Bryan Baeumler is best known to audiences as a renovation expert and television star, having captivated viewers with his hands-on skills in home improvement and his adventurous family life on HGTV shows like Island of Bryan and House of Bryan. With his wife, Sarah, by his side, Bryan has built a successful career transforming homes and resorts, including the ambitious project of renovating a rundown resort in the Bahamas into the stunning Caerula Mar Club. However, there’s much more to Bryan than his television fame and renovation expertise. What many fans don’t know is that Bryan has a deep connection to aviation and recently earned his pilot’s license, reigniting a passion that runs in his family.
Bryan’s interest in aviation started early, thanks to his father, who owned Baeumler Quality Sheet Metal in Toronto. Founded in 1974, the family business specialized in manufacturing parts and making structural modifications for private, military, and commercial aircraft.
Aviation was part of the fabric of Bryan’s upbringing, and he spent a lot of time around airplanes and the aviation industry. In the late 1990s, Bryan helped run the family’s air cargo business, frequently accompanying his father on cargo flights.
He fondly recalls spending hours in the cockpits of cargo jets during those years, soaking in the aviation experience even though he didn’t take the leap to learn how to fly at that time. “If hours counted as a passenger, I’d have a lot from riding milk runs with my father. Aviation was always in my blood, but I was always chasing girls and chasing dreams,” Bryan once reflected.
It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that Bryan finally pursued his long-held dream of becoming a licensed pilot. With the world slowing down, Bryan took the opportunity to earn his pilot’s license, something he says was “meant to be” despite waiting so long to take the plunge. As he worked his way through flight training, Bryan began researching airplanes to buy. His initial interest was in a fully restored 1980 Cessna 172, which came with a hefty price tag of $275,000. However, his mentor, commercial pilot Susan Carastro, advised him against it, suggesting a more practical option for a student pilot.
That advice led Bryan to a 1982 Cessna 172P, a trainer airplane that had seen better days. Despite its mismatched paint, corrosion, and lack of wheel pants, Bryan fell in love with the aircraft. He affectionately named it “Cinderella” (or Cindy) because, like the fairytale character, it underwent a transformation. Bryan purchased the plane for $35,000 and invested another $45,000 into restoring its paint and interior, giving it the “new dress and slippers” it deserved.
Bryan now uses his restored Cessna 172P to fly between his home at the Aero Club in Wellington, Florida, and the family’s resort on South Andros in the Bahamas. While the plane isn’t the fastest, it offers a practical and economical solution for transporting his family across the islands. Bryan often speaks about how flying himself and four others to the island is far more cost-effective than chartering or flying commercial. It also gives him a sense of freedom and control, something he greatly values in both his professional and personal life.
However, Bryan’s involvement in aviation doesn’t stop at flying for personal reasons. The Congo Town airfield (MYAK) on South Andros, where Bryan regularly lands, no longer offers fuel services. This presents a logistical challenge for him, but Bryan has taken an active role in working with local authorities to restore fuel availability and possibly add a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) to the island. In the meantime, he stockpiles fuel on the island for emergencies and for flying guests and friends around on tours.
For Bryan, flying isn’t just about practicality; it’s also a deeply personal and meditative experience. He loves to fly solo, listening to music while taking in the breathtaking views of the Bahamas from above. Whether pointing out blue holes, shipwrecks, or the intricate patterns in the sand, Bryan describes flying as “the ultimate battery charger,” a way to recharge and appreciate the beauty of the islands.
While most know Bryan Baeumler as a renovation expert and TV star, his love for aviation reveals another side of his adventurous spirit, blending his passion for flying with his family’s island lifestyle.
Bryan Baeumler’s Plane Crash Rumors: What Really Happened?
Over the years, Bryan Baeumler has sparked a variety of headlines and rumors, including one particularly alarming story about a supposed plane crash involving him. Fans were understandably concerned when, on November 10, 2019, Bryan posted several photos of a wrecked airplane on his Facebook page. Given that Baeumler is a licensed pilot who frequently flies his own Cessna 172P, many followers feared the worst—had Bryan been involved in a serious accident?
The answer, thankfully, is no. Bryan Baeumler was never in a plane crash, but his Facebook post unintentionally caused quite the stir. In the post, Bryan shared images of an abandoned, wrecked aircraft that had crashed long ago. The caption read, “It’s amazing what you find when you get off the beaten path…” followed by hashtags like #Runway, #RiskyBusiness, and #DrugPlanes. The photos weren’t of Bryan’s plane, Cindy, but rather of what he had discovered during an off-the-beaten-path adventure with some friends. The wreckage was actually from a drug-smuggling plane, part of the infamous network of planes used by drug cartels, including those of Pablo Escobar, to smuggle cocaine through the Bahamas into the United States during the height of the drug trade.
Because Bryan’s post didn’t immediately clarify that it wasn’t his plane, fans who were aware of his aviation hobby and his ownership of a white Cessna 172P similar to the one in the wreckage were alarmed. This incident led to the ongoing search trend for “Bryan Baeumler’s plane crash,” as many still associate the photos with a real crash involving Bryan. However, it was simply a case of mistaken identity, fueled by the surprising nature of his discovery and the shock it caused among his followers.
The humor Bryan intended with his post was quickly overshadowed by the concern it caused, and to this day, the myth of Bryan Baeumler’s plane crash persists, despite the fact that Bryan himself has never been involved in an aviation accident.
