US air force finds contractor who walked into propeller had become disorientated

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 197 points – US air force finds contractor who walked into propeller had become disorientated
theguardian.com

Stephanie Cosme, 32, was killed last year when she inadvertently walked into the rotating propeller of an aircraft in California

A US air force civilian contractor had become disoriented recording data at an airport in California last year when she walked into a jet’s rotating propeller and was killed, officials said on Friday.

In a statement outlining the findings of a report into the contractor’s death, the air force materiel command said that 32-year-old Stephanie Cosme was mortally injured on 7 September when she inadvertently walked into the rotating propeller of an MQ-9A that was parked at Gray Butte airfield.

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Her job was to be on active tarmac near running aircraft. She isn't some random person that shouldn't have been there.

It appears she wasn't paying attention and people tried to stop her from walking into the propeller.

“Others began shouting and waving to get [Cosme’s] attention as well,” the report said. It added: “Without looking up to determine her position relative to the aircraft, [Cosme] proceeded to walk directly into the propeller … sustaining fatal injuries.”

Probably an accident due to familiarity. Some guy off the street is gonna pay attention around a running airplane, someone been working around them for years might just get distracted.

Over-familiarity and comfort is a major cause of accidents.

I do a lot of woodworking, and the most dangerous things are repetitive tasks. Make the same simple cut 200 times in a row on a table saw, and it gets more dangerous as you get in the groove, not less.

"We've investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing."

I guess because it's not cops and because the snowball effect has taken hold, this rhetoric suddenly doesn't apply.