Plane passengers’ selfie from collision site sparks backlash
- Replies 5
A picture is worth a thousand words – at least that’s how the saying goes.
But when one couple took a selfie celebrating their ‘second chance’ at life, people were quick to tell them that their selfie was in ‘bad taste’.
A LATAM Airlines plane collided with a fire truck on the runway of Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru just as it was taking off on November 18. Two firefighters sadly passed away in the tragedy.
Amid the accident, one couple – with their faces still covered in foam – felt like they needed to memorialise how they managed to survive an accident. They pulled out their phones and snapped a photo to celebrate surviving a plane crash, which to be fair, is a miracle indeed.
It was posted on the social media site, Twitter, by a man named Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi, with the caption: ‘When life gives you a second chance #latam.’ As of writing, the photo has more than 200,000 likes.
Unbeknownst to the couple, however, two firefighters lost their lives during the incident. One rescuer was injured and is now in critical condition due to head trauma. No other airline crews or passengers were injured.
But the selfie had been posted, and the damage seems to have been done as many social media users criticised the passengers for ‘being happy’ in their selfie.
‘I’ve seen it all now. Crash selfie. End of the internet,’ said one.
Others said the passengers taking a selfie was ‘unbelievable’ and that the selfie left a ‘bad taste’ in their mouths.
‘Nothing to be proud of, firefighters died,’ shared another. While someone else agreed: ‘Two firefighters died, but sure, take a selfie and laugh.’
Others defended the passengers.
‘I mean, it is the selfie of the year…They walked away from that,’ one admitted.
‘I get it, they are happy because they are alive,’ another wrote.
They added: ‘People are just taking it the wrong way and getting offended for anything these days.’
‘Think about it, you realised you’ve just survived an aeroplane crash, then suddenly it catches fire, and on top of it, you are able to walk away from it unscratched? I’d be the happiest and most thankful person alive!’ A third replied.
One more responded: ‘In the moment they took the picture, only a few people knew that two firefighters had died. They thought it was a problem with the aeroplane. Media took, at least, an hour and a half to report what really happened.’
Based on footage taken by witnesses, the plane was taking off at full speed and hit the fire truck, also travelling at high speeds.
The Airbus A320 damaged its landing gear, forcing it to continue its course while parts of it were dragging along the runway, sending up a trail of sparks and emitting clouds of smoke. The rear of the plane was also badly burned.
You can watch a video of the unfortunate incident here, but be warned, it is graphic.
LATAM Peru’s General Manager, Manuel van Oordt, said that he was surprised firefighters were on the runway since the pilot hadn’t reported any anomalies.
At a press conference, he said: ‘No emergency was reported in the flight, it was a flight that was in optimal conditions to take off, he had permission to take off, and he found a truck on the runway and we do not know what this truck was doing there.’
What are your thoughts on this, members? Do you agree that the couple shouldn’t have taken that selfie? Or are people overreacting? Let us know in the comments!
But when one couple took a selfie celebrating their ‘second chance’ at life, people were quick to tell them that their selfie was in ‘bad taste’.
A LATAM Airlines plane collided with a fire truck on the runway of Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru just as it was taking off on November 18. Two firefighters sadly passed away in the tragedy.
Amid the accident, one couple – with their faces still covered in foam – felt like they needed to memorialise how they managed to survive an accident. They pulled out their phones and snapped a photo to celebrate surviving a plane crash, which to be fair, is a miracle indeed.
The photo in question. Credit: @enriquevarsi/Twitter
It was posted on the social media site, Twitter, by a man named Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi, with the caption: ‘When life gives you a second chance #latam.’ As of writing, the photo has more than 200,000 likes.
Unbeknownst to the couple, however, two firefighters lost their lives during the incident. One rescuer was injured and is now in critical condition due to head trauma. No other airline crews or passengers were injured.
But the selfie had been posted, and the damage seems to have been done as many social media users criticised the passengers for ‘being happy’ in their selfie.
‘I’ve seen it all now. Crash selfie. End of the internet,’ said one.
Others said the passengers taking a selfie was ‘unbelievable’ and that the selfie left a ‘bad taste’ in their mouths.
‘Nothing to be proud of, firefighters died,’ shared another. While someone else agreed: ‘Two firefighters died, but sure, take a selfie and laugh.’
Surviving a plane crash is nothing short of a miracle. Credit: Jerry Wang in Pexels
Others defended the passengers.
‘I mean, it is the selfie of the year…They walked away from that,’ one admitted.
‘I get it, they are happy because they are alive,’ another wrote.
They added: ‘People are just taking it the wrong way and getting offended for anything these days.’
‘Think about it, you realised you’ve just survived an aeroplane crash, then suddenly it catches fire, and on top of it, you are able to walk away from it unscratched? I’d be the happiest and most thankful person alive!’ A third replied.
One more responded: ‘In the moment they took the picture, only a few people knew that two firefighters had died. They thought it was a problem with the aeroplane. Media took, at least, an hour and a half to report what really happened.’
Based on footage taken by witnesses, the plane was taking off at full speed and hit the fire truck, also travelling at high speeds.
The Airbus A320 damaged its landing gear, forcing it to continue its course while parts of it were dragging along the runway, sending up a trail of sparks and emitting clouds of smoke. The rear of the plane was also badly burned.
You can watch a video of the unfortunate incident here, but be warned, it is graphic.
LATAM Peru’s General Manager, Manuel van Oordt, said that he was surprised firefighters were on the runway since the pilot hadn’t reported any anomalies.
At a press conference, he said: ‘No emergency was reported in the flight, it was a flight that was in optimal conditions to take off, he had permission to take off, and he found a truck on the runway and we do not know what this truck was doing there.’
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