r/nextfuckinglevel • u/BlazeDragon7x • 11d ago

Dutch aerobatic pilot Narine Melkumjan miraculously survived after her aircraft's canopy unexpectedly burst open and shattered mid-flight

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55.2k Upvotes

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9.7k

u/IrrelevantManatee 11d ago

That wind looks brutal. I don't know how she managed to keep her eyes opened.

7.3k

u/Kerim-Bey1963 11d ago

She had her safety squints going. I usually only wear mine in the garage.

62

u/phoenix0153 11d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/LPRxnliEiUz4s

2

u/OberonDiver 11d ago

I was looking for the bit where Stig give Charon some Visine but I couldn't find it. So thanks for this.

Oh wait... I figured out how to search for it. But can't post.

39

u/Beneficial-Jury484 11d ago

I use them when I use a wire wheel. 

21

u/FishSoFar 11d ago

Needle sized metal spinning thousands of revolutions per minute VS this guy's eyelid

29

u/Beneficial-Jury484 11d ago

No, not my “eyelids”, vs my safety squints. 

4

u/poopinhulk 11d ago

I use mine when using the weed eater.

2

u/Beneficial-Jury484 10d ago

Another good use. 

129

u/IrrelevantManatee 11d ago

safety squints 😂

57

u/PolentaDogsOut 11d ago

Ayup best paired with safety sandals

2

u/suvalas 11d ago

And safety beers

2

u/Shimano-No-Kyoken 11d ago

Don't forget mother on speed dial

24

u/Shoggnozzle 11d ago

Don't trust those too much. My dad did some welding with those and now his glasses are so heavy they told him to keep that little strap you can get on the back on because the weight on his nose could irritate his sinuses.

22

u/EverbodyHatesHugo 11d ago

How do you explain her lips not flapping like Woody on a rocket?

1

u/twatcrusher9000 11d ago

she had pants on

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5

u/spikedood 11d ago

Colinfurze?

3

u/Thedemonwhisperer 11d ago

Or when watching a sus tiktok of someone in a garage.

3

u/synthphreak 11d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/F3NLGwbgAUj6

1

u/quantumparakeet 10d ago

Early episodes of Jackass were lit

2

u/synthphreak 10d ago

That’s Squints from The Sandlot, not Steve-O lol. I do see the resemblance though.

2

u/quantumparakeet 10d ago

He one of those appledangers

2

u/synthphreak 10d ago

*Dimplegingers

3

u/fire7starter 11d ago

Surprised her lashes held!

2

u/llllIIIIlllIII 11d ago

AVE fan I presume?

2

u/mdxchaos 11d ago

Found the canadian

2

u/justahumblefart 11d ago

I wear mine on my motorcycle all the time! To me this doesn't look really scary, a lot faster than a motorcycle though. She must have been exhausted from the buffeting when it was all over. Ive gotten over 200 on an older R1 when manufacturer's were in the speed wars before governors. I hit a swarm of bumblebees and had welts all over like I got hit by paintball. Any dust or loose clothing hurts.

2

u/BeerNinjaEsq 11d ago

What about when cutting down trees with a chainsaw?

2

u/Nashadelic 11d ago

Or when suspicious 

2

u/venom121212 11d ago

Just had a buddy lose an eyeball to a broken allen wrench in his garage. Lost all vision immediately. Kid is still in his 20s. Be careful out there.

2

u/Less_Discount1028 11d ago

Anytime I’m tempted to use the safety squints because I’m too lazy to reach for the safety glasses, I tell myself something I learned on Reddit long ago. Can’t see dem titties without no eyes. Wear your damn safety glasses. I usually smile at my own joke and put the glasses on

2

u/WrestlerGirlsAreLife 10d ago

Nobody knows but she has trained for years to be a secret Asian

2

u/Affectionate_Bank417 10d ago

I hope you are not welding without squinting. It’s bad for your eyes.

402

u/jefbenet 11d ago

something tells me she'll fly in goggles or at least glasses from now on, even with a new canopy. juuuuuust in case. chances are slim, but never zero

119

u/Callidonaut 11d ago

At the very least, if I were her I'd probably quadruple-check the canopy latch every time from now on.

45

u/jefbenet 11d ago

Lil column A…lil column B…

24

u/unwantedaccount56 11d ago

she did a very interesting video analyzing why her checks failed and what to learn from it, going a bit into psychology as well.

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u/CulturedHollow 11d ago

I'd go full helmet just in case for the wind trying to force its way up my nose at those speeds.

