Wedding guests in Serbia accidentally shoot down small plane, media report

AP via Sun Media ^ | October 12, 2003

[Clive]

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - In an apparent first, wedding guests shooting off celebratory rounds in central Serbia brought down a small aircraft, local media reported Sunday.

The FoNet news agency reported that the plane's pilot and a passenger were seriously injured Friday after their single-engine Utva-75 plane crashed into a high-voltage power line in the village of Ratina, some 160 kilometres west of Belgrade.

"Shortly before the crash I saw the plane flying at a very low altitude over a wedding party when guests started firing their handguns and other weapons," witness Zoran Vukadinovic told FoNet. The left wing of the aircraft subsequently caught fire, and the plane crashed, he said.

Shootings and fatalities are frequent at Serbian weddings because of the centuries-long tradition of blasting away with firearms in celebration. It was the first known reported case, however, of an aircraft being brought down by trigger-happy partygoers.

Attempts to trace Vukadinovic were unsuccessful, with FoNet refusing to divulge his phone number. Police confirmed the plane crash but refused to discuss its cause.

The pilot apparently was unlicensed, said FoNet, citing authorities, and the flight was unauthorized.

[stands2reason]

Just Damn!!

[Allegra]

In an apparent first, wedding guests shooting off celebratory rounds in central Serbia brought down a small aircraft, local media reported Sunday.

These people really know how to party.

The French Quarter doesn't hold a candle to these folks.

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[FreedomPoster]

I *hate* it when that happens.

Memo to self: Don't fly low during holidays and spring Saturdays when weddings are most common.

A few pings.

[coloradan]

The pilot apparently was unlicensed, said FoNet, citing authorities, and the flight was unauthorized.

Let's play Blame The Victim: This shows why pilots should be licensed and flights authorized!

[Consort]

[wideminded]

OK, this is a perfect opportunity to bring up some related questions I have often wondered about. When people are firing such celebratory gunfire:

1. How often are people on the ground injured by falling bullets?
2. What is the terminal velocity of a falling bullet?
3. How high up do the bullets go (typically) and what sort of horizontal range distribution is there for the fallen bullets if the shooters are attempting to fire straight up?

[Slings and Arrows]

Ping!

[Slings and Arrows]

My first thought upon hearing this was "Bridezilla's at it again."

[mwyounce]

Didn't we fire on a wedding party in Afghanistan doing the same thing when our pilots thought they were being shot at and get trashed for doing it?

[mwyounce]

2. What is the terminal velocity of a falling bullet? According to Newtonian Physics, a bullet fired straight up is always being pulled by gravity at exactly the same amount, so it will reach the level of the gun on the way down moving at the exact same speed, but in the opposite direction, of it's firing velocity. Bullets are made to move through the air, so I wouldn't count on wind resistance helping much....

[mhking]

Memo to self: don't fly above urban areas at midnight New Year's Eve.

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReepmail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]

[Slings and Arrows]

There's a bit more to it. On the way up, the bullet will be stablized due to its spin. On the way down, the odds are it'll tumble, which substantially decreases its terminal velocity. Streamlining won't help its velocity in this case. It's possible it'll kill you, but really not likely. More here.

[20somethingconservative]

1) Very good question, I will do some research and see if I can find a decent answer.

2) The terminal velocity would be significantly less then the initial muzzle velocity. This is because the bullet would tumble on the way down and have much higher drag then when it was shot spiraling into the sky.

3) The first half of this question depends on the type of gun; the second half would depend on both wind speed and the answer to the first half of this question.

If I get sometime I will do some research and develop a case study on a certain gun and various wind speeds . . . anything to put off doing my real homework in fluid dynamics!

[wideminded]

A casual Internet search on the falling bullet question does not yield a great deal of detailed data. The figures listed here are quoted repeatedly. This page gives a value of 300 fps for the terminal velocity of a falling 30 caliber bullet (as measured by the Army), which is considerably less than a typical muzzle velocity.