taneja. He completed his schooling from Kanpur, and enrolled at BITS Pilani, Dubai, later transferring to and graduating from IIT Kharagpur in Civil Engineering in the year 2008. Aiming to become a pilot, he received his training in the United States.
He is married to Ritu Rathee Taneja and has two daughters, Rasbhari "Rashi" and Pihu.
== Controversies ==
=== Child abuse ===
Taneja has been accused of exploiting his children for content. He posted many videos featuring Rashi and Pihu in the thumbnails, with the videos themselves often showing them crying or looking disturbed, raising doubts of catering to paedophilia.
 reported on a video showing Rashi getting her ears pierced at a jewellery shop without anaesthesia, during which she cried in pain, labelling it as child abuse. Upon being escorted to the Delhi High Court, Mint reporter Shephali Bhatt was denied an appeal and was forced to take the article down on the grounds that ear-piercing cannot be labelled something as extreme as child abuse.
=== Propaganda ===
On 1 May 2022, Taneja tweeted an image of him performing , claiming that two families remained unaffected by the in 1984 because they regularly performed . He became the subject of trolling for promoting religious propaganda, with news outlets reporting on the tweet.
=== Noida Metro incident ===
Taneja was arrested in Noida on 9 July 2022 for violating imposed due to the pandemic. His wife Ritu Rathee organised a surprise birthday party for him, booking an entire train on the Noida Metro, and inviting her own Instagram followers to the party at the Sector 51 station.
The gathering resulted in a massive traffic jam around the station, and a stampede-like situation inside the station. Gaurav and Ritu were arrested from the station, and were granted bail the same night.
Gaurav later called the handling of the situation "unfair," as he was supposedly not informed that he and Ritu were being arrested until they were at the police station. He claimed to have also requested the officials to not publicise pictures of his arrest, but his pleas were denied.
== References ==
Category:Vlogging YouTubers
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:Indian YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2017
Category:One million subscribers
Category:Two million subscribers
Category:Three million subscribers
Category:Four million subscribers
Category:Five million subscribers
Category:One billion views