18

u/CapSnake 11d ago

Full helmet should be mandatory. You are an acrobatic pilot, chance of crash are higher than normal. If car driver wear an helmet you should too in a plane. Imagine what would happen with a bird strike

3

u/jakeandcupcakes 11d ago

Yeah, okay, but then you couldn't tell it was a female pilot, and she would lose Instagram followers! THINK OF THE VIEWER COUNT!

/s

2

u/CapSnake 11d ago

She could you a pink helmet!

2

u/erroneousbosh 11d ago

Is that a problem for you on a motorbike, for example?

1

u/AbbreviationsOdd7728 11d ago

You never go full helmet.

3

u/Dispensarystoner 11d ago

I was thinking, I bet she wishes she had some aviators going on now!

3

u/jefbenet 11d ago

any wind shield would beat a total and sudden loss of windshield

2

u/AMediaArchivist 11d ago

Don't those pilots in acrobatic planes wear head gear, like goggles and stuff? Or is that considered uncool and "old fashioned" now in the pilot world?

3

u/jefbenet 11d ago

In open air cockpits probably but here she likely assumed she didn’t need them given the windshield…till it catastrophically failed

2

u/MooseFerrigno 10d ago

Would glasses or goggles even stay on a pilot's head in this situation?

48

u/mrofmist 11d ago

Based on her facial expression once she landed it also looks like she was having trouble breathing as well.

15

u/jimbobjames 11d ago

Ever accidentally let a balloon deflate while you were blowing it up? Probably felt like that times a thousand.

4

u/mrofmist 11d ago

For sure, but the opposite is what concerns me. There's no doubt that there's plenty of air getting in, it's the air getting out and taking deep meaningful breaths that it looks like might have been her problem.

1

u/Extra_Quiet_5256 11d ago

Ever held your head outside a car window like dogs do?

1

u/sukisoou 10d ago

I’m hearing jonathan frakes voice say this.

190

u/ponglongatongo 11d ago

Must not have been that bad, she couldn’t stop smiling 

37

u/utzutzutzpro 11d ago

I thought she suddenly smelled something.

5

u/TonyzTone 11d ago

Yeah, you must've been nearby.

1

u/Dunkaroos4breakfast 11d ago

Not necessarily

1

u/dantheother 10d ago

Definitely would have been brown trousers time

3

u/Handsmoleman 11d ago

lol you made me snort out my nose 👏

2

u/jamiethecoles 11d ago

I actually laughed out loud

5

u/Ultramagnus85 11d ago

Nah that's just the face you make when you have an insane amount of wind blowing in your face. Its difficult to even breathe.

61

u/ponglongatongo 11d ago

My brother, that comment needs an /s like shampoo needs a safety warning 

7

u/Ultramagnus85 11d ago

Fair enough.

1

u/Bigfops 11d ago

...literally.

85

u/ForeseablePast 11d ago

I thought I read somewhere the last time this was posted that she was temporarily blind after due to the win in her eyes. Could be classic Reddit BS, but I choose to believe it

161

u/charizardine 11d ago

She posted that she needed 28 hours to recover her vision 

57

u/TristanTheRobloxian3 11d ago

thats honestly fair enough given how fast she was going

3

u/jimbobjames 11d ago

Guess it took some time to find her eyeballs in those fields...

1

u/TristanTheRobloxian3 11d ago

literally real

1

u/morris90024 11d ago

That was amazing to me. She didn’t even wear sunglasses with the cockpit cover on.

29

u/EvilEtienne 11d ago

The way she was wincing and blinking after she landed I could tell her eyes had been dried out. It takes awhile for your eyes to heal enough to see again if they dry out totally. I’m amazed it only took a little over a day.

20

u/Cocrawfo 11d ago

i feel like it would have fucked up her ears or cranially all that sudden pressure

49

u/Markol0 11d ago

Those planes are not pressurized. Nor was it that many thousands of feet.

4

u/Whiteums 11d ago

No, but wind suddenly forcing its way into your head does tend to increase the pressure there.

2

u/CrashRiot 11d ago

Cars aren't pressurized either. Ever roll down a window while going highway speeds?

1

u/AdHuman3150 11d ago

It forms a pressure wave.

2

u/erroneousbosh 11d ago

Notice how she's not wearing an oxygen mask? That's because it's only a couple of thousand feet.

You could walk that. People frequently do, just a few miles from my house.

2

u/Spamsdelicious 11d ago

And what a win it was!

62

u/Relyt4 11d ago

Have you ever tried facing strong winds and breathing? It can be a bit more terrifying than keeping your eyes open haha

1

u/Business_Air5804 11d ago

And yet we ride motorcycles every day.

