Ejected Pilot Survives Crash, Dies During Rescue Accident

Thursday , March 26, 2009   news.com.au

A fighter pilot who survived the crash of his training jet plunged to his death with a rescuer Wednesday after a cord broke as they were being pulled up to a helicopter, an Ecuador military official said.

The pilot, identified as Rafael Durango, and an unidentified co-pilot, had earlier ejected safely from their MK-89 Strikemaster before it crashed into a jungle near the Colombian border.

Ecuadorean military officials said two helicopters were sent to recover them.

But an air force official later said the rescue went awry as Durango and a rescuer were being lifted up to one of the hovering choppers.

"A cord that was attached to a helicopter broke and the pilot and one of the rescuers fell, dying in the rescue operation,'' the official said.

The second pilot was successfully rescued, the official said.

Colonel Hugo Lanas, an Ecuadorean air force spokesman, said earlier that the MK-89 Strikemaster was on a training mission in northeastern Sucumbios province when it crashed. There is a heavy military presence in the area because of frequent incursions by Colombian guerrillas.

          One young minister was doing his first funeral. He explained to the congregation how the spirit departs from the body when a person dies. Then he pointed to the corpse in the open casket and said, "Folks, what you see here is just a shell. The nut has already departed!" (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 215)

          Anthony Fernando, a twenty-one-year-old man living in Colombo, Sri Lanka, went fishing one day off the coast of the island. He had no idea he would never make it back alive. If you would venture to guess how this man lost his life, what would you say? That he died from a heart attack? Perhaps he fell out of the boat and drowned? Or how about a shark attack?

          It was none of these things. A forktail gar fish jumped out of the water and cut him on the neck with its tail. He bled to death before a fellow fisherman could get him to a hospital. If you had told him before he left to go fishing this would happen, he wouldn't have believed it.

          Lance Foster, a twenty-three-year-old student at the University of Kansas was studying at his desk one night. Little did he know he would be dead a few minutes later.

          How did he die? Was he shot by a roommate? Or did lightning come through his window and strike him? It was neither. He was killed by a soda machine.

          Foster became thirsty and decided to walk down the hallway to get something to drink. He put his money in the machine, but the drink didn't come out. When he rocked the vending machine back and forth to get the can of soda, it fell on top of him. He died from internal injuries shortly thereafter. If you had told him he would die when he went to get a drink, he wouldn't have believed it.

          If you would have told Ali-Asghar Ahani he would be shot to death by a snake, he wouldn't have believed it. But it happened. Although he could have shot the snake, this man from Iran was trying to capture it alive. When he pressed the butt of his shotgun behind its head, the snake coiled itself around the gun. With its tail thrashing, the snake pulled the trigger, firing one of the barrels and shooting Ahani in the head. Ahani had also died an unexpected and unusual death.

          After winning $3.6 million in the lottery, William Curry must have thought he was the luckiest person in the world. But he wasn't lucky for very long.  Two weeks after hitting the jackpot Curry, at the age of thirty-seven, died of a heart attack. His sister-in-law said the stress of winning the lottery killed him.

          None of these people knew or even imagined that death was just moments away. Death can come unexpectantly to anyone.

          Have you ever thought about how you will die? Will you be cut by a fish tail? Crushed by a soda machine? Shot by a snake? Maybe your heart will just stop beating. You probably won't be able to predict how or when your death will occur.  Nevertheless, you have an appointment with death and you need to be prepared. (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 212-213)

Man killed by flying lawnmower.  When 20 year-old John Bowen attended the Jets-Patriots game at Shea Stadium (Dec. 9, 1979), it never occurred to him that he would be killed at the game.  At half-time, part of the entertainment was a performance of radio-controlled, unusual-looking model airplanes that flew around the football stadium. 

            One of the model planes accidently crashed into the football field, which made the spectators nervous because the planes had been flying dangerously close to the fans seated in the stands.  Shortly before the end of the 15-minute performance, a plane that was made to look like a flying lawnmower went out of control and flew to the stands where John Bowen was seated. He was hit by the flying lawnmower and rushed to the hospital, where he died 4 days later. Who would have thought that he would have been killed by a flying lawnmower at a football game?

Verified as true at www.snopes.com “Fan Hurt by Model Plane at Halftime at Shea Dies” by Sheila Rule, New York Times, December 15, 1979, p.29. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/lawnmower.asp

          A little boy asked his mother what death was like. She said to him, "Do you remember when you fell asleep in the living room? Your father picked you up in his big strong arms and took you to your bedroom. When you woke up, you found yourself in another room. Death for the Christian is like that. You go to sleep in one room and wake up in another." (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 216)

Leaping ray kills Florida boater March 21, 2008 BBC News

A US woman on a boat off the Florida Keys has died after a ray leapt up and struck her in the face.

Judy Kay Zagorski was boating with her family in the Atlantic Ocean when the 75lb (34kg) spotted eagle ray hit her. The force of the blow knocked the 57-year-old over and her head struck the deck of the vessel, in what officials called a "bizarre incident". The ray died in the impact. Mrs Zagorski, of Pigeon, Michigan, was pronounced dead in hospital. "It's just as freakish an accident as I have heard," wildlife official Jorge Pino told the Associated Press news agency.

The spotted eagle ray resembles a stingray and has a stinging barb at the base of its tail. They are common in warm or tropical waters.

Mr Pino said Zagorski did not appear to have been pierced by a barb.

The incident occurred near the town of Marathon in southern Florida.

In September 2006, Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin died when a stingray's barb punctured his heart as he filmed at Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. A month later, an 81-year-old Florida man was lucky to survive after a stingray landed in his boat and left a foot-long barb in his chest.

BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7308839.stm