# Have people ever died on air? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251 "2003-06-07T04:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/21 "2003-06-07T16:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*It most certainly was aired. I watched it. I grew up in the Harrisburg area and the local TV stations showed it on the evening news. I remember it vividly. I was a kid at the time and it gave me nightmares. \*\* In Canada the station that aired it cut out the video just a split second before he pulled the trigger, but continued the audio. Not that it shielded you from much – I distinctly remember seeing him put the gun in his mouth, the video footage froze but the continuing audio left little to the imagination. Also saw footage of a woman getting hit by a train that used this method. Pedestrians tried to rush across the tracks near a train station to beat the train – the news did a sudden fade-to-black before you saw the train actually make contact. That wasn’t live though. Live I saw a NASAR race in which some pit crew guys got on the track to push a disabled car. They were pretty much at a blind curve, another car came shooting out and sent the two men flying through the air! It was quite traumatic – the on air announcers were struck dumb – they had no idea what to say. (Once they recovered though, the station kept playing the accident back in slow mo!) ---
**Author:** ![trustno1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@trustno1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trustno1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/22 "2003-06-07T16:50:49Z")
He was a cameraman so all you could see was the image from the camera as it fell to the floor of the balcony and recorded the wall. The cable news networks ran the footage for about 90 minutes before anybody noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/23 "2003-06-07T18:20:11Z")
[Some details on the L.A. Freeway suicide](http://www.cnn.com/US/9805/01/freeway.suicide/). > [@](#): > > R. Budd Dwyer’s suicide is probably the one wooba is thinking of. It was the subject of the song Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter. _Budd_ was also the title and lead song of a live EP by Steve Albini’s less-than-tastefully-named band Rapeman. It can now be found tacked on to the end of the superb [Two Nuns and a Pack Mule](http://hallmusic.com/index.php/Mode/product/AsinSearch/B0000019GR/name/Two%2520Nuns%2520and%2520a%2520Pack%2520Mule/browse/497064/page/1) CD, one of my very favorites. Despite the horrific band name–jeez, was that ever stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/24 "2003-06-07T18:24:45Z")
Don’t forget the crews of _Columbia_ and _Challenger_. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/25 "2003-06-07T18:32:26Z")
Any of you who are interested in the Budd Dwyer suicide can see it here. WARNING : leads to a site with a link to a video containing a suicide. Not for the faint of heart [Video](http://www.geocities.com/ryleg/woman2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/26 "2003-06-07T19:07:04Z")
That’s right, I had forgotten that the networks broke into _CARTOONS_ to televise the LA freeway suicide. It caused a huge debate about what is appropriate to show on live TV, and why on earth they didn’t go to a 7 second delay (which they always have available). ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/27 "2003-06-07T21:31:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\* > > _Budd_ was also the title and lead song of a live EP by Steve Albini’s less-than-tastefully-named band Rapeman. It can now be found tacked on to the end of the superb [Two Nuns and a Pack Mule](http://hallmusic.com/index.php/Mode/product/AsinSearch/B0000019GR/name/Two%2520Nuns%2520and%2520a%2520Pack%2520Mule/browse/497064/page/1) CD, one of my very favorites. Despite the horrific band name–jeez, was that ever stupid. \*\* Not that Albini needs my defense, but the band name was taken from the title of a Japanese comic book. It’s always been one of his artistic intents to show how ugly culture can be, so I imagine he finds the name as disturbing as you do, and with good reason. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/28 "2003-06-07T22:10:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dahnlor \* > \*\*Live TV? Watch much auto racing? > > Dale Earnhardt is probably the most famous example, but there have been dozens of fatal accidents which had been broadcast live during these events. > \*\* In the Champ Car series, Canadian Greg Moore was killed in a particularly severe accident in 1999, and since then the TV directors have been very circumspect about zooming in on cars after accidents if no movement from the cockpit is obvious. A few years ago there was an incident in an Indy Racing League race (at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, if memory serves) in which a wheel flew off a car, over a 10- or 15-foot catch fence, and into the crowd, killing three spectators. It all happened very quickly, you couldn’t see much detail, and emergency workers set up fabric barriers to keep cameras from seeing their efforts. Track officials did not release details of the casualties until the race was over, which raised some issues in my mind of the journalistic responsibility of the network covering the race. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/29 "2003-06-07T23:50:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ryle Dup \* > \*\*Any of you who are interested in the Budd Dwyer suicide can see it here. > > [Video](http://www.geocities.com/ryleg/woman2.jpg) \*\* Question: is this your idea of a joke, or are you simply incapable of telling the difference between the video of a gruesome suicide and a blurry pencil sketch of a woman in a black dress? For those that want to satisfy their blood lust, a Google search for the video should prove fruitful. I don’t think it’s necessary (or even allowed?) to post a link to something like that here. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/30 "2003-06-08T11:54:17Z")