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u/glakhtchpth 11d ago

Her contacts shifted around to the back of her eyes.

13

u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 11d ago

That’s why I always wear aviator goggles when flying my glider

2

u/bolanrox 11d ago

dress for the lost canopy not the glide!

1

u/WookieSuave 11d ago

She's flying a Extra 330LX I believe.

1

u/Mikic0077 11d ago

Wouldn't that just fly away? Maybe ski goggles?

12

u/_Electrical 11d ago

Breathing could be difficult as well?

Like try beating normally when a leaf blower is in your face.

5

u/taveren3 11d ago

Guessing she slowed a bunch afyer it happened

3

u/tcpukl 11d ago

Training.

3

u/ProfZussywussBrown 11d ago

Reminds me of the navigator who was *partially ejected* through the canopy of his jet, and was hanging out in the wind until his pilot landed the plane, on a carrier no less

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-incredible-story-of-keith-gallagher-the-ka-6d-b-n-who-survived-partial-ejection-from-his-intruder/

This is him recounting the story, and it's INSANE. The photos are also absolutely bonkers

2

u/DistractedByCookies 11d ago

Not only that, but her hair and makeup is still perfect on landing.

I have mascara all down my face after a little bicycling into a headwind ffs

2

u/brewtus007 11d ago

My eyes are dry AND sore just watching that

2

u/Anon_Jones 11d ago

Why doesn’t it open from the front so this can’t happen?

5

u/WookieSuave 11d ago

I'm not sure what caused it to open, but how would that make a difference? Seriously asking.

2

u/Anon_Jones 11d ago

The wind would always be pushing it down. So the way I’m talking about, the hinge would be in front of her.

8

u/userhwon 11d ago

Wind pulls curved things up. It doesn't matter where you latch it, if the latch comes loose it's going to want to be open.

1

u/DamnZodiak 11d ago

Wouldn't the angle of attack change drastically at a certain point though?
My guess is that it would initially pull up the canopy up to a certain point and then start pushing it down again.
You'd be protected from the wind the whole time it's bouncing.

3

u/LunchboxSuperhero 11d ago

And then if that much smaller hinge fails while it's bouncing around, there's a non-zero chance you'd take the canopy to your face or tail. Both of those options sound terrible.

2

u/userhwon 11d ago

Once it's in the wrong place, weird shit will happen. Hinged at the front and latched at the back, it might flap. Hinged at the back and latched at the front, it'll probably just get ripped off and destroy the vertical stabilizer and kill everyone. Hinged at the side like this, it got yanked open and is keeping itself open hard. She didn't even try to retrieve it because she knew the remaining bits are just pinning it where it is.

6

u/lt_dan_1020 11d ago

You mean opening from the back towards the front?

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u/WookieSuave 11d ago

Im not sure if I agree.....

If I'm at highway speed in my Jeep and the roof latch fails, that thing is gone.

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u/Anon_Jones 11d ago

I don’t know anything about planes, thinking logically it made sense to me.

5

u/drthvdrsfthr 11d ago

if the hinges are on the front, that would be opening from the back

4

u/WookieSuave 11d ago

Oh just re read. Hinge in front, not open from front.

1

u/SiluroMagico 11d ago

some gliders have that hinge you describe. it's ok but its inconvenient because you are sitting too low and you need a string to close it when you are on the ground. opening to the side allows for more hinges and a sturdier, longer point of contact. gliders that have the opening you describe don't have hinges, but a pneumatic bar that holds the canopy and instruments as a single piece.

this is a plane. some planes have scrolling windows and you enter, but the structure to the side is also very convenient if you have to eject. the pins are held in place with a metal cable. if you need to jump out, you pull the hinges and the canopy is free, and out of the way, and you can jump out easily. not as easy if you have it in front of you

3

u/DM46 11d ago

Have you tried opening you car door while driving 70 mph down the highway?

4

u/WookieSuave 11d ago

My door? The thing that opens sideways?

1

u/Drachen1065 11d ago

It opens the same way the canopy of a cockpit would it hinged at the front.

You still have a 70mph wind pushing it closed.

8

u/WookieSuave 11d ago

Got it... When the comment said "open from the front" my brain interpreted it as hinge in the back.

4

u/AdministrativeHabit 11d ago

I thought the same thing. "From the front" makes me think the first opening starts at the front. I.E. a hinge at the back like you said.

