By Gavin A. Todd
On September 2nd, 2023. Just nine days before the 22nd anniversary of the September 11th attacks. A pilot crashed and died after a gender reveal stunt in San Pedro, Mexico.
A video of the incident went viral online. Displaying a Piper PA-25 Pawnee aircraft performing a sharp pull-up maneuver after dropping its payload of pink mist, indicating the baby’s gender. Due to the maneuver, the plane’s left wing crumbled due to the force and mechanical stress of the maneuver. The pilot was rushed to the hospital and later died of his injuries.
Gender reveal parties have sparked controversy and criticism in the past. In 2020, a firefighter had died due to a fire caused by a gender reveal party in El Dorado, California. Destroying 22,000 acres and displacing 3,000 people from their homes.
If you are a pilot, wherever you are in the world, it is a basic thing to understand the limits of your aircraft. According to the video, the plane was 70 to 120 feet off the ground. It was descending just a little bit, the pilot may have thought he was gonna hit the trees before he pulled back on the stick.
According to the MacDonald Aircraft Handbook, the maximum rate of climb for the Pawnee PA-25 aircraft is 630 feet per minute, or 192 meters per minute. You agree its maximum speed is 124 miles per hour, or 188 kilometers an hour.
From my perspective, the plane went straight up before its left wing collapsed. My hypothesis is that at that current speed, which can range from 70 to 90 miles an hour, combined with the pull up maneuver, the weight of the payload, and the weight of the gas, may have exceeded the maximum rate of climb. Thus, clipping the pilot’s wing and ending his life.
In the end. There are many lessons to learn from this. You don’t have to do anything flashy, fancy, or anything to show off the baby’s gender. Sure, you can celebrate. But you don’t have to go all out for it. It’s just as simple as sending a text message.
I am saying this again, know the limits of your aircraft. New generation fighter jet technology may be held back by human mortality of the pilot, but older (civilian) aircraft will remain in the limits of its mechanical specifications. Not the pilot.
Was it worth it? Imagine how that kid is gonna grow up, will she find out that someone died revealing their gender? Before you attempt to do something risky in a gender reveal, please think at the expense of the child.
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