Man decapitated while testing hovercraft

[Candlelight]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5380361/Auckland-man-decapitated-testing-hovercraft

A 40-year-old Auckland man has been decapitated in front of family members while testing a kitset hovercraft he built, police say.
He died on Muriwai beach on Sunday after being hit by the propeller he was checking, police crash investigator Sergeant Colin Nuttall said.
The man's partner was believed to have seen it but she is yet to give a statement.
Nuttall said they were still unsure of what had happened and they had called in an engineer to examine the machine.
He said they believed it was the first time the man had used the machine.
Conditions had been fine and calm at the beach.
"We will be talking with the family; some of them were present on the beach."
It was not known whether the man had experience with hovercrafts and where he had purchased the kitset. Police would report to the coroner.
"At the moment there are no regulations. You cannot register hovercraft on the road and they do not have warrant of fitness. So you can build them and operate them off the road without rules,'' Nuttall said.

That's some freaky shit right there.

 

[ares93]

^ well then, id better get my head on straight cause i'm currently building one...
(that was a terrible pun, i know. But i'm tired and i've been drinking.)

 

[scotpens]

This may be insensitive and tasteless, but for some reason, the thread title made me think of Monty Python.

“And now, a man decapitated while testing a hovercraft.”

Okay, I have a sick sense of humor. So sue me.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

"At the moment there are no regulations."

If only the Department of Unsafe Hovercraft Habits (D.U.H.H.) had required warning labels telling people not to stick their heads near spinning propeller blades, this could all have been avoided.

 

[Lindley]

Every pilot knows you treat the propeller with respect, and assume it could start at any moment.

Not a good way to go.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Not a good way to go.

Doesn't sound that bad actually, as far as ways to go go.

 

[kirsten187]

I shouldn't laugh at this thread - good on the guy for building his own hovercraft - but everyone is making me laugh.

 

[Satyrquaze]

^ You're clearly going straight to hell. I'll save you a seat.

 

[kirsten187]

^Yeah, you're going there too mister. I'm glad you're not denying it.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

"At the moment there are no regulations."

If only the Department of Unsafe Hovercraft Habits (D.U.H.H.) had required warning labels telling people not to stick their heads near spinning propeller blades, this could all have been avoided.

I think sticking you head near a running propeller defiantly gets you nominated for a Darwin Award.

Condolences to him loved ones , what a terrible way to go.

 

[Pingfah]

It's hard to imagine anything more horrifying than seeing something like this happen to a loved one right in front of you.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

 

[Roshi]

 

[LitmusDragon]

This may be insensitive and tasteless, but for some reason, the thread title made me think of Monty Python.

“And now, a man decapitated while testing a hovercraft.”

Okay, I have a sick sense of humor. So sue me.

Whenever I hear the word "hovercraft" my brain immediately jumps to the Monty Python sketch "Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook".

"My hovercraft is full of eels."
"My nipples explode with delight."

Etc

So I read this topic, thought about that sketch, laughed, and kind of felt bad afterwards. lol.

Speculating wildly about how this might have happened, maybe he did not secure the propeller correctly and it went flying off when he engaged the engine? This is the crazy scenario my brain came up with, anyway.

I find it hard to imagine the guy actually sticking his head up in there (but who knows, maybe he was that stupid ...)

 

[kirsten187]

Haha - go Horatio!

 

[PianoWizzy]

First I'm like, WOW, a hovercraft?
And then I was like, I see, my condolences to the beheaded.
And then I read the responses and I was like, ROFLYSST.

Sorry.

Just... so funny.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

They say laughter is the best medicine, though I hear it doesn't cure a severed head.

 

[kirsten187]

Perhaps not.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

There will be a slight ringing in your ears. Fortunately, you'll be nowhere near them.

 

[Amaris]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5380361/Auckland-man-decapitated-testing-hovercraft

A 40-year-old Auckland man has been decapitated in front of family members while testing a kitset hovercraft he built, police say.
He died on Muriwai beach on Sunday after being hit by the propeller he was checking, police crash investigator Sergeant Colin Nuttall said.
The man's partner was believed to have seen it but she is yet to give a statement.
Nuttall said they were still unsure of what had happened and they had called in an engineer to examine the machine.
He said they believed it was the first time the man had used the machine.
Conditions had been fine and calm at the beach.
"We will be talking with the family; some of them were present on the beach."
It was not known whether the man had experience with hovercrafts and where he had purchased the kitset. Police would report to the coroner.
"At the moment there are no regulations. You cannot register hovercraft on the road and they do not have warrant of fitness. So you can build them and operate them off the road without rules,'' Nuttall said.

That's some freaky shit right there.

I feel terrible for his family.