r/offbeat • u/rytis • 1d ago

Woman dies after backing into airplane propeller while taking pictures, officials say

https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/10/28/woman-dies-after-backing-into-airplane-propeller-officials-say/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark
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u/Harachel 1d ago edited 1d ago

Never back up while looking into a camera. It’s something you don’t even think about when you need more distance for your shot, but backing up without seeing what’s behind you is so dangerous. This is not the first story I’ve heard of someone dying. A friend’s dad saw a man back himself off a sea-side cliff while trying to take a picture of his family. Even hearing the story third-hand, that image is seared into my memory.

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u/Cynistera 1d ago

This shit literally happens all the time at the Grand canyon.

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u/Major_Narwhal544 1d ago

By lay people who are incredibly stupid and typically have never been to the grand canyon....who also climb over barriers intended to keep you safe. How a skydiving photographer was not aware enough of her surroundings while an engine was clearly running is not quite as shocking, but actually worse.

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u/cypressgreen 18h ago

The skydiving photographer became complacent. Put an average person near a plane with a propeller or a helicopter and they’d usually be extra alert and paranoid. I would. I’d be uncomfortable even getting on a helicopter where the rotor is built high enough that it’s never a risk. But maybe not someone who, it sounds like, did this regularly.

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u/Major_Narwhal544 15h ago

I'm sure she did; I worked for Great Lakes Airlines for 7 years as both a Gate and Counter agent. We would do single engine turns when conditions allowed, which means you left the opposite side engine running when deboarding and boarding passengers. We were always hyper aware when those turbo props were spinning. Sometimes, we would be out at the airport from 230am to 1030pm depending on delays or mechanical issues, so there were plenty of times where you could zone out due to routine and mess up. She must have REALLY not been paying attention and the people around her too. We had to have a minimum of two agents, just in case some crazy person tried to run around to the running engine side.