Lucky Escapes

My old banger of a phone stays charged for weeks (if I leave it turned off).
 
That's nothing - I've got a phone in my lounge which plugs into the wall and never needs charging! I've had it since I moved in here in 2003!
 
A pilot crash landed his Cessna in California. Unfortunately, his airplane came to rest on Metrolink railway tracks. Fortunately, first responders were able to drag the injured pilot away just before a speeding train smashed through the crashed aircraft. The condition of the pilot isn't reported, but it's definitely a lot better than it was about to be.

Multiple videos of the scene and train impact are accessible at the link below.
Pilot Pulled From Crashed Plane Just Before Train Obliterates It In Incredible Body Cam Video

... A Cessna 172 made an emergency landing and ended up on railroad tracks between Osborne Street and San Fernando Road near the airport. The injured pilot was pulled from the stricken Cessna by police and bystanders just moments before a Metrolink train plowed through the aircraft, shattering it and sending pieces of it flying. LAPD has posted absolutely chilling bodycam footage of the rescue, which came in just the nick of time ...

Other videos from the scene are also remarkably dramatic ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...train-obliterates-it-in-insane-body-cam-video
 
EnolaGaia said:
A pilot crash landed his Cessna in California. Unfortunately, his airplane came to rest on Metrolink railway tracks. Fortunately, first responders were able to drag the injured pilot away just before a speeding train smashed through the crashed aircraft. The condition of the pilot isn't reported, but it's definitely a lot better than it was about to be.

Multiple videos of the scene and train impact are accessible at the link below.

FULL STORY: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...train-obliterates-it-in-insane-body-cam-video
Click to expand...

11/10 for those officers.

maximus otter
 
There is an old joke...
"I knew a guy once who was scared of flying. Never flew anywhere. Even if it was hundreds of miles away. He went on a holiday once, on a cruise, he had only been aboard the ship for a day when a plane crashed into it"
 
This driver in Massachusetts was lucky to avoid being seriously injured, crashing, or dying when a sizable chunk of concrete fell off an expressway overpass and smashed through his windshield. The strike was well-positioned to hit him in the face, but instead flew past his head into the vehicle's rear seat area.


Driver uninjured when concrete crashes through windshield

A driver said he feels lucky to be alive and uninjured after a chunk of concrete fell from a Massachusetts overpass and crashed through the windshield of his car.

Leonard Brown, 64, of Santa Barbara, Calif., said he was driving Tuesday on Route 28 in Somerville, approaching the southbound ramp to Interstate 93, when something he initially thought to be a chunk of ice or snow crashed through his windshield. ...

"It went right by my head," he told WBZ-TV.

Brown pulled over to examine the damage and he discovered what had actually crashed through his vehicle.

... "I had just barely missed being hit by a piece of concrete that was 12, 15 inches across and several inches thick and had gone from the front window and was sitting on the back deck of my Audi Q5 in the backseat." ...

"I think I'm very lucky to not be injured," he said. ...
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FULL STORY (With Video): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/0...hield-Somerville-Massachusetts/7831643215142/
 
I don’t know if I should consider myself lucky or unlucky, but I’ve had a few escapes missing terrorist attacks over the years..

In 1992 I walked past the lorry that held the IRA bomb during on the St May Axe attack in the City of London. I was on my way to meet some friends in a bar in Aldgate and If I’d had walked past it 10 minutes later, I wouldn’t be around to tell the tale.

Was on the upper deck of a bus going down the west India dock road when the Canary wharf bomb went off in 1996. The bus was delayed and if it wasn’t I would have been a lot closer to Canary Wharf itself when the bomb exploded. The noise of the bomb made me jump out of my seat and I ended up the aisle. I quickly Picked myself up only for the bus to make an emergency stop with threw me back down into the aisle again

I was in Liverpool Street station buying a breakfast pasty when the 07/07 attacks on London happened. It was pandemonium as people were rushing to get out of the underground and onto the main concourse. The staff were struggling to cope. I heard one of them say power surge and I thought this is no power surge. 52 innocent people died that day.

