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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Car goes airborne

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Driver killed in 150-ft. flight into 2nd floor of L.I. condo

BY JOHN MICHAEL LAUINGER and DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Wreck of Honda Accord in which Vincent Pontillo died rests inside second-floor apartment after crashing through wall of condo in Coram, L.I. The car was reportedly speeding at an estimated 110 mph before going over a dirt bank and soaring 150 feet over 30-foot pine trees. This is the remarkable aftermath of an amazing 150-foot flight - by a car - that ended in a deadly tangle of twisted metal and shattered glass in a second-floor apartment on Long Island yesterday.

The flying Honda was doing an estimated 110 mph when it rocketed up a dirt bank and over 30-foot pine trees like a Hollywood stunt car, police said.

It cleared a landscaped lawn half the length of a football field, then slammed through the wall of the Coram condo complex around 9 a.m.

The driver was killed but no one else was injured.

"Do you think this guy was trying to fly?" neighbor Joel Carter, 28, asked in disbelief.

Cops identified the driver as Vincent Pontillo, 44, who recently moved back into his mother's house on the block, neighbors said.

Pontillo had his seat belt on, cops said, suggesting he wasn't suicidal. Blood tests showed no immediate signs of alcohol.

Investigators said his death may have been an accident or he might have suffered a seizure, causing him to lose control of his car.

"It's just a horrible accident," said a family friend, who arrived in a black Jaguar bearing vanity plate ULKNATME - apparently short for "you lookin' at me?"

Autopsy results were pending.

Montillo was behind the wheel of his maroon Honda Accord when he floored the gas pedal on Osborne Ave., an arrow-straight road that ends in a dead end.

He was doing well over 100mph when he roared past neighbor Joe Gandolfo, 40, who was sitting on his front porch.

"It was just a maroon blur," Gandolfo said. "He was flying."

At the end of the mile-long street, the car hit the waist-high earthen bank that acted like a ramp, sending the car into the air. Incredibly, it skied over the trees, a long yard and a one-story utility shed.

Grazing a silver maple tree, it plowed through a brick wall and into the apartment.

Gandolfo was stunned when he went down the block and couldn't see the car that just blew past his house.

"I ran to the dead end and I couldn't find the car," said Gandolfo,.

Luckily, condo owner Lauren Pogran had already left for work when the flying missile struck. Neighbor Amrita Bijoor was jolted awake by the impact.

"It scared me," said Bijoor, 30. "I never imagined it was a car of all things."

Pogran arrived home to find the car's rear end peeking out of her wall. She worried about her 4-month-old cat, Meeko, who was still stuck in the heavily damaged apartment.

"I just want my cat back," she pleaded with cops. "I don't care about any of my [stuff] up there."

Originally published on September 13, 2006

Submitted on 09/13/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: New York Daily News - 9/13/05

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
Certainly spectacular, but alas no proof of self-selection. All signs point to some sort of accident, be it due to a seizure or some sort of mechanical failure. Long Island, NY is the source of many a tale of stupidity, but unfortunately this is not one of them. Thanks for the submission just the same!


Fitzroy said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
I concur. The report itself suggests that this probably was not some sort of spectacularly stupid stunt. While there is no denying it was spectacular, it also was most likely a tragic accident. Still, every extra pair of eyes out looking for material is valuable, so the contribution is appreciated.


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