Umm…9/11, anyone? You couldn’t see the people (except the ones who jumped) but each tower that collapsed killed ~1,500 people apiece, live on ALL networks worldwide. **Dahnlor** – actually, most race car deaths seem to happen in practice – Neil Bonnet, Andy Petty, Kenny Irwin, just to name a few. Ironically, the fatal crashes are never the ones that look the worst, due to the way physics work and how they design cars to disintegrate on impact. For instance, Dale Earnhardt’s crash looked fairly benign, compared to many other spectacular wrecks. (Greg Moore is an exception – that was the only crash I’ve seen where, upon impact, I just _knew_ he was DOA.) Of course, back in the 60’s, races like the Indy 500 had an average of one driver killed per race. Don’t know if they were shown live on TV back then, though… > [@](#): > > _originally posted by commasense:_ > In the Champ Car series, Canadian Greg Moore was killed in a particularly severe accident in 1999, and since then the TV directors have been very circumspect about zooming in on cars after accidents if no movement from the cockpit is obvious. That reminds me…in the same race that killed Dale, there was a massive 30-car pileup on the backstretch, and for a brief second, FOX cut to Tony Stewart’s camera which showed him slumped over, unconscious. My morbid mind thought, “Gee, that would really SUCK if he turned out to be dead – Fox would catch HELL for that one!” Kinda freaky, considering what happened later in the race… ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/31 "2003-06-08T11:58:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > \*\*Live I saw a NASAR race in which some pit crew guys got on the track to push a disabled car. They were pretty much at a blind curve, another car came shooting out and sent the two men flying through the air! It was quite traumatic – the on air announcers were struck dumb – they had no idea what to say. (Once they recovered though, the station kept playing the accident back in slow mo!) \*\* I saw that one too…but as grisly as it looked, nobody was killed. (I’m pretty sure the announcers verified that before they started replaying the video.) It also got NASCAR to install the rule requiring all pit crews to wear helmets. (You’d think they’d have done that sooner!!) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/32 "2003-06-08T12:19:07Z")
One of the first things my mom saw when we moved to Texas in 85 was the police shooting someone dead live on TV. She was extremely shocked. Luckily me and my sister were probably at school. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/33 "2003-06-08T12:44:08Z")
In the [1997 Los Angeles Bank of America robbery,](http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/030397/news/news15.html) carried live on TV, one of the bandits, Larry Eugene Phillips Jr., was shown putting a gun to his head when he saw the situation was hopeless, then pulling the trigger. But later, when the TV stations re-ran bits of the event, they removed that particular scene from all copies, including the video clip KTLA posted on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/34 "2003-06-08T21:32:38Z")
I recall seeing aportion of the R. Budd Dwyer footage on local television when it was a current story. The station I watched chosed only Dwyer pulling out the pistol as people shouted him to stop, and placing the barrel in his mouth. I recall there was a good deal of discussion at the time of how a few media outlets had actually showed the entire sequence. A few years back a man threatened to jump from a highway overpass in southern California. A number of stations in the Los Angeles area broke into their scheduled broadcasts to carry live coverage, including IIRC, two which cut into children’s shows. At least one of them had an announcer piously tell the kids who had been watching cartoons a second before to ask their parents if it was okay to be watching. I remember seeing a hold-up man trapped in a gas station shoot himself to death on a news broadcast many years ago. It may have been in the 1970s. One could only see him as a darkened silhouette, but it still seemed pretty graphic. I read once that on an Australian game show a contestant who was jumping up and down from excitement and winning fell over dead from a heart attack. i don’t know if this was ever actually aired. And, of course, we saw plenty of people die on 9-11, we just didn’t see them up close as distinct individuals. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/35 "2003-06-08T21:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*Hmm. Not only that, but it appears it actually was [aired live.](http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/belarus/651/full.html) > > \*Italicization mine \*\* I saw it, too. Live. WPVI in Philadelphia covered it. Oogy. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/36 "2003-06-08T21:56:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KGS \* > \*\*I saw that one too…but as grisly as it looked, nobody was killed. (I’m pretty sure the announcers verified that before they started replaying the video.) It also got NASCAR to install the rule requiring all pit crews to wear helmets. (You’d think they’d have done that sooner!!) \*\* What??? They LIVED??? You’re kiddin’ me! Wow! They must’ve flown at _least_ 30 feet straight up in the air before coming crashing back down to earth! How, oh _how_ did they both survive??? (Okay, now I must Google to make sure we’re talking about the same accident… I just can’t imagine both of those guys living.) There have also been a couple fatal skiing accidents. Shortly before Lillehammer, Ulrike Maier wiped out and broke her neck on a timing post - it was during a World Cup heat and that footage was shown over and over until the networks started getting complaints that it was disrespectful to her husband and children. I remember seeing that and thought “my how tasteless” to show it in slow mo so you could see the impact that snapped her neck. It was depressing. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/37 "2003-06-09T01:33:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*I saw it, too. Live. WPVI in Philadelphia covered it. Oogy. \*\* Yep. Saw it in South Jersey. And now back to a visibly shaken Jim Gardner … ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/38 "2003-06-09T01:56:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*It most certainly was aired. I watched it. I grew up in the Harrisburg area and the local TV stations showed it on the evening news. I remember it vividly. I was a kid at the time and it gave me nightmares. \*\* Yep it was aired on the news here too - the whole lot. Shortly after, a local band, called Thug\*, played the action part on a tape loop behind them at the gig for about 5 minutes, IIRC. \*great band btw ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/39 "2003-06-09T03:22:47Z")
**neutron star** said (about the Budd Dwyer suicide) [QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Hmm. Not only that, but it appears it actually was aired live. While the website you quoted describes it as “the live televised conference began,” there is nothing that I have ever found that backs up the assertion of whomever wrote that website. And I’ve searched hours. I don’t believe it was shown on live tv. And I think we did this one before. That website also contends that Dwyer was innocent and was framed. **dantheman** then offered about Dwyer > [@](#): > > I saw it, too. Live. WPVI in Philadelphia covered it. Oogy. Dan. You saw it **live**? Truly? Last chance to retract. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251/40 "2003-06-09T09:38:15Z")
Hmm. Now there’s a question. Did they tape it, and then an enterprising station or two rebroadcast it because of its shock value? They may have, with a “warning” to get the kids out of the room. I did see it, but it’s been 20 years or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-ever-died-on-air/180251.md?page=3)