Interesting ways to get the chop

[Whining Civvy]

I found myself, as one does, on some random page reading things I had not the slightest of interest in until about three seconds earlier, and came across this unexpected and untimely demise of an until-that-moment fairly senior RAF officer:

Mellersh debarked from a helicopter onto a quay on 25 May 1955; he had been invited to cruise on a yacht belonging to the Itchenor Yacht Club. As the helicopter departed, one of its rotors hit the mast of a yacht. As the copter crashed, the main rotor killed Mellersh.

Francis Mellersh (RAF officer) - Wikipedia

Absolutely not what he had pencilled in for the afternoon, I would imagine, but at least his chagrin at a missed boating trip was quite, and I use this term deliberately, short lived. After briefly bowing my head in respect for the poor fellow's misfortune I realised that this would be an excellent topic in which the thoughtful inhabitants of the NAAFI could share similar stories so that we may all solemnly offer our respects to the deceased. Or something like that.

Does anyone know of any other picturesque methods of leaving this mortal coil? Not Darwin awards, please, they're just mean and we're above that kind of thing.

 

[Endoscope]

Gen John Sedgwick

"What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.

 

[Yokel]

This is in very poor taste. I was expecting a thread of interesting ways in which people have got themselves sacked, such as the bloke running a golf club bar who took some food to a customer and said "here's your chips, you fat git!"

In this age of universal outrage, there must be many examples.

 

[RBMK]

The family of some fellow who posts on here got the chop (twice) courtesy of the British Army.

 

[kiwidoug]

The family of some fellow who posts on here got the chop (twice) courtesy of the British Army.

Thrice Shirley?

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

Pfft! amateurs!

I give you Tom Attridge:

Grumman F-11 Tiger - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[theoriginalphantom]

This is in very poor taste. I was expecting a thread of interesting ways in which people have got themselves sacked, such as the bloke running a golf club bar who took some food to a customer and said "here's your chips, you fat git!"

In this age of universal outrage, there must be many examples.

I thought it was going to be about home/back street gender reassignment surgery/vasectomies/circumcision or horrific(and hopefully amusing) accidents leading to the same

 

[Stovepipe]

Unfortunately,when it comes to death by rotor, chop is the operative word. A New Zealand sailor was killed by a rotor blade which struck him flat on the top of his head, as a result of blade slap, when the heli landed on the flight deck of the ship and he was too close to the arc of the blade, which was slowing down, so it "patted" him on the head and killed him. Needless to say, the pictures were posted on the internet.

 

[stacker1]

Pfft! amateurs!

I give you Tom Attridge:

Grumman F-11 Tiger - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

He didnt die though, just made himself look a bit of a dick.

 

[kiwidoug]

Pfft! amateurs!

I give you Tom Attridge:

Grumman F-11 Tiger - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Interesting, but thankfully, Attridge didn't get the chop, so major thread drift.
Edit: Beaten to it by Stacker1

 

[stickybomb]

English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 XR721 | 56 Sqn | 5 Jan 66

"Belly landed on the B1079 road at Elm Farm, Helmingham eleven miles east of Wattisham, Suffolk after being unable to maintain height following the failure of the No.1 engine. It was on an extended approach to Bentwaters and was approximately 20 miles out. A canopy fault had prevented the pilot from ejecting but the aircraft slid into a tree, the impact of which fired the seat, which was now outside its limits, killing the pilot, Flying Officer D. Law. The aircraft came to a halt at the wall of a roadside cottage."

He was 24.

 

[RedDinger]

Robert Williams was an American factory worker who was the first known human to be killed by a robot.

I hoped he had been zapped with a laser, but it was a bit more boring than that. It was a machine that collected parts from shelfs that crushed him.

 

[Bodenplatte]

A young woman making her first parachute descent at Thruxton in 1987 fell into the rotor disc of a helicopter preparing to take off.

 

[O Zangado]

Does anyone know of any other picturesque methods of leaving this mortal coil? Not Darwin awards, please, they're just mean and we're above that kind of thing.

Well I'm certainly not above a good Darwin, which can be a ray of sunshine on a wet Tuesday afternoon, but I shall defer to your tender sensibilities, you being the OP an' all.

OZ

 

[Dwarf]

Well I'm certainly not above a good Darwin, which can be a ray of sunshine on a wet Tuesday afternoon, but I shall defer to your tender sensibilities, you being the OP an' all.

OZ

I agree. What is interesting? In his post I saw pilot error crashes chopper and kills passenger.
Darwins at least make you giggle.

 

[Drlligaf]

The family of some fellow who posts on here got the chop (twice) courtesy of the British Army.

Now who would that be?

 

[Drlligaf]

A young woman making her first parachute descent at Thruxton in 1987 fell into the rotor disc of a helicopter preparing to take off.

The student pilot in the chopper was really shook up.

 

[Drlligaf]

Unfortunately,when it comes to death by rotor, chop is the operative word. A New Zealand sailor was killed by a rotor blade which struck him flat on the top of his head, as a result of blade slap, when the heli landed on the flight deck of the ship and he was too close to the arc of the blade, which was slowing down, so it "patted" him on the head and killed him. Needless to say, the pictures were posted on the internet.

Then there was the bloke who got a bit too close to the intake of a running jet engine. Chopped and minced.
Pictures posted on Arrse many years ago.

 

[endure]

Roman Pirozek Jr was killed by his RC helicopter when the blades took the top of his head off...

 

[RBMK]

Thunder City EE lightning crash & fatality report:

http://www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and%20Incidents%20Reports/8706.pdf

Cause of death: Improper [3rd rate] aircraft maintenance coupled with pilot being a bloody fool for getting into it whilst leaking fuel all over the floor and with an extensive list of gripes.

ETA - and not checking that the ejection seat was operational.


There are old pilots and there are bold pilots....