People walking into propellers is surprisingly not an uncommon occurrence. However, this particular case must be appreciated in the fine details. I am a Flight Instructor at the school where this accident occurred, and I don't believe there is a single other flight instructor who didn't have a "what was he thinking" moment. The student in question had not received his private pilot license yet, and was going on a solo flight. Now, student pilots on solo flights are suppose to be exactly that, solo. This particular kid decided to break the rules and bring a friend with him. The flight went exceptionally well, with no incident. However, it was very dark when they returned (student pilots don't fly solo at night). As they were parking the aircraft, they saw that the fuel guy had not left yet and were both decidedly panicked at the thought of getting in trouble. The student in the left seat jumps out and runs off into the night, in an attempt to disappear. The other student decides to switch seats. Did he decide to shuffle two feet to the left, no. Did he decide to walk around the back, no. He decided to get out and walk straight forward into the propeller of his own aircraft, now sitting there with no pilot. Imagine what the fuel guy thought when he saw this decidedly odd scene. He may or may not deserve a Darwin award, but at the very least, he has removed himself from our already dangerous airspace full of idiots.

Submitted on 11/19/2008

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Merced Sun Star: Nov 18 2008

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Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
My brother is a pilot and any time he takes me or anybody else flying with him he is always extremely careful to point out the dangers of the propeller to people. It's just plain common sense. Having said that, we already have a few similar stories in the archives and there's nothing to this particular story that stands out to me so I'm inclined to toss it. Thanks just the same. For the moderators, here's a link to the actual article: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/552540.html

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Actually, having been a pilot myself, I actually sort of like this one. This fellow exercised bad judgment from the get-go, and walking into the prop was the last straw. We'll see what the other mods think!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I agree with James. It's got that "something" and I like how, to get out of a relatively minor problem, they took extreme measures. What was moron #2 getting into the pilot seat anyway?

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