Another what-if - what if Rich was the pilot, but he was remotely piloting the plane? Just playing around until the final “landing”.
Someone advanced the theory that he was a white hat, but suppose that he was flying this thing (or had someone with him flying it) while he was comfy on the ground in a safe space.
of course, they found the wreckage and human remains - supposedly. But the FBI is involved, so that makes all statements questionable at this point.
If Rich was remotely piloting the plane, then the comms channel of the plane would have to be routed to the remote location.
And all the rest of the people on the audio would be just as we saw & heard.... and not known the difference.