Jet at Airport Sends Passing T 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Writen by submitter.
NOTE: As of this article's date & time, this is an Honorable Mention... but sounds like it could go to award status any day now...
ost airport cab drivers are familiar with the announcement, "the white-zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only." However after January 30, 2002 Santos Dumont airport in Rio De Janeiro may want to announce, "the runway is for airplane takeoff only, there are no flying cars allowed on the runway..."
Sixty-four year old cab driver Antonio Macedo was driving his taxi on the runway after dropping off his fare. "The signs that tell you to stop when the plane is on the runway are practically invisible." Leoncio Ribeiro, director of a taxi cooperative, said. Apparently the Vasp Boeing 737 preparing for takeoff was also practically invisible.
r. Macedo managed to be right behind the jet when it began gearing it's engines up for the 140 mph takeoff. Local Aviation experts estimated the blast-effect to be comparable to hurricane force winds (but, this writer assumes, a lot hotter).
The taxi was flung a full 25 meters spinning through the air, hit the rocks at the Guanabara bay coast, and ejected it's driver. Mr. Macedo's tip for this trip was a broken skull and thorax. He is presently in a coma.
No surprise that the car was destroyed. The local press report that airport authorities blame driver error as the cause of the accident. Submitted on 02/02/02
Submitted by:
David Rizzo
Reference:
Reuters Fri Feb 1, 7:38 AM ET
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