Strange Deaths

[EnolaGaia]

A Florida man operating a street sweeper was involved in a collision with a car. He was ejected from the street sweeper, which proceeded to run over and kill him.

Florida man dies after being run over by street sweeper he drove

A Florida man operating a street sweeper was killed Friday night after a collision with a car in a supermarket parking lot ejected him from his vehicle, which then ran him over, authorities said. ...

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 57-year-old man from Thonotosassa, who was not identified, was clearing the parking lot of a Publix Super Market in Brandon with a 2021 street sweeper at about 11:20 p.m. EST ...

While cleaning the lot, the man left the lot and entered the eastbound lanes of Brandon Boulevard ... When the man made a U-turn to return to the parking lot, he entered the path of a 2016 Chevrolet Corvette driven by a 43-year-old man from Seffner ...

The street sweeper, who was not wearing a seat belt, fell out of the vehicle ... The street sweeper vehicle continued to move forward and ran over the driver ...

The driver of the Corvette, who was not identified, suffered serious injuries ...

FULL STORY: https://www.wftv.com/news/trending/...-sweeper-he-drove/5AJBSATIBZD5DH6DJBBCQXEKYA/

 

[Trevp666]

I'm surprised they didn't go with the headline "A Brush with Death".

 

[EnolaGaia]

Authorities suspect this California man was using a knife to mix protein powder into water while driving, collided with a parked car, and received a fatal self-inflicted neck wound when his airbag deployed.

Bizarre fatal accident in Rancho Bernardo causes six-car crash

A man who was possibly using a knife while driving Sunday morning died when he struck a parked car and stabbed himself. The accident caused a chain-reaction crash involving five other cars ...

At 5:24 a.m. Sunday, a 28-year-old man driving a 2000 Lexus eastbound on Rancho Bernardo Road ... veered to the right for an unknown reason and struck a parked vehicle. The impact deployed the car’s airbag. The driver was transported to a local hospital where he died ...

... San Diego Fire officials who arrived at the scene found a heavy amount of blood inside the car, a knife and protein powder spread throughout the vehicle. At the hospital, a stab wound was found in the victim’s neck.

Officials suspect the man may have been using the knife to mix protein powder into a container of water when he became distracted and crashed. When the car’s airbag deployed, it may have propelled the knife into the man’s neck ...

There was no report of other injuries in the five other cars that were damaged ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co...22-02-20/six-injured-in-rancho-bernardo-crash

 

[escargot]

A helicopter landing at a hospital caught passers-by in its downdraft, causing a woman's death and serious injuries to others.
One assumes the area is normally cleared when the helipad is in use.

Woman dies after being blown over by helicopter in Plymouth

DI Andy Hodges said: “It is currently believed that at around 11.20am on Friday 4 March, a HM Coastguard helicopter was landing at the helipad in Derriford. The helicopter was carrying a casualty linked to a separate job earlier that morning.

“Whilst the helicopter was in the process of landing on the helipad, the downdraft caused one member of the public, an 87-year-old woman from the Plymouth area who was on a nearby footpath, to be blown over.”

The force confirmed that the woman sustained a “serious head injury” and later died in hospital.

 

[Trevp666]

To be fair, we don't know if the 87 year old woman was one of those types that weigh about 7 stone when wet, and was as fragile as a rich tea biscuit 'post-dunk'.
It's distinctly possible that someone shutting a door too close to her could have blown her over.
Sad accident though.

 

[escargot]

To be fair, we don't know if the 87 year old woman was one of those types that weigh about 7 stone when wet, and was as fragile as a rich tea biscuit 'post-dunk'.
It's distinctly possible that someone shutting a door too close to her could have blown her over.
Sad accident though.

Nobody should be near a helicopter when it lands or takes off. The woman was on a public footpath near the hospital, not in the grounds.
As I said, you'd think the footpath would be out of use when helicopters are about if people can be blown over.

 

[maximus otter]

Nobody should be near a helicopter when it lands or takes off. The woman was on a public footpath near the hospital, not in the grounds.
As I said, you'd think the footpath would be out of use when helicopters are about if people can be blown over.

a) The helipad is surrounded by high stone walls.

b) There are signs on those walls warning of downdraft and objects being blown about.

c) The report says that the victim was on a footpath, it doesn’t specify “public footpath”.

As a result of this one, fluke incident, Coastguard helicopters have now been forbidden from using this helipad. l wonder what the consequences of that will be, considering that helos usually only lift for (time)-critical cases.