Two weeks later the number 26 bus was blown up in Shoreditch. Thankfully, no one died but the 26 was the bus that I used to take to get into work each morning. That one was a bit too close for comfort, as we only lived up the road, and one of the reasons Mrs DT persuaded me to sell up and move out to the country.

I was in Westminster literally 20 minutes before the attack happened in 2017. My young son was obsessed with Big Ben at the time, so I often used to take a lunchtime stroll from the City to Westminster, to take some snaps on my phone for him. As I was walking around Westminster that day, the large presence of armed Police, was noticeable, and It got me thinking that this must be the safest place in London, and no terrorist group would ever think of attacking Westminster – how Ironic eh..?

November 2019, London Bridge attack. I was in the habit every Friday of meeting a pal for lunch who worked on the southern end of London Bridge, (I work near the northern end) was just putting my coat on to go meet him, when I got a text to say he wouldn’t be able to make it. Had he not done that, I would have been walking across London Bridge at the time the attack happened.
 
Dick Turpin said:
I don’t know if I should consider myself lucky or unlucky, but I’ve had a few escapes missing terrorist attacks over the years..

In 1992 I walked past the lorry that held the IRA bomb during on the St May Axe attack in the City of London. I was on my way to meet some friends in a bar in Aldgate and If I’d had walked past it 10 minutes later, I wouldn’t be around to tell the tale.

Was on the upper deck of a bus going down the west India dock road when the Canary wharf bomb went off in 1996. The bus was delayed and if it wasn’t I would have been a lot closer to Canary Wharf itself when the bomb exploded. The noise of the bomb made me jump out of my seat and I ended up the aisle. I quickly Picked myself up only for the bus to make an emergency stop with threw me back down into the aisle again

I was in Liverpool Street station buying a breakfast pasty when the 07/07 attacks on London happened. It was pandemonium as people were rushing to get out of the underground and onto the main concourse. The staff were struggling to cope. I heard one of them say power surge and I thought this is no power surge. 52 innocent people died that day.

Two weeks later the number 26 bus was blown up in Shoreditch. Thankfully, no one died but the 26 was the bus that I used to take to get into work each morning. That one was a bit too close for comfort, as we only lived up the road, and one of the reasons Mrs DT persuaded me to sell up and move out to the country.

I was in Westminster literally 20 minutes before the attack happened in 2017. My young son was obsessed with Big Ben at the time, so I often used to take a lunchtime stroll from the City to Westminster, to take some snaps on my phone for him. As I was walking around Westminster that day, the large presence of armed Police, was noticeable, and It got me thinking that this must be the safest place in London, and no terrorist group would ever think of attacking Westminster – how Ironic eh..?

November 2019, London Bridge attack. I was in the habit every Friday of meeting a pal for lunch who worked on the southern end of London Bridge, (I work near the northern end) was just putting my coat on to go meet him, when I got a text to say he wouldn’t be able to make it. Had he not done that, I would have been walking across London Bridge at the time the attack happened.
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That takes me back. I worked in the City for years and managed to miss the London Bridge bombing in 1992 by minutes. Going out in the evening was regularly disrupted by bomb threats, false alarms and evacuations you sort of got used to it in a way.
 
JaneD said:
That takes me back. I worked in the City for years and managed to miss the London Bridge bombing in 1992 by minutes. Going out in the evening was regularly disrupted by bomb threats, false alarms and evacuations you sort of got used to it in a way.
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Roger that Jane.

I’m 51 years of age, and my entire life (like all British people over a certain age) I’ve lived under a cloud of a terror threat. If it’s not one group it’s another FFS.

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. They evacuated the city of London, so I went home and just stared at the news all day, waiting for an update, and wondering what Mr Bush was going to do about it.

