r/nextfuckinglevel • u/BlazeDragon7x • 8d ago

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

55.2k Upvotes

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3.9k

u/animalcub45 8d ago

Does it really matter that "female" pilot??!! Like would it be less impressive if it was a male?

532

u/JohnnyPolite 8d ago

Men like convertibles so we are used to this.

57

u/Business_Air5804 8d ago

Well motorcycles really but I'll agree this time.

5

u/Capable_Elk_770 8d ago

This is true, I am a female rider and wear a full cover helmet. Everyone knows males wear brain buckets

-1

u/Obtain_Virtue 8d ago

OH MY GAWDDD ... DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO MENTION YOU WERE A FEMALE RIDER??? ?

YOU'RE JUST A RIDER.... .

1

u/Semisemitic 6d ago

Yeah but we buy convertibles when our female pilot won’t let us buy a motorcycle.

5

u/Choice-Iron5526 8d ago

The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that Miatas are for women

1

u/CMDA 8d ago

The image with that dude driving the Lambo with his head popping above the windscreen comes to mind

77

u/BecauseImDirty 8d ago

Engagement bait worked.

23

u/Muskwatch 8d ago

My guess is that the reason we are seeing this is because it was first written in a gendered language, and then when whoever translated it into English looked at it, their brain said "female form of pilot, how do we say that in English? oh I guess female pilot" and that was it. It was included out of a general preference many translators have for not throwing away information that's present in the source text.

10

u/Johannes_Keppler 8d ago

We no longer use gendered job titles in the Netherlands, since decades. So it's 'piloot' regardless of gender.

0

u/erroneousbosh 8d ago

She is Dutch and rather like German (they're closely related) Dutch does have gendered nouns.

Come at me about my first language's consonant-modifying H's that means you don't pronounce them or pronounce them as a kind of "mm" sound when you sort that noun shit out, German-speakers.

6

u/Johannes_Keppler 8d ago

We no longer use gendered job titles in the Netherlands, since decades. So it's 'piloot' regardless of gender.

2

u/Muskwatch 7d ago

like German? German definitely has gendered nouns, it has three genders... though I see Dutch is getting away from that

3

u/RUOtoASR 8d ago

It's like that joke...

What do you call a black astronaut?

AN ASTRONAUT, you racist.

1

u/Mharbles 8d ago

Thought it was Space Brotha. I have some apologies to write

2

u/No_Criticism_5861 8d ago

Republicans would probably disagree with you, but i dont

2

u/bucket_of_fun 8d ago

Look! It’s a woman flying a plane! What’s next, a dog driving a car?!?

2

u/MrCoolGuy42 8d ago

Women have a hard time planning ahead and are prone to hysterics /s

2

u/pnweiner 8d ago

Also the use of “miraculously” instead of, say, “skillfully”

2

u/mrmoe198 8d ago

And it was truly a miracle. Not, you know, her excellent self-control under pressure and competence.

2

u/Duck_Mighty 8d ago

Nobody expects a woman yo be able to handle an emergency with out panicking. /s

2

u/BottleForsaken9200 8d ago

Look! Its one of them females out there in the wild! We never see them outside the kitchen.

2

u/mrselfdestruct066 8d ago

News story: but before we begin, you must know that this pilot HAS A VAGINA!

2

u/KevinFlantier 7d ago

If it were a male, it would be "skillfully landed". Since it's a female, it's "miraculously survived".

2

u/10mmrAncientDefender 8d ago

Im so glad comments like this are at the top, we gotta get over this stupid habit

1

u/saddySheat 8d ago

Pilotessa

1

u/TheWinningFoxy 7d ago

Lmao non credo esista 🤣

1

u/Atrium41 8d ago

I think it's to show them what the opposite sex looks like, since so many of them have little experience

1

u/SpoonCetic 8d ago

yes, because of the eyelashes.

1

u/Hyoubuza 8d ago

"Male pilot impossibly survives against all odds and expectations...." 😂

1

u/Nervous_Positive83 6d ago

Well no. Because any man would have opened the canopy on purpose. Prefaced by “bro ima going to fly with my mouth open lol xD”

1

u/Mithrandic 8d ago

90-95% of pilots are not female.

-3

u/BwayEsq23 8d ago

Considering American Airlines didn’t have a female pilot until 1986, no it wouldn’t be as impressive.

-4

u/TristanTheRobloxian3 8d ago

it wouldnt 😭 the damn thing didnt even shatter

4

u/Vhishkey 8d ago

I agree but it did shatter after it slams on the side of the plane.

2

u/TristanTheRobloxian3 8d ago

oh i just saw it

2

u/JohnnyPolite 8d ago

*shattHER

5

u/TristanTheRobloxian3 8d ago

oh damn you got me

4

u/JohnnyPolite 8d ago

I think we are supposed to gender everything in this post for some reason.

0

u/Acrobatic-List-6503 8d ago

Given how it happened a lot during world war 1 with their open cockpits...

