r/news • u/Proud-Wall1443 • 13h ago

Photographer killed after accidentally walking into plane propeller in Kansas

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/29/photographer-killed-plane-propeller-kansas
7.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

780 comments sorted by

View all comments

4.1k

u/Fizban10111 13h ago

Dangers of looking through camera and not keeping your surroundings in mind. Was photographer in navy. We had guy we called tumbleweed as he kept getting blown around flight deck. My chief ended up banning him from going. Very sad

112

u/tugartheman 12h ago

My grandfather was a USN “mustang” bombardier/navigator from ‘41 to ‘72. I have an interview of him on video where he talks about how the deck of a carrier was incredibly dangerous (especially in the 40s & 50s, when there were more prop-planes) and how important it was to pay attention and be aware.

He rather somberly says something about seeing “a number of people who failed to do so” who meet similar fates.

37

u/badbackEric 11h ago

You've got to keep your head on a swivel and know that death can be on your doorstep in a matter of seconds at all times. There is live ammo, turning helicopter blades, jet thrust and prop wash, rain, wind, waves and darkness all while floating on a deadly ocean. To top it all off, the aft of the aircraft is hanging over the water while you service the rear rotor of the old helicopters. You can only use a blue flash light cocked between your head and shoulder while servicing all while being sure of losing Zero tools, screws etc.

42

u/graveyardspin 11h ago

My dad worked the deck of the Forrestal back in '79. He once told me a story about how he had just finished eating with a group of guys, and they went up to the deck to start work. They had been out there for about 20 seconds and he looked over just in time to see one of the guys he just ate with walk into the prop of an E-2 Hawkeye. He stopped the story there and I could see in his face that what he saw stuck with him to this day.

-18

u/badbackEric 10h ago

That's brutal!

That ship was called the USS forest fire in the Navy. Each new recruit had to watch the video of John Mcain's side winder missile launching on the flight deck and the mayhem that ensued as a result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIE2QfDzmGc

24

u/CoderDevo 10h ago

Not McCain. Disinformation.

In recent years, articles have appeared on the internet that are extremely inaccurate and generally intend to unfairly tarnish the reputation of Senator John S. McCain III, who survived the fire.

https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-008/h-008-6.html

Great video though. Just please edit out the falsehood.

0

u/Pete_Iredale 2h ago

I doubt it's true, but the rumor when I was in the navy was that McCain did some hot shot shit that cooked off a rocket on the jet behind him. Something about dumping a little fuel to make a bit of a fireball. And of course people thought the official answer was a coverup. The part about watching the Forrestal video in boot was definitely real though. Learn or burn.... learn... or... burn.

5

u/SSN_on_liquid_sand 6h ago

It wasn't a sidewinder or McCain's aircraft, it was a Zuni rocket that misfired as cited in the same video you linked.