Posted on 06/28/2009 11:32:07 AM PDT by llevrok
Posted Jun 28th 2009 12:58PM by TMZ Staff
The FAA is already deflecting blame for the death of Billy Mays -- claiming the legendary TV pitchman wasn't wearing a seat belt when he took a shot to the head during a rough landing on a flight he was on yesterday.
Here's what we know -- Billy Mays was aboard US Airways Flight 1241 flying from Philadelphia, which landed roughly when the front tire blew out as it touched down. After the flight, Billy told FOX 13 in Tampa that something struck him in the head -- here's Billy's actual quote:
"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."
We called the FAA for comment, and a spokesperson told us, "The passenger needs to wear a seat belt during landing and he didn't."
A spokesperson for US Airways did not want to comment until more information comes to light.
Billy posted about it last on his Twitter last night, saying, "Just had a close call landing in Tampa. The tires blew out upon landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air."
A couple of years ago I had some vision anomalies, so they did an MRI of my head. But they didn’t find anything.
The only indicator is that the engines won't start.
He probably flew up out of his seat and hit his head on the ceiling.
I did once on a flight over the Indian Ocean from Europe to Asia. I was waiting by the door for a rest-room, when we hit totally unexpected turbulence. I hit the ceiling hard, then the floor so hard my legs buckled. It happened in 1/2 second... then the “Fasten Seat Belts” light came on and everyone scurried to their seats and buckled up tight.
It was a very hard hit.
A Japanese lady hit the ceiling so hard she was killed immediately on another flight at about that time.
how would it have helped to wear a seat belt, if stuff was falling from above and hitting him on the head?
Memo to Self: Always go to the hospital for a checkup after a strong blow to the head.
Sorry, Obamacare won’t allow it.
0 says to take a pain pill - that’s all we get
I’m thinking his head hit the bulkhead.
There are two ways to get hit on the head. Either something falls on you, or you bounce up and slam your head into the ceiling. On a hard landing, it could be a little of both.
The seatbelt is there for a reason. When taking off and landing, put the damn thing on. It could save your life. It's just stupid not to have it on.
People think of aircraft as being big, benign, things that always land perfectly. This is true until something goes bad, and then they become hurtling aluminum tubes going 150 miles per hour and slamming into unyielding concrete. When that happens, you want to be strapped down.
You would think that that case got so much publicity that people would know better. My wife got bumped on the head yesterday by a sign blowing in the wind, and I made good and sure she was feeling well and had no symptoms before we decided that it was nothing. If she gets so much as a headache over the next couple of days, it's off to the emergency room.
Of course these are irrelevant in this day and age in the United States of America. The current criteria for brain CT appears to be showing up in the ER with a bump. It doesn't matter if there are no specific indications. The CT scan will get ordered and completed to cover the practitioner's ass from a law suit should a given patient with significant injury not happen (however rare) to meet the above criteria.
I'll say it again since the "experts" and pundits seem to not notice. The amount of money spent practicing "defensive" medicine is mind-boggling enormous.
Don't be silly... Cyanide pills will always be available on demand!
I fly regularly and I have see someone do this only once, and it was a dash to the lavatory. We stayed put on the taxiway 'till the lady got back to her seat.
She was just observant and quick. They have no seat belt indicators.
I would never go without seat belt and wasn’t debating whether to wear one or not. I guess what I meant was, how would a seatbelt stop stuff from falling on his head.
Gravity is not the major actor here. Inertia is.
If something is falling down while you are bouncing up, the impact is going to be much more severe than if something falls on your head while you are motionless, reletively speaking.
Perhaps he actually struck his head on the ceiling.
Head on, apply directly to the forehead.
Head on, apply directly to the forehead.
Head on, apply directly to the forehead.
Head on, apply directly to the forehead.
Head on, apply directly to the forehead.
Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said she did not know if Mays was wearing his seat belt on the flight because the FAA was not investigating his death.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.