Cockpit Colin wrote:
I wondered the same thing - the other thing I found surprising is that
this
was a fatal accident - from the point at which the aircraft hits the wire
it
appears to come to a halt quickly and then drops vertically. Sure, nothing
I'd like to try in practice, but I didn't see anything that I would have
thought would have killed anyone, assuming they were belted in good and
tight.

The same could be said of the fatal Aryton Senna accident (for you Formula
One fans). OK, he was going substantially faster and hit a concrete wall,
but I don't think anyone was expecting anything bad at all - I still
remember watching the accident on TV - bummer he hit the wall, I guess he's
outa the race, that wasn't too bad, he'll just hop out once he's undone his
steering wheel, any minute now, anytime now, soon, gees I hope he's OK. I
think the conscensus afterwards was that his front-right wheel sheered off
and impacted his helmet (please correct me if I'm wrong). I guess sometimes
you get lucky, and sometimes you get unlucky.

A friend of mine once went to see his car after leaving the hospital. The
scrap metal owner refused to believe that anyone in the car had survived.

Y'all be careful out there.

Hilton
P.S.: I don't fly planes without a shoulder harness