# New stupid way to die discovered **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319 "2017-07-15T15:15:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/1 "2017-07-15T15:15:59Z")
“Jet Surfing”: Standing in back of a jet airplane until the engine blast lifts you off your feet and hurls you back. [http://www.westernjournalism.com/thrill-seeking-woman-thrown-to-her-death-after-standing-behind-departing-jet/?utm\_source=Email&utm\_medium=romuluslibertyguns&utm\_campaign=can&utm\_content=2017-07-15](http://www.westernjournalism.com/thrill-seeking-woman-thrown-to-her-death-after-standing-behind-departing-jet/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=romuluslibertyguns&utm_campaign=can&utm_content=2017-07-15) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/2 "2017-07-15T15:19:23Z")
I don’t know how many people have died from it, but it’s been around for quite a while. It’s featured in pretty much every ‘Most Dangerous Airports’, ‘Scariest Runways’ etc type documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/3 "2017-07-15T16:48:05Z")
Yeah, I’d heard she died, thought it might have been getting close enough to the jet blast to get burned but being slammed into concrete will do the job. It’s a case of failure to understand basic physics - in order to propel an object weighing 200-400 tons through or into the air the main motive force has to impart an equal or greater force in the opposite direction. Sure, let’s hang on a fence and get faceslapped with a couple hundred tons of force. And, as a bonus, if you stand _really_ close you can have your face melted - jet exhaust leaves the engine at around 2500F, pretty damn close if not right on the temp to melt steel (which is why jet engines utilize some sophisticated heat-resistant alloys and stuff). Of course, the temperature drops off with distance but you get the point. When I was a pilot one of my concerns at airports was idiots trying to gain a Darwin Award with the airplane I was flying. Somewhere in the archives I related a story of some rubber-neckers that had wandered onto the runway at my local airport and where being obstacles to my intended take-off. Ah, yes, [here it is.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=203741) Yes, they were wandering about a running airplane, I was truly worried one of them would stumble into the prop. Anyhow - methinks the only way to stop this is to fence off, or better yet, wall off the areas affected by the blast. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/4 "2017-07-15T18:16:51Z")
Okay, so those stupid pilgrims pack themselves like sardines into a mile-or-so of main thoroughfare (where I used live, the sheepers actually drove herds of sheep like that from one field to another), and said thoroughfare passes right by the airport. But I’m still unclear on why any of them actually entered the airport? Did someone think they saw a Madonna in the pavement cracks? Was it just a bit of crowd overflow? That thread was 16-some years ago! Are they still doing that shit? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/5 "2017-07-15T18:35:31Z")
I disagree. Why does this fun activity need to be stopped? Should it be? Are you indicating that it should be stopped? It is nearly impossible to get out there for your very first time without seeing at least one takeoff. If you are not sure, don’t get in the direct engine path of a loaded DC-10, start out a ways & see if the sand blast is OK for you and note the young people who are not able to keep their feet on the ground, is that for you? Maybe start with a smaller aircraft? I see no reason for another country to fall in line with the USA attitude that there is no cost too great for saving even one life that seems to be taking over here in the USA. I have been there, done that. DC-10 using all the runway and the heat is not the reason anyone would let go IMO./ Just not that hot at that distance from the engine. Not sure if any hold brakes until 100% of takeoff settings on the engines is reached. Actual wind speed and mostly stinging sand is why people let go or the mistaken belief that they are stronger than they really are and/or trying to preserve modesty while holding with just one hand. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/6 "2017-07-15T18:54:37Z")
Where does all that blown sand go? I should think that the immediate area of that beach would be very quickly totally denuded of all sand down to bare bedrock. If planes are landing over the beach (as in all the pics I’ve seen), that sand would be blown out to sea. If planes ever take off over the beach, the sand would be blown through the fence and onto the airport. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/7 "2017-07-15T21:08:14Z")