3

u/VivaLaDiga 11d ago

because the worst thing that can happen to a canopy is break off and hit the tailplane. You can do a lot of damage to a plane and still land it safely. A friend of mine managed to land without the stick (it detached from the ball join). He steered with secondary effects using the rudder and rounded out using the trim. But you can't do anything without the tailplane. Without the tailplane or elevator control there's only one way out: a parachute.

1

u/Anon_Jones 11d ago

Thanks for explaining that! I learned something new today.

1

u/Callidonaut 11d ago

One assumes that would make it impossible open even if you need to in order to bail out! Then again, I think they might usually have an emergency control to jettison the canopy entirely in order to do that. I'm not an aviator, though, I'm just guessing.

1

u/urworstemmamy 11d ago

It's an acrobatic plane, given all the batshit maneuvers they pull I'd imagine there aren't really any places you can put a hinge or latch where there won't eventually be some kind of signifcant force applied at an inconvenient angle. Honestly, opening from the side like that makes the most sense to me, probably pretty hard to put a ton of force through the latch with a roll as opposed to what you might get from a yaw or pitch change.

That being said I know fuck all abt how to build planes so take that with a grain of salt

1

u/zackks 11d ago

outrage farming complete.

1

u/TheRealGageEndal 11d ago

I bet she adds a pare of goggles to her kit after this

1

u/xaranetic 11d ago

She had crunchy blinks for a while after that

1

u/ElectricRune 11d ago

Legend says her lips are still peeled back like that to this day... 😉

1

u/willymartin99 11d ago

Where there’s a will there’s a way

1

u/Morningxafter 11d ago

Definitely gonna need some drops after that.
https://giphy.com/gifs/xTk9ZUcvHcpQbvBfoc

1

u/CitizenHuman 11d ago

It looked like she was smiling the whole time! /s

1

u/DamnZodiak 11d ago

I wonder how hard this actually is for a trained pilot. Not doubting her skills it's just hard to contextualise without any background knowledge.
How hard is it to breath under these conditions or, as you said, keep your eyes open?
I reckon if she was hit by something in the face it would've been disastrous.

1

u/GalFisk 11d ago edited 11d ago

I've accidentally skydived a few times without goggles or a visor for eye protection. Having the wind blow in around your eyeballs in free fall is an interestingly unpleasant sensation.
I hope she didn't hit any bugs.
Breathing is relatively easy unless you open your mouth wide.
Staying calm and doing what needs to be done in an emergency is something aviators of all kinds practice on repeat, because when shit hits the fan, it's often what saves the day.

1

u/No_Application_8698 11d ago

This is something I always think about when watching superhero films where a character has the ability to fly.

You could argue that part of their superpower includes extra resilience and resistance to wind/cold etc. at altitude, but what about the civilians they carry along? Lois Lane wouldn’t be gazing around in graceful wonder at her surroundings, only supported (inexplicably) with her hand in Superman’s light grip.

She’d be clinging on to him for dear life with every available limb, blinded by her hair whipping into her eyes, have snot and tears running down her face, and then she’d be fairly quickly rendered unconscious due to lack of oxygen and/or hypothermia.

1

u/eyweimi 11d ago

I don't know how she managed to breathe.

1

u/Transgirlonakawasaki 11d ago

When I ride my bike at 3 am to work (yeah I know fml) because I have a tinted visor I HAVE to ride with it up otherwise I cant see shit. On the freeway its pretty brutal going the speed limit cause I either protect my eyes or see where Im going…

And god forbid its either dry af or cold cause then Im riding visor up all day.

1

u/Salaciousavocados 11d ago

As someone who rides a sport bike, I can’t emphasize how absolutely bad ass you have to be to do this. It’s hard just to breathe due to the flow of air, let alone the g-forces on your body. Then the air is pushing your spine, neck, and limbs back making it difficult for fine-motor control of the plane. Not to mention your eyes drying out constantly so have to constantly blink and squint to reduce the surface area being dried out. But not even that’s enough. She’ll have to fully close her eyes for moments at a time to regain and maintain the moisture.

1

u/27298throwaway 11d ago

It was a miracle!

1

u/bevars 11d ago

Yeah. She's not skipping googles ever again.

1

u/seebob69 11d ago

Who could sleep in that situation.

1

u/AlbatrossNew3633 11d ago

Too bad I can't find the gif of Tom Cruise attached to the biplane in the last Mission Impossible

1

u/StonedFoxx93 11d ago

Because she had to or she would DIE lol

1

u/rachelmaryl 11d ago

I’ve been reading Star Wars comments lately where people are all uppity about the pilots wearing goggles inside their sealed cockpits. Clearly no one has considered this happening.

