Folk Tale or True Story?

[ehbuddy]

This is kind of a strange tale I had heard a while back. Not looking for names or anything like that but I would like to know if this story is true or not.

It has to do with either a TCA or Air Canada Pilot that was in London England. He ventured into Hyde Park only to find out that he could not get out due to locked gates or maybe he was taking a shortcut because it was getting late. He climbed the wrought iron fence and slipped and the top part of the fence impaled him and he died on the fence.

Is this story (or parts of it) fact? Very sad if its true.

[Aviatard]

[Waldo Peppar]

It is indeed true...and a tragedy! He was a well liked and respected Air Canada 747 Capt.
I cannot confirm whether or not it was Hyde Park.
The man was a true gentleman, an athletic 59 year old.
He was returning to the hotel after dinner and crossed the park only to find that the gate exit near the hotel was locked.
Rather than walk all the way back and circumnavigate the park , he decided to go over the fence....

[bombardierfixer]

My father in law did almost the same thing although he A: Lived and B: was a hair away from the "rectum, dam near killed him" Punchline.

[ehbuddy]

Thanks for the confirmation to the story.

A very horrible way to lose your life.

[crazy_aviator]

Rule of thumb,,

Just because you can Captain a very large 4 engined aeroplane doesnt necessary mean you can scale a chain link fence without risk !

Rule #2

Risk management is applicable no matter what you do and where you are !!

[cgzro]

I guess he should have gone around .....

[crazy_aviator]

Perhaps it was a low fuel state and he didnt want to chance it ,,,

[ZBBYLW]

As has already confirmed it is a true story. My mother was actually good friends with the individual. As others have mentioned, be careful out there, it's one thing to jump a fence - another to do so if there is sharp spikes on the top of said fence.

[Kurwa]

cgzro...ouch! Touche!...but none the less, a good one!

[The Raven]

It wasn't Hyde Park, but a smaller park closer to the hotel. As he climbed over the fence, the spike went through the femoral artery in his leg. He fell back into the bushes within the park and bled to death.

He was a true gentleman and a great pilot. It was a pleasure to fly with him.

Very sad.

[grimey]

I knew a guy in college who, shortly after urinating on the side of a church, hopped the wrought-iron fence nearby and impaled his nutsack on it. Apparently he was too drunk to notice exactly what he'd done at first, and only discovered it later when he accidentally stuck a finger inside the new whole while examining himself.

Sadly, he survived, apparently fully functional.

[Pratt X 3]

Reminds me of another might-be-true tale of the visiting fighter pilot at the Trenton air show who decided to hop a fence after a lengthy "debrief" at the Officer's Mess. His wedding ring got snagged at the top as he continued down towards the ground. Depending on the source, he lost part or all of that finger. At least he has an excuse to not wear his wedding ring while out drinking...

[Sulako]

Pratt X 3: That is actually a pretty common injury, it's called a ring avulsion - Google it for some truly horrifying pics. It happens a fair amount while playing sports, especially basketball - people jump up for a slam-dunk and their ring gets caught on the basket etc.

"High-speed photography of the injury in a cadaver model has shown that relatively little force is required to momentarily turn the entire soft tissue envelope of the finger inside out. "

[Pratt X 3]

I won't be Google-ing that anytime soon. It was bad enough thinking about what I wrote. I feel queasy after reading your reply. Excuse me, I need to step away from the computer now...

[TG]

Pratt X 3: That is actually a pretty common injury, it's called a ring avulsion

That was one reason the Beech 18 we used for skydiving back in the days had all holes inside its cargo door's frame...Patched up (we were using a plexiglass slide door)
And I do recall a story of a jumper leaving his ring and his finger inside one of those aircraft's door hole during a jump somewhere else.

[Changes in Latitudes]

Now before you guys get too far into hating on the wedding rings, I had an aircraft door that we were working on clamp shut on my finger once, the wedding ring definitely saved the day in this case.

[Brewguy]

Back to the original story / incident...

As a blacksmith, I can assure you that most classical wrought iron fence designs are specifically made to prevent the fences from being climbed. The designs are not simply decorative - each element in the fence is there for a security function. Most fence & gate designs in use today come from the 1700's - and at that time, they were very serious about keeping people out of fenced-in places. Those who ignored a fence and tried to climb it anyways were risking very serious injury.

It's very sad to hear that people are receiving serious (even fatal) injuries from something as silly as climbing a fence. But that is what they are there for. Please, please do not attempt to scale a spiked iron fence. Ever. Those spikes are there for a reason, and they mean business.

[nutbutter]

this thread is awesome. Poor dude btw.
I saw someone lose their finger due to a ring and jumping a chain link fence once. They didn't even feel it.

[skibum]

http://stevespak.com/spak/ems/impaled.html

[200hr Wonder]

Back when I worked in a warehouse at my dad's company there was the head warehouseman who was missing his ring finger. He had climb up onto a couple of pallets to grab something from a second tier bin. He slipped, caught his ring on one of the holes used to secure the vertical member of a warehouse rack and popped the finger right off.

[North Shore]

One of the guys that I worked with had almost lost his finger in the same manner while jumping from a grain truck. He said that he never wore a ring again. I took that to heart once Mrs. Shore and I decided to make our arrangement permanent, and bought something like this: http://www.aboutcanada.ca/store.html?sh ... ductId=547 hopefully, it will unwrap prior to taking my finger off...

[Changes in Latitudes]

That is a beauty ring for sure, but I am not sure it will unwrap before your finger.

[Brewguy]

I doubt it would too. Any ring that would 'unwrap before your finger does', would be too thin and soft to wear on regular basis without deforming and basically destroying itself.

Rings are a generally bad idea for anyone who does any form of physical work, or uses machinery or tools. They're okay for the office worker I suppose.

The Air Force puts out a safety publication, and one graphic photo of a ring related accident has stayed with me for years. A guy was stacking wooden pallets, and his wedding band snagged the protruding head of a loose nail as he tossed a pallet on top of the pile (or something to that effect). The finger didn't come off, but the flesh did (down to the bone). My spine crawls any time I think about it.