Richard Wyatt was a reporter for a local English TV station assigned to do a story on the upcoming Weston Air Show. Showing up a day before the show meant there was nothing to film, save for a pilot practising 'flour bombing' - trying to hit a target on the ground by bunging flour bombs out the window of a plane. There was a very serious drought in 1976, so the soundman suggested that Wyatt wander around on the obviously dead grass with an umbrella, whereupon the plane would come into the shot and drop flour bombs on him. It provided some footage they could pad out with, and surely nothing could go wrong..
Reporter vs Plane (http://tonytawt.tripod.com/) (6.8mb)
His face was mashed up pretty badly, but amazingly he recovered within a few weeks and had no long-term injury. Subsequent examination of the plane wing showed how lucky he was - if the point of contact had been inches the wrong way then he'd have doubtlessly been killed. I've got a still of the plane wing somewhere.
In case any of you were wondering, he's alive and well and still working in TV today.
Reporter vs Plane (http://tonytawt.tripod.com/) (6.8mb)
His face was mashed up pretty badly, but amazingly he recovered within a few weeks and had no long-term injury. Subsequent examination of the plane wing showed how lucky he was - if the point of contact had been inches the wrong way then he'd have doubtlessly been killed. I've got a still of the plane wing somewhere.
In case any of you were wondering, he's alive and well and still working in TV today.