At a gender reveal party, a small aircraft crashed and killed the pilot in front of enthusiastic guests who were oblivious to the tragedy unfolding above their heads.
The happy couple celebrated their pregnancy with family and friends in Sinaloa, Mexico. They hired a small plane to fly over them and drop powder colored pink or blue to indicate the gender of their baby.
As the plane approached the mom-and-pop-to-be, who were standing next to a sign reading “Oh baby,” it released pink smoke from its fuselage, indicating that they were having a baby girl.
Squeals and cheers erupted as the couple kissed under the pink dust on Sept. 2.
However, at that very moment, the Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee aircraft shot up, turning on its side and collapsing one of its wings in mid-flight.
The aircraft continued out of control, passing palm trees in the background of the couple’s idyllic moment in San Pedro, Sinaloa. Before realizing the tragedy, the couple continued to hug each other while their relatives congratulated them.
The pilot, identified as 32-year-old Luis Angel N., was the only person on the small aircraft and was found in the rubble after the crash. He was rushed to the hospital, where he sadly passed away.
This tragic incident adds to a series of accidents involving increasingly elaborate and sometimes dangerous gender reveal parties. In October 2019, a grandmother in Iowa died after being struck by shrapnel from a pipe bomb during a similar party. In February 2021, a man died in New York while building a device for a gender reveal party. The growing trend of these celebrations has led to increased scrutiny over their safety.
This sad incident in Mexico serves as a reminder that a baby’s gender celebration should focus on joy and safety rather than elaborate displays that can have devastating consequences.