Edited to add:

Screen grab of actual sign from the wall:

maximus otter

 

[Trevp666]

When I worked at the school they had arranged for the 'air ambulance' to visit one day for educational purposes.
They were preceded by a team of 3 or 4 people, about an hour or two beforehand, to inspect the school playing fields and to ensure that a thorough litter-pick had been done, and erect an exclusion zone with metal stakes driven into the ground and one of those red/white plastic tapes strung between them.
When the helicopter arrived it circled twice , descending, before actually landing, and the downdraft was quite significant.
We were standing probably about 100 yards away but nobody got blown over.

 

[escargot]

When I worked at the school they had arranged for the 'air ambulance' to visit one day for educational purposes.
They were preceded by a team of 3 or 4 people, about an hour or two beforehand, to inspect the school playing fields and to ensure that a thorough litter-pick had been done, and erect an exclusion zone with metal stakes driven into the ground and one of those red/white plastic tapes strung between them.
When the helicopter arrived it circled twice , descending, before actually landing, and the downdraft was quite significant.
We were standing probably about 100 yards away but nobody got blown over.

100 yards it is then.

 

[ramonmercado]

a) The helipad is surrounded by high stone walls.

b) There are signs on those walls warning of downdraft and objects being blown about.

c) The report says that the victim was on a footpath, it doesn’t specify “public footpath”.

As a result of this one, fluke incident, Coastguard helicopters have now been forbidden from using this helipad. l wonder what the consequences of that will be, considering that helos usually only lift for (time)-critical cases.

Edited to add:

Screen grab of actual sign from the wall:

maximus otter

Perhaps a higher wall is needed to keep trespassing OAPs out? Seriously though if an OAP was blown over and killed the same could happen to children. There's a problem here and the helipad shouldn't be used until a solution is found.

 

[Trevp666]

Maybe they should make OAPs always wear lead boots just in case of helicopters landing nearby.

 

[maximus otter]

100 yards it is then.

Assuming a 100 yard circle as the potential landing area, plus a 100 yard safety buffer, it's going to be a challenge to find:

1. A 300 yard diameter circle (almost 71,000 square yards), that;

2. ... Doesn't include a road/building/path/trees etc. etc.

3. ...Yet is still within striking distance of a critical-care hospital.

Air Ambulances in the UK are called out over eighty times per day.

"Hard cases make bad laws."

maximus otter

 

[Trevp666]

The QEII hospital here uses an adjacent cricket pitch.
The Lister Hospital in Stevenage has an arrangement with a local landowner to use an adjacent field which is also used by a sports club (but not at the same time I hope)

 

[Giant R]

When I worked at the school they had arranged for the 'air ambulance' to visit one day for educational purposes.
They were preceded by a team of 3 or 4 people, about an hour or two beforehand, to inspect the school playing fields and to ensure that a thorough litter-pick had been done, and erect an exclusion zone with metal stakes driven into the ground and one of those red/white plastic tapes strung between them.
When the helicopter arrived it circled twice , descending, before actually landing, and the downdraft was quite significant.
We were standing probably about 100 yards away but nobody got blown over.

Remember 'treasure Hunt' the original series when Annika Rice was sometimes sent miles off the route due to wrong directions and the pilot (Keith?) used to have to do an impromtu landing in a convenient field- I always thought that was a bit risky. You could always tell it was the wrong place though as he would circle a few times before landing. On another note -I remember watching her run straight into a horse at a show jumping event at Hickstead I think.

 

[RaM]

The air ambulance helicopters at least the ones round here have a take off weight of about 2.8 tons
the coastguard ones over 12 tones they need a lot more wind to keep them up so to speak.

 

[escargot]

Remember 'treasure Hunt' the original series when Annika Rice was sometimes sent miles off the route due to wrong directions and the pilot (Keith?) used to have to do an impromtu landing in a convenient field- I always thought that was a bit risky. You could always tell it was the wrong place though as he would circle a few times before landing. On another note -I remember watching her run straight into a horse at a show jumping event at Hickstead I think.

Rice was presenting Loose Ends on R4 this morning. I like her style. She has a keen and often self-deprecatory sense of humour.

 

[escargot]

Helicopters - dangerous all round.

Soldier Son was often transported in them on active service and said that in a military situation, there's no circling in case they get shot down.
The pilot locates the landing spot and drops like a stone onto it. Someone usually throws up.
Similar with taking off.

You also have to beware the blades as they tilt downwards as they slow down so you can catch your head in them.
A British father famously lifted up his small daughter near one some years ago with fatal results.

 

[Giant R]

Helicopters - dangerous all round.


You also have to beware the blades as they tilt downwards as they slow down so you can catch your head in them.