People get killed doing lots of recreational things. This is a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/8 "2017-07-15T21:16:30Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > “Jet Surfing”: Standing in back of a jet airplane until the engine blast lifts you off your feet and hurls you back. > > [http://www.westernjournalism.com/thrill-seeking-woman-thrown-to-her-death-after-standing-behind-departing-jet/?utm\_source=Email&utm\_medium=romuluslibertyguns&utm\_campaign=can&utm\_content=2017-07-15](http://www.westernjournalism.com/thrill-seeking-woman-thrown-to-her-death-after-standing-behind-departing-jet/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=romuluslibertyguns&utm_campaign=can&utm_content=2017-07-15) Someone just got whoosed! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/9 "2017-07-16T01:08:48Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Where does all that blown sand go? I should think that the immediate area of that beach would be very quickly totally denuded of all sand down to bare bedrock. If planes are landing over the beach (as in all the pics I’ve seen), that sand would be blown out to sea. If planes ever take off over the beach, the sand would be blown through the fence and onto the airport. The beach is lower than the airport. When going out over the beach, the planes are quite a bit higher over the fence than when landing over the beach. It is an island with beach all around. Sand on everything happens all the time. The ground of the island is mostly sand, they _gots_ much sand there. There is not that much sand blown. Just that is is blown pretty fast and it stings smartly. As shown the landing are slightly downwind so getting on the ground soonest is good. The departure is a bit hairy also going that way so lots of power used. Getting down quickly coming from the other way is much more difficult to do every time so the majority of the time they land towards the mountain and also takeoff towards it. To take off one way and have the landing planes going the other way makes things very much more dangerous at a busy airport. brand new pilots don’t left seat into there as a rule. Need a few wise old Pelicans for that place. I do not know if they need to be signed off like they used to have to be for Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. There is at least one airport in Alaska that only certain aircraft with signed off pilots can land at. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/10 "2017-07-16T01:29:12Z")
This is so stupid: when instead you could just stow away in the wheel-well and get a free flight to somewhere! > **[Wheel-well stowaway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wheel-well_stowaway_flights)** > > Wheel-well stowaways are people who attempt to travel in the landing gear compartment, also known as the wheel bay or undercarriage of an aircraft. Between 1947 and June 2015, a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) researcher had documented 113 such attempts on 101 flights. These 113 people were all male and predominantly under age 30. There were 86 deaths, a 76 percent fatality rate, with many unidentified decedents. There may be additional undocumented cases of wheel-well stowaways. Whe... ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/11 "2017-07-16T04:00:56Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > But I’m still unclear on why any of them actually entered the airport? Did someone think they saw a Madonna in the pavement cracks? Was it just a bit of crowd overflow? I’ve long voted for the simple “they’re entitled idiots”. Trespassing seems a common feature of this annual madness. > [@](#): > > That thread was 16-some years ago! Are they still doing that shit? Every goddamned year. > [@GusNSpot](#): > > I disagree. Why does this fun activity need to be stopped? Should it be? Are you indicating that it should be stopped? If San Maarten’s is OK with losing the occasional tourist, sure, let it continue. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/12 "2017-07-16T11:44:26Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > People get killed doing lots of recreational things. This is a non-issue. Exactly. We visit St Martin every year, and spend a few hours at the Sunset Bar watching planes. I’ve hung on to the fence and gotten tossed around on the beach. Would do again. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-way-to-die-discovered/791319/13 "2017-07-16T22:20:59Z")
I’ve not been to St. Maarten but I’ve done the same thing at other airports with similar set-ups. This was years ago before the TSA moved quite so many fences quite so far back. As **Gus** said, it’s fun. Don’t need no more justification than that. The problem is people who live lives of such antiseptic safety that they lack the sense to even look for, much less recognize, actual risk. So when exposed to it they’re utterly blindsided by it. These are the same sorts of morons who awaken to a mountain lion in their campsite and try to pet or feed the snarling critter. It is a shame she killed herself through her thoroughgoing ignorance. Perhaps the fix going forward is to have less ignorance on the world. It’ll definitely take longer than we think, but it’ll be worth it. Really.