Around 4pm a RAF fighter jet started circling the Nat west tower, until it needed refuelling then another would take its place. All night those jets were there. I could see it from my 4th floor flat in Bethnal green. Mrs DT was working as cabin crew for BA at the time and was stuck in Athens (I think) as all flights were grounded. Scary times.

Although I don’t remember the London bridge bomb of 1992. Are you getting confused with the Bishopsgate bombing of 1993..?.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Roger that Jane.

I’m 51 years of age, and my entire life (like all British people over a certain age) I’ve lived under a cloud of a terror threat. If it’s not one group it’s another FFS.

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. They evacuated the city of London, so I went home and just stared at the news all day, waiting for an update, and wondering what Mr Bush was going to do about it.

Around 4pm a RAF fighter jet started circling the Nat west tower, until it needed refuelling then another would take its place. All night those jets were there. I could see it from my 4th floor flat in Bethnal green. Mrs DT was working as cabin crew for BA at the time and was stuck in Athens (I think) as all flights were grounded. Scary times.

Although I don’t remember the London bridge bomb of 1992. Are you getting confused with the Bishopsgate bombing of 1993..?.
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Nope it was this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_London_Bridge_bombing. . I do remember skipping down the escalator c 18:00 at Kings Cross on 18th November 1987 as well. And we were in New England for 9/11. Utter madness. Could not work out what had happened for days. US tv kept playing God Bless America and we had to find a cable station showing Newsnight to hear some sense from Jeremy Paxman. The world is mad.
 
JaneD said:
Nope it was this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_London_Bridge_bombing. . I do remember skipping down the escalator c 18:00 at Kings Cross on 18th November 1987 as well. And we were in New England for 9/11. Utter madness. Could not work out what had happened for days. US tv kept playing God Bless America and we had to find a cable station showing Newsnight to hear some sense from Jeremy Paxman. The world is mad.
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Wow Jane, how did this not hit my radar. I remember it now but had completely forgotten about it.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Wow Jane, how did this not hit my radar. I remember it now but had completely forgotten about it.
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To be fair there were so many of these sort of incidents at the time that you do kind of forget about some of them . I had forgotten about the Canary Wharf blast. But when the buggers get that close to making a mess of you on your morning commute, it kind of sticks in your mind. Getting home again to Forest Hill ( in those days) was a right royal pain too.
 
maximus otter said:
Question: Why are those bellends driving anywhere near that in the first place? lt’s not like it could sneak up on you!
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From what I gather ... The driver was attempting to outrun the funnel, but it sped up and overtook him just as he made it to a crossing highway where he could move laterally (relative to the funnel's direction of travel) at high speed.

There's separate footage of a drone chasing the tornado in the same area, and that footage illustrates how the ground-level funnel shifted directions and speed as it tore across the landscape.
 
maximus otter said:
Question: Why are those bellends driving anywhere near that in the first place? lt’s not like it could sneak up on you!

maximus otter
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I once was caught by unexpected bad weather in the US midwest, famous for tornados. I was in the country, on a road with very few places to turn off, in cornfields with no cover. I drove along mesocyclone clouds with a tornado about 1/2 mile to my left repeatedly forming, touching down, then dissipating for about 10 minutes. It was wildly exciting. I kept looking for turnoffs, a ditch, anything which would provide me more shelter, but decided my best chance was to stay in the car and keep driving, and hope the tornado would veer away from me. I was driving about 40 miles an hour, and was so surprised that the tornado kept up with me.

When I got home, my husband told me that my hair and the look on my face reminded him of the Bride of Frankenstein.

Edited: Ps - yes tornados can sneak up on you. The weather warning system is very good in tornado areas of the US. The day I was driving home, I had been at work and it was announced that bad weather was coming in two hours. We were given the option to shelter in place or leave. I thought that the two hours would be enough time to drive the sixty minutes back home. I guessed wrong.
 
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EnolaGaia said:
This video posted to Twitter shows a red pickup truck being caught within a passing tornado, getting flipped onto its side, flipped back upright, and driving off. ...
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Update ...