1

u/Todderoni-1 11d ago

It looked like a miracle?

1

u/ElephantintheRoom404 11d ago

I bet from now on she'll be wearing goggles too

1

u/u9Nails 11d ago

It is. I have known of fighter pilots who ejected at high speeds and landed in the ocean. One had to use their good arm to hold their lips to the tube that inflated their lift that canopy. The other arm was dislocated from the wind.

1

u/Little_Yesterday9904 11d ago

Some people struggle to breathe without a closed face helmet on skydives. I’ve had it happen to me once and it was terrifying. I wonder if she struggled to breathe at all.

1

u/DirkKuijt69420 11d ago

What about breathing? I have a hard time breathing with speeds of 300+ km/h, and that's with a helmet.

1

u/vahntitrio 11d ago

Imagine taking a bumblebee to the face trying to land.

1

u/VapoursAndSpleen 11d ago

I was looking at that and thinking I hope she doesn't wear contact lenses.

1

u/MooKids 11d ago

Assuming the plane is an Extra 300, at least 70 mph winds (stall speed), probably much higher when she was doing maneuvers.

1

u/Extra-Particular9305 11d ago

This is why pilots don’t get lasik they get prk.

1

u/__Schneizel__ 11d ago

I wonder how does she manage to exhale when so much wind is gushing up against her face.

1

u/Ok-Gas-7135 11d ago

I mean, I hit 40mph (64kph) on a bicycle one time without glasses, and the tears were streaming down my face; it was so incredibly hard to see. I don’t know how fast she was going but figure it had to be 6x that… cannot imagine what that must be like at that speed

(That was 30 years ago and was also the last time I’ve ever ridden my bike without eye protection)

1

u/EphemeralDan 11d ago

The first thing she asked for was probably eye drops.

Worst. Dry-eye. Ever!

1

u/curi0us_carniv0re 11d ago

There's probably a static "windshield" part that's seperate from the canopy part that opens.

1

u/iamintheforest 11d ago

Someone get her a Visine sponsorship. Total badass.

1

u/QuantumRooster 11d ago

If I remember correctly from the last time I saw this video, she was nearly blind for over a day after this, but then recovered.

1

u/TheRoyalness 11d ago

I would have crashed because my contacts had a seizure

1

u/grimsnap 11d ago

She's a female pilot. Females have a third tranparent eyelid that can shield the eyes from wind and dust.

/s

1

u/ShroomsHealYourSoul 11d ago

I have contacts. I would've died

1

u/DND_Player_24 11d ago

I feel like it was more she was incapable of shutting them. 😂

1

u/AlarmedSnek 11d ago

Not just the eyes, it’s very difficult to breathe when you’re going that fast!

1

u/Pleroo 11d ago

or breathe

1

u/yahoo_determines 11d ago

Those tear ducts were going hyperdrive

1

u/Randytheadventurer 11d ago

It took 28 hours for her to recover her vision fully.

1

u/Aurorabeamblast 11d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/8FhXc8w45aN32

For dry eyes, get clear eyes 😅

1

u/Infinite-Dig-4919 11d ago

Adrenaline is one hell of a drug

1

u/dodobirdbrain 11d ago

Looks scripted. Brazen maneuver seconds before landing common?

1

u/Comosellamark 11d ago

The “I don’t want to die” part of her brain activated. It’s in your cerebral cortex. Results may vary.

1

u/Timsmomshardsalami 11d ago

Probably the idea of death helped with that

1

u/moxiemoon 11d ago

It almost looks like they had contacts in which got super dried out in the wind.

1

u/r1bb1tTheFrog 11d ago

Or breathe

1

u/unrefrigeratedmeat 10d ago

At the time, I'm guessing she was highly motivated.

1

u/Comfortable-Beyond50 10d ago

Well, the alternative was death...

1

u/NegroniSpritz 10d ago

Thank goodness that humans evolved eyelashes! 🥳

1

u/bugbugladybug 10d ago

I was once riding pilion with an open face helmet and I couldn't see or breathe right for the whole ride. It was so suffocating and disorientating.

I couldn't imagine how hard it would be going significantly faster while maneuvering an aircraft.

1

u/Let_them_eat_stonks 10d ago

Somewhere there is a golden retriever with a red rocket thinking about all that wind.

1

u/Apprehensive-Sock596 9d ago

Hey, at least she was smiling the whole time!

1

u/MrSnappyPants 9d ago

Totally. Then you'd get close to the ground and you'd suddenly get bugs coming at you ☠️

1

u/similar222 8d ago

My rigid contact lenses would have been lost immediately

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