My Dad was in the Fleet Air Arm and almost walked into the tail rotor when he was walking to get into a helicopter. Luckily someone nearby, who was shouting at him but couldn't be heard due to the noise, had the presence of mind to hurl a box he was carrying at my Dad and knocked him away from it. My Dad told me that there is so much noise and turbulence that it is easy to forget if you are rushing to get in.

 

[RaM]

There are two types of helicopter pilots,
those that have had a accident and those that are going to.

 

[Trevp666]

lifted up his small daughter near one some years ago with fatal results.

Always with the cheery story

 

[Floyd1]

Helicopters - dangerous all round.

Soldier Son was often transported in them on active service and said that in a military situation, there's no circling in case they get shot down.
The pilot locates the landing spot and drops like a stone onto it. Someone usually throws up.
Similar with taking off.

You also have to beware the blades as they tilt downwards as they slow down so you can catch your head in them.
A British father famously lifted up his small daughter near one some years ago with fatal results.

My Dad was in the Fleet Air Arm and almost walked into the tail rotor when he was walking to get into a helicopter. Luckily someone nearby, who was shouting at him but couldn't be heard due to the noise, had the presence of mind to hurl a box he was carrying at my Dad and knocked him away from it. My Dad told me that there is so much noise and turbulence that it is easy to forget if you are rushing to get in.

There are two types of helicopter pilots,
those that have had a accident and those that are going to.

They should be banned by the sounds of it. I have heard many aeroplane pilots say they would never get in one.

 

[Kondoru]

Yes, if the engine stops, they drop like a stone.

 

[escargot]

Always with the cheery story

It gets worse. The father couldn't live with the guilt and eventually killed himself.

 

[EnolaGaia]

... A British father famously lifted up his small daughter near one some years ago with fatal results.

For anyone unfamiliar with the story ... The accident that killed the daughter occurred in 1996. The father killed himself in 2014.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...es-1996-took-life-gassing-Mayfair-office.html

 

[Floyd1]

For anyone unfamiliar with the story ... The accident that killed the daughter occurred in 1996. The father killed himself in 2014.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...es-1996-took-life-gassing-Mayfair-office.html

18 years seems a long time to live with that though. It seems that it was more to do with his company's problems and/or ill health imho.

 

[escargot]

18 years seems a long time to live with that though. It seems that it was more to do with his company's problems and/or ill health imho.

The impression I had (not from the Daily Heil ) is that after his daughter's death his baseline of depression was lower. Problems would seem worse to him than they might to anyone else.
Plus, he had at least one more child to live for. That counts for a lot.
All very sad.

 

[Herr Cloaca]

Camel kills two men in Tennessee
When deputies arrived at the farm, they found “two unconscious victims on the ground” and “a camel still on the loose”. The two victims, identified as Bobby Matheny and Tommy Gunn, “did succumb to their injuries and were pronounced dead on scene”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/12/camel-kills-two-tennessee-petting-zoo

 

[Trevp666]

Tommy Gunn

I'm surprised he didn't shoot the camel.

 

[EnolaGaia]

A Florida woman walking her bicycle across a large drawbridge died when the bridge began opening, she dropped through a gap in the road surface, and she fell circa 50 feet into the water below after another pedestrian couldn't maintain a grip on her.
FULL STORY (With Photos): https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story...ffic-after-bicyclists-deadly-fall/6685145001/

Update: The bridgetender on duty when this happened has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Drawbridge operator charged with manslaughter for death of woman who fell when bridge opened

The bridgetender controlling a Florida drawbridge when a woman walking across fell to her death was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of manslaughter by culpable negligence, West Palm Beach police said in a release.

Artissua Lafaye Paulk, 43, was on duty February 6 when 79-year-old Carol Wright fell to her death ...

In Paulk's statement to police outlined in a probable cause affidavit, she described the measures she took to ensure that no one was on the bridge, including visually checking several times from the balcony, turning the traffic lights red, closing the pedestrian gate, and making announcements that the bridge was going to open.

Paulk said she didn't see any people or bicycles inside the gates when she checked before opening the bridge.

"Based on the above investigation, video evidence contradicts Artissua Paulk's statement that she walked out onto the balcony and visually checked the bridge for vehicles or pedestrians prior to opening the bridge," a police officer says in the affidavit.

"Artissua Paulk's actions showed reckless disregard of human life and the safety of a person, specifically Carol Wright," the officer writes.

Paulk was charged with one count of manslaughter by culpable negligence, police said in their release. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/18/us/florida-bridgetender-manslaughter-charge/index.html

 

[kamalktk]

Killed by exploding shark.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/two-fishermen-killed-shark-torpedo-26543179?