Posted on 03/27/2009 1:01:01 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Friday, March 27, 2009
Print ShareThisCanadian extreme skier and base jumper, Shane McConkey, died Thursday following a ski-base accident that ocurred while filming his latest movie in Italy, the Inquisitr reported.
McConkey, 39, experienced problems in the air after jumping off of a cliff in the expectation that he would be able to detach his skis and deploy his parachute, thus enabling him to glide safely to the ground, according to the Inquisitr.
According to a witness, one of McConkey's skis failed to detach causing him to spin out of control and ultimately prevented him from deploying his parachute, the Inquisitr reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Well, cost is always a factor......
“There comes a time when a person has to let go of the dangerous “fun” things in their life and take a hard look at their responsibilities.”
Like driving a car to work, one of the most dangerous acts people do every day? I fly airplanes, yet the most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport.
It’s not the fall, it’s the sudden stop.
The presence of many video camera indicates something more than an addiction to adrenaline. Vanity goeth before the impact.
Very tragic but not unexpected. Guys like this keep pushing the envelope further and further till finally it falls off the table.......
That's only true for airline flying, and doesn't include the first 5 miles of the trip which statistically are more dangerous than riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The accident rate of flying small airplanes is similar to riding a motorcycle, the difference being about 50% of motorcycle accidents have nothing to do with the safety of the motorcycle driver while over 90% of airplane accidents can be traced to pilot error.
“The accident rate of flying small airplanes is similar to riding a motorcycle”
Where did you get that funny number?
Loss of balance caused by the wind resistance on the skis. Have you ever seen down hill racers going over sudden drops in terrain? What they do is "pre-jump" in an effort to try to prevent any unnecessary "air" under their skis which slows them down and has the potential to force their ski tips up and backwards causing them to crash......
The only words missing were "hold muh beer..."
A good shovel is only what, about 20 $........?
There are 4,000 motorcycle fatalities per 10 billion miles driven. Assuming an average travel speed of 30mph that works out to one fatality per 83,333 hours of travel. There are 1.2 general aviation fatalities per 100,000 flight hours. That works out to 1 fatality per 83,333 hours. Using those numbers the risk of death is exactly the same.
There is much room for variation though. Slower aircraft are involved in more fatalities per flight hour because they spend more time taking off, landing, and flying near other airport traffic. Take offs are the most dangerous part of flying because of full fuel, low speed, low altitude, and fewer options to set the airplane down into the wind on a runway.
That or they're really, really stupid.
He considered himself a “Daredevil”, not an athlete, but he did break every bone in his body and spend his final days in horrific pain.
Mere trifling details, Deb!
Now include the actual number of crashes and injuries.
Start with the 88,000 reported injuries for motorcycles, not to mention the number of unreported injuries which are far greater than the reported, in 2007 as related to the estimated 12 billion miles ridden compared to the 1786 aircraft accidents in which only 334 were fatal killing 600 people. Then factor in the 660,000 or so private pilots compared to the number of motorcycle riders and the total number of airplanes versus registered motorcycles. If you want to use MPH it is only fair to do that for both vehicles.
You’ll find that motorcycle riding is more dangerous. When I ride my motorcycle to go flying I have to drive extremely defensively and have had a number of close calls with idiot drivers. When flying, it is extremely rare to have a mid-air collision. Most of all general aviation accidents are pilot related where as half the motorcycle accidents are unavoidable due to other drivers being stupid. I don’t have that problem when flying.
From the perspective of miles traveled, small airplanes are much safer than motorcycles, but from the perspective of time spent traveling they have similar risks. Flying makes the world smaller so a pilot is more likely to travel greater distances than they would on a motorcycle. As a pastime both have similar risks. The risks of flying for fun are reasonable but it takes the same extreme caution that riding a motorcycle does. For small airplanes, the belief that “driving to the airport is more dangerous” is false.
For all the good it did him and his family after all.
Tell that to his little girl.
A man with his priorities in proper perspective. Congrats to you and your family.
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