Monday, January 16, 2006

Life imitates art (in a very disturbing way)

Remember the man who was sucked into the still turning engine of the crashed plane in the premiere of "LOST"? (Yes, Javier, you can put your hand down.) That was one of those brilliant jump-out-of-your-seat moments that comes back to me periodically. I've actually found myself replaying that image in my head, pondering, pondering... (Usually in rush hour traffic. Go figure.)

Does that sort of thing really happen, Mr. Science?!?

Apparently, yes, kids. It does. At least it did today, down in the West Texas town of El Paso.

Oceanic Flight 815, meet Continental Flight 1515. Today, a mechanic standing too close to the right engine of a Boeing 737 about to take off for Houston was sucked in and killed. What a bizarre way to die. I can only imagine the trauma for his family, his colleagues, and the passengers who saw his very alarming final seconds.

At least he left with a great story for the Afterlife Happy Hour...

"It was a helluva thing, guys. I mean, one minute, I'm standin' there on the tarmac - everything's five by five. The next - WHAM! I'm flying through the air, right into the freaking engine. Helluva thing. I. Was. Flyin'! Could someone pass the Chex mix?"

RIP, Mechanic Guy.

2 comments:

Sasquatch said...

Oof. This morning while I was waiting at the airport in Copenhagen, watching the various jets push back from their gates, I thought about Oceanic 815's passenger-eating engine. Later, during my flight to Washington, I refused to look behind me because I kept having visions of the tail breaking off. Thanks a lot, Javi.

Merujo said...

We should ask Javier which writer's idea it was to have someone sucked into the engine.

We can have a CafePress t-shirt made up that simply reads: "BLAME THE WRITERS!"