Happy birthday.

[novapsyche]

Ill senior dies in jump from birthday biplane flight

An elderly man recently diagnosed with a brain tumor leaped to his death from a vintage airplane he rented to celebrate his 88th birthday, officials said Tuesday.

Joseph Harold Frost took off his safety belt at 300 to 400 feet, stood up in the open cockpit of the two-seat biplane and went over the side Monday.

The pilot tried but failed to wrestle him back into the plane and nose the aircraft upward to force Frost back into his seat.

"I think that was Dad's idea, to go out in a flash of glory," said Robert Frost, who had helped his father arrange the chartered flight on a biplane similar to the ones the elder Frost flew in World War II.

The man landed on an apartment patio, horrifying those who witnessed it.

"I saw him hit the power lines, heard trees breaking. I really thought it wasn't real," Cynthia Lankford said.

Comments

[kali-ma.livejournal.com]

Freaky. But probably better than dying of brain cancer. At least for him. I feel bad for the people who saw it, though.

[liquidgrey.livejournal.com]

neat way to go out.

I don't know why people are so freaked - if they man wanted to die by jumping out an airplane, he should be allowed to do so (not that anyone could have stopped him)

[autodidactic.livejournal.com]

I'd have aimed for the middle of the Mojave desert.

A.

[fadedpaladin.livejournal.com]

if I wanted to die in the mojave, it'd be by heatstroke/dehydration/exposure. at least there, you can pick your view.. and on a hot enough day, it's pretty quick.

Way to Go!

[mazecraft.livejournal.com]

Mr. Frost is officially one of my new heroes! I bet he was a dynamic force to those that knew him. (To go out like that on your own terms and everything...)

`maze+the inspired

[artofcode.livejournal.com]

Hooray for Mr. Frost!

Too bad for the poor folks who have to clean up the patio.
What a mess! Wasn't he being just a wee bit inconsiderate?