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Rapper Jon James is killed when an airplane stunt for a music video goes wrong
(CNN)Jon James, a Canadian rapper, was killed during a music video shoot when a stunt atop an airplane wing went wrong. He was 34. During a music video shoot in Vernon, British Columbia, on Saturday, the rapper -- whose full name is Jon James McMurray -- was walking on the wing of a Cessna as it was in flight. He walked too far out on the wing and made the small aircraft go into a downward spiral, his management team said. "Jon held onto the wing until it was too late, and by the time he… (www.cnn.com) More...
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It goes without saying that it's best if everyone survives, but in this case at least the pilot was able to recover and survive.
Walking on a wing of a Cessna... UGH! Not something that I would recommend...
In a video that appears on the page from the story he is shown sky-diving from a Cessna. Given the statement from his producer that he “held on as long as he could”, I suspect he first walked out on the wing strut and then just hung onto the strut with his hands, trying to get as high up/far out as possible, not realizing the leverage of his weight and drag that far from the CG.
I think an experienced jump pilot would have rejected that idea, so maybe it wasn’t planned that way.
I think an experienced jump pilot would have rejected that idea, so maybe it wasn’t planned that way.
Since the plan was to wingwalk and then jump off using a parachute and since he practised for some time before the fatal accident, perhaps that video is from one of the practises when he intended to use the parachute?
Personally, I think the pilot is the stupid one?
Darwin!
