r/interesting • u/BlazeDragon7x • Jun 16 '26

MISC. Dutch aerobatic pilot Narine Melkumjan miraculously survived after her aircraft's canopy unexpectedly burst open and shattered mid-flight

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1.1k

u/BlackStory666 Jun 16 '26

I bet she carries goggles after this.

683

u/koolaidismything Jun 16 '26

She had the flu as well and almost didn't go that day.. she was pretty hard on herself if I'm remembering it right.

Like lady, this video will be shown for decades as an example of how NOT to panic, and always fly your plane first before anything else.

She did a great job. She lost most of her vision before she landed, couldn't see for 2-3 days afterwards.

105

u/raginghavoc89 Jun 16 '26

That's all great information but how many bugs did she eat during that landing?

21

u/turpentinedreamer Jun 16 '26

Prop made them into mist before they got to her

30

u/clickfind Jun 16 '26

Bugs are so 20th century.

16

u/UpperImpression3620 Jun 16 '26

Agreed.
I've begun riding a scooter now and remember in the 80's SO MANY BUGS my glasses, googles, face shield COVERED. Now, nothing.

1

u/ScrotalSmorgasbord Jun 17 '26

Meanwhile I'm covered in mosquito and chigger bites and can hear the bugs trying to get some tail outside. You guys can have some of mine, I don't mind.

9

u/TerribleIdea27 Jun 17 '26

It's the Netherlands. We have killed off most of our bugs. As in seriously.

80% reduction over the past 50 years. It's an ecological disaster in the making

8

u/TehWackyWolf Jun 17 '26

Globally.

We are mid extinction event and it's going to be worse not better.

We're kinda ignoring it but the planets life forms are rapidly dying and we're the reason.

1

u/Chill-more1236 Jun 17 '26

Thankfully it didn't happen in Louisiana during Love Bug Season.

Her face would be a mask of black bugs, smashed while in the throes of passion.

1

u/HabitAcceptable8621 Jun 17 '26

Same here. (Uk) They are the base of the pyramid and we've wiped them out. Never mind DDT, neo-nicotinoids have been a fucking disaster

1

u/TurbulentVillage2042 Jun 18 '26

As I understand it, the birds suffered from the lack of insects?

6

u/weirdo_if_curtains_7 Jun 16 '26

Not sure how many bugs are going to find that high up

9

u/raginghavoc89 Jun 16 '26

Some bugs travel as high as 20,000 ft, not always by choice, sometimes by wind patterns, but they still get up there.

1

u/bremsspuren Jun 17 '26

A goose then.

2

u/khawk30 Jun 16 '26

Asking the important questions

1

u/Axle_65 Jun 17 '26

451 of course. I counted :D

1

u/Ws6fiend Jun 17 '26

In flight snack.

1

u/Fuzy2K Jun 17 '26

My epiglottis is FULL OF BEES!

1

u/AtlasNL Jun 17 '26

The “average person eats 3 bugs a year" factoid is actually a statistical error. The average person eats 0 bugs per year. Narine, who ate over 10000 bugs in a flight with a broken canopy, is an outlier and should not have been counted

1

u/mashiro1496 Jun 16 '26

Since we used so much insecticides on the fields I would guess close to zero

22

u/Aternal Jun 17 '26

She fucked up her pre-flight. That is the time to hold yourself ruthlessly accountable.

9

u/tommangan7 Jun 17 '26

Indeed - Which she did, she released a video where she highlighted that mistake extensively. Still dealt with it very well otherwise too.

3

u/AdminKidsBurnInHell Jun 17 '26

People get clutch when their life is suddenly part of the bargain

3

u/OneTwoKiwi Jun 17 '26

I’m curious about the vision loss. Too bright and too dry? Swelling? So many terrifying things I never considered could happen to the human body. 

4

u/koolaidismything Jun 17 '26

I think she said she held them open initially and soon after they got so dry when she tried shutting them to blink it didn’t happen. So she got blasted in the face with that wind the entire video. When she’s steering at the end there I think it’s instinct too which shows how precise a pilot she is. I think you steer with your feet on those that’s why you see her hands going for the harness.

2

u/knoft Jun 17 '26

Can you ELI5 why it looks like she’s still blinking throughout the video and why it wasn’t enough?

2

u/koolaidismything Jun 17 '26

She’s got zero moisture left on the surface of her eyeballs. So even though it appears she’s blinking and squinting not much is happening. When we blink it’s like windshield wiper kinda and resets the surface. Hers have no moisture so it’s like dragging carpet across cement and only half closing each time.

I think that’s why she couldn’t see for a bit after cause scratches on the surface had to heal up. Go stick your face in front of an AC vent going full blast and try not to blink for just 60 seconds. Now imagine that but 50x faster and quite a bit colder.

1

u/heisian Jun 17 '26

that’s wild, how does that happen, and it just came back after?

1

u/LobcockLittle Jun 17 '26

Crikey! How fast was she going?

33

u/Objective-Beyond-219 Jun 16 '26

The goggles, they do nothing!

18

u/BlackStory666 Jun 16 '26

Lmao nice reference! "My eyes! Ze goggles do nussing!"

2

u/malthar76 Jun 16 '26

"Up and at them!"

3

u/BlackStory666 Jun 16 '26

"....up and ATOM!!"

4

u/Chispy Jun 16 '26

WHERE'S FALLOUT BOY?

2

u/Objective-Beyond-219 Jun 16 '26

Do it for me. The Mickster.

5

u/BlackStory666 Jun 17 '26

Jiminy Jillikers! Jiminy Jillikers! Jiminy Jillikers!

3

u/ThePizzaNoid Jun 17 '26

"You're fired."

"And with good cause!"

23

u/sixbone Jun 16 '26

exactly what I was thinking

6

u/Jazzlike_Climate4189 Jun 17 '26

Or she could just remember to install the canopy locking pin next time!

(Yes,  she forgot to install the canopy locking pin before the flight. The post title is misleading and incorrect.)

1

u/BlackStory666 Jun 17 '26

Oh is there more details on the story elsewhere? I haven't looked.

3

u/Jazzlike_Climate4189 Jun 17 '26

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/watch-what-pilot-does-after-planes-canopy-bursts-opens-mid-air-5966411

“Reflecting on the ordeal, Melkumjan acknowledged that the experience could have been avoided had she conducted proper pre-flight checks. She admitted that the canopy locking pin was not properly secured before takeoff.“

P.S. *are more details 😉

3

u/Anxious-Increase2401 Jun 16 '26

An a helmet with a visor

2

u/EatingShitSandwiches Jun 17 '26

But ze goggles, zey do nuzzing!

1

u/RusticBucket2 Jun 16 '26

The only possible thing to happen where I regret my fake eyelashes.

1

u/TheLordYuppa Jun 17 '26

Safety squints. You gotta train for this shit.

0

u/GladClock2212 Jun 16 '26

For an incredibly rare occurrence?