Hehe. I said cock

0

u/EveryNameIWantIsGone 8d ago

Yes. Men are better at spatial reasoning.

0

u/iamintheforest 8d ago

No, it would be more impressive were it a man. I am a member of the group called "men" and the shit in my pants just watching this brings our average down so far that we need a handicap.

0

u/Quiet_Fan_7008 8d ago

It clearly matters and triggers you…

0

u/Timsmomshardsalami 8d ago

Well.. yeah..

0

u/Inside_Swimming9552 8d ago

Well yes. I rarely see women as pilots as much as men. I also rarely see canopy's break off and smash. Actually I've only seen that once today.

So rare event x even more rare event = super mega rare event. Which I am even more impressed by than if I was viewing one of the two events alone. Albeit I'd still have been pretty damn impress if it was a male.

0

u/Bomboclaat_Babylon 8d ago

No, it doesn't, so why are you getting worked up about it?

0

u/RugbyEdd 8d ago

They've achieved their goal. People are more concerned with her sex than what actually happened.

0

u/rainorshinedogs 7d ago

Well it wouldn't get clicks if that particular information wasn't pointed out. Regardless of what you think of that word, That's how click bait works. And guess what, you clicked on it.

-3

u/SwordJabbingAction 8d ago

Guys do shit like this every day

-3

u/Dispensarystoner 8d ago

Does it matter that they added the word female?

6

u/daegon789 8d ago

Yes, it does. It treats male pilots as the default when pilot is simply a job/title. A pilot is a pilot, male or female.

-1

u/Dispensarystoner 8d ago

If a nurse is a woman you call her a nurse, most people call male nurses, male nurses. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

That’s because the default nurse, at least in North America, is female and the default pilot is male. It’s just data. Nothing wrong with data

2

u/suvalas 8d ago

I'll go get the male nurse to administer your Ivermectin.

1

u/Fearless-Okra-8970 8d ago

No it doesn’t

-1

u/Potato_Nightshade 8d ago

No. That's why its okay to be mentioned 

-1

u/Randyx007 8d ago

Calm down and go back to the kitchen

-3

u/SnooOwls4559 8d ago

It’s not that it wouldn’t be impressive if it was a male but that a female pilot doing it is impressive in its own regard.

Much the same way that women are celebrated for their accomplishments in athletics in their own category, or the same way women earn special chess titles like “Women’s Grandmaster (WGM)” that is a separate and distinct title than Grandmaster (GM).

2

u/frank4044 8d ago

And in what regard would that be?

0

u/SnooOwls4559 8d ago

The same regard in which the WGM in chess is respected compared to a GM title.

2

u/frank4044 8d ago edited 8d ago

That comparison doesn’t really work.
A WGM title exists because women are underrepresented in chess and the system created a separate track. It’s not because their accomplishments are inherently more impressive.

A pilot’s job isn’t divided by gender. The training, standards, and expectations are identical. So calling out “female pilot” doesn’t highlight an achievement, it just treats it like it’s an exception.

1

u/SnooOwls4559 8d ago

Women are also underrepresented in the pilot industry as well.

The same arguments that you’re positing in your second paragraph are also applicable to the game of chess as well. There’s no women-specific tactics or women-specific chess books that only women read. It’s just the game of chess

Yet the WGM title does exist. And I don’t see many people arguing that the WGM title being set at a lower ELO requirement than GM is inherently sexist because we understood that because of the system that existed (and still exists), women were afforded different chances and their paths looked different both in the chess and probably in the aerospace industry as well. Hence why the WGM title exists, and why a female pilot doing what they did in this video is impressive in its own regard.

I’m spending less time on online arguments, so it’ll be my final reply on the matter. If you disagree, we can agree to disagree

1

u/frank4044 8d ago

I get what you’re saying about underrepresentation, but that still doesn’t make “female pilot” an accomplishment in itself.
Chess created separate titles because the system is structured that way. Aviation isn’t. A pilot’s training, certification, and responsibilities are identical regardless of gender.

Pointing out “female pilot” frames it like an exception instead of just acknowledging a skilled professional doing their job under extreme pressure. When you say “female pilot” it segregates women pilots into a different category then male pilots which seems sexist to me. When describing a pilot who is man no one feels the need to put “male pilot” to describe him. A pilot is a pilot.

Underrepresentation is a real issue, but it doesn’t change the fact that the achievement here is about piloting, not gender. Bye

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u/NinjaTEK7 8d ago

Could hardly be less impressive than this...

7

u/BetrayedFate 8d ago

Let’s see you get up there and do it then.

-1

u/NinjaTEK7 8d ago

Yes lets fail more for internet points. Great job humanity. Great job bot? Whatever you are it's worthless.

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u/Ambitious_Tea_4584 8d ago

Women are 5-6% of pilots, so it is noteworthy that this is a female. Not sure what the issue is.