Here's the damage to the truck caused by being flipped onto its side, spun around, and then flipped upright again ...

TX-TornadoTossedPickup.jpg

... And here's an article reporting the driver's experience. He's a 16-year-old local boy.
Teen driver behind wheel of tornado pickup speaks out

Sensational video of a red pickup truck's remarkable encounter with a powerful tornado in Texas went viral on Tuesday and now the teenager who was driving it has described what it was like. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.accuweather.com/en/seve...-truck-captured-in-storm-chaser-video/1160776
 
hunck said:
It’s not clear anyone else was in the car but unless he had a licensed adult who is 21 years or older in the front seat he was driving illegally. The internet tells me you can get a learners license at 15 but not full license til 18 in Texas.
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There are two phases or steps in the teen licensing sequence prior to qualifying for a full (adult) license at age 18.

Phase II (the provisional drivers license) can be obtained between age 16 and 17

If he'd started and finished his required driver's education training and held a learners license (available at age 15) for at least 6 months he could have already qualified for a provisional / Phase II license. Under Phase II teen drivers aren't required to have an adult passenger riding with them.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/how-apply-texas-driver-license-teen
 
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This woman fainted on a Buenos Aires train platform and fell in between two moving carriages. Amazingly, she was rescued alive and intact. Check the video ...
Heart-stopping moment woman faints and tumbles off platform under moving train – but miraculously survives

A commuter said “I don’t know how I’m alive” after she fainted and fell under a moving train in incredible scenes captured on CCTV.

The woman, named only as Candela, lost her balance and tumbled off the platform at Independence Station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Footage showed Candela becoming unsteady on her feet, tipping forward and stumbling towards the onrushing train.

Onlookers feared the worst after she disappeared down a gap between two carriages. ...

But she was miraculously rescued alive from the tracks after the train stopped. ...
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FULL STORY (With Video): https://nypost.com/2022/04/19/argen...lls-under-moving-train-miraculously-survives/
 
I'm not sure if she has been mentioned elsewhere but worthy of a remark, Violet Jessop survived the Titanic sinking, plus two other shipwrecks.
(I'm reminded of other tales of people that have survived through several different volcanic eruptions, or tsunamis, etc.)

They do ask whether this means that she was lucky or unlucky???

https://historyofyesterday.com/miss...titanic-and-two-other-shipwrecks-b334a21a49ee
 
Saved from a new type of MIXomatosis

Three baby rabbits are being cared for after being spotted tumbling around in a cement mixer.

Their nest was in sand on a building site in Cambridgeshire, and the sand had been shovelled into the mixer.
It was only when the mixer was turning that a builder saw something inside, stopped it, and realised what had happened.
One rabbit did not survive, but the other three are being looked after at Cambridgeshire Wildlife Care.
Writing about the rescue last week on Facebook, staff at the Soham-based charity said: "We often say animals have had a lucky escape before coming to us, but these three truly are incredibly lucky.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-61949958
 
This Chinese driver managed to outrun a landslide and escape from a tunnel before the slide caught up to the vehicle. See the video (animated GIF) at the link below.

CarEscapesLandslide-2207.jpg
Lone car narrowly outraces landslide on an isolated highway

One unlucky driver in suddenly ended up in the middle of a real-life James Bond movie when a mountainside in China's southwestern Sichuan province gave way, causing rocks and debris to spill onto the roadway, leaving the imperiled car no choice but to outrun the carnage.

The landslide, which occurred on July 5, sent plumes of smoke and piles of small debris and mud careening down towards China's Wenchuan-Maerkang Highway -- and the car driving on it. ...

The massive rockfall, which appears to have begun high up on the mountainside, nearly crushed the car, with the driver barely making it out of a mountain tunnel before the debris caught up with the vehicle. ...
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FULL STORY (With Video (Animated GIF)): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/07/08/car-landslide/4631657282215/
 
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