How Far Away is Death?

How far away is death? From close calls to tragic accidents, these incidents are equally shocking as insightful.

Tune in every Thursday to see the newest edition, or scroll down to browse previous topics.

Engine blade hits airplane window

September 10, 2026

Not only did the engine blade hit the window of the Ryanair aircraft taking off in Thessaloniki, Greece, the window shattered and a male passenger’s head was sucked out of the window. Passengers, including his wife, pulled at his legs and body to rescue him. He survived the horrific ordeal with friction burns, damages to his head and neck, and shock.

What happened to cause the engine blade to hit the window of the Ryanair plane? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that it found parts of a bird on a fragmented engine. The flight had reached 16,000 feet over Thessaloniki—about 10 minute following takeoff—when the engine began reverberating. The shaking within the airplane grew stronger and a clearly audible boom was heard throughout the aircraft. The passenger oxygen masks dropped as the altitude warning sounded.

Missing people among flood in Nepal

September 3, 2026

Here’s what we know for now from the 8:37 am glacier collapse and flash flood on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.

• Emergency crews continue searching for thousands of missing people on the Nepal-China border in the aftermath of a glacial collapse.
• Estimation of unaccounted for in Nepal is currently 4,274, including more than 500 foreign nationals.
• Estimation of unaccounted for in Tibet is 16 deaths, 546 missing.
• The current death toll in Nepal is 903.
• More than 10,400 people have been rescued by relief teams.
• River erosion has inflicted transport routes.
• Rescue teams are working on tunnels at several affected hydropower sites where many workers had been trapped.

Siblings and an explosive device

August 27, 2026

Federal charges have been placed against siblings—a brother and a sister—and indicted with placing an explosive device, an IED, at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The sister has been placed in custody and the brother fled to China.

Here is further information.

Lake Michigan claims beloved teacher, brother

August 20, 2026

A very popular Adams High School life skills teacher, Hannah Zweig, 21, and her brother, Yosef, traveled to Lake Michigan on a family trip from their South Bend, Indiana, to swim. The pair drowned during the water recreation.

Zweig had stated upon choosing life skills for her teaching career that her developmentally disabled brother was a key factor in her choice.

Principal Jim Seitz at Adams High School described recognizing the beloved teacher’s “clear compassionate vision for her career” when she initially reached out to him for the position: “I actually received an email from her about two years ago, explaining that she was finishing up her degree and she would be interested in a life skills teaching position at Adams High School. And you could see from the tone of her email the compassion that she had for young people, especially young people with special needs.*

“As a life skills teacher, you have a responsibility to literally work with your students from the moment that they get off of the bus in the morning to the moment that they get back on the bus in the afternoon. Hannah communicates with her parents of her students greater, quite frankly, than any teachers that we have.”*

Her exceptional work did not go unnoticed. The South Bend Community School Corporation awarded Hannah Rookie Teacher of the Year this past school year.

But her impact reached far beyond standard classroom hours. Seitz noted that Hannah was always looking for ways to lift up those around her, whether organizing school-wide initiatives or highlighting the work of her colleagues.

WNDU News 16 tells us that “her exceptional work did not go unnoticed. The South Bend Community School Corporation awarded Hannah Rookie Teacher of the Year this past school year.”*

Content source/credit: *WNDU News 16, “Beloved Adams High School teacher, sibling die in Lake Michigan drowning,” by Joshua Short, published August 5, 2026.

Subduing a threat

August 13, 2026

A passenger became a threat on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Chicago. First, the Frontier Airlines passenger tried to open an exit door. Next, he attempted to force the cockpit door. Then, he started choking an off-duty flight attendant until fellow passengers and on-duty attendants stopped him and ultimately tied him down with a seat belt. One of the key heroes was a Chicago martial arts instructor.

Due to the danger, the flight was diverted to Miami International Airport, where the offending passenger was charged with maritime and territorial jurisdiction assault and abuse of flight attendants.

Driving-related deaths

August 06, 2026

In the U.S. in 2024, motor vehicle related deaths numbered 39,254. That equates to almost a dozen deaths per 100,000 people based on research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Explore the information from IIHS and you will learn the motor vehicle crash deaths state by state.

What can you do to drive safer?

Is ice cream a root cause?

July 30, 2026

Did you know there’s a very strong statistical correlation (a coefficient over 0.9) between ice cream and shark attacks? It’s true! As ice cream sales increase, the number of shark bites increases, and vice-versa.

So, does enjoying ice cream make you more likely to get bitten by a shark? No, not quite.

This is a prime example about how correlation does necessarily prove causality. These measurements are probabilistically related, but not directly.

The third factor at play is likely summer heat. As it gets warmer, more people are cooling off by snacking on ice cream or swimming in the ocean.

Data analysis can be confusing, but it’s an important skill when it comes to safety, quality, and operations. We offer an onsite measurement trending course to help investigators better understand data.

Delta flight thwarted

July 24, 2026

Delta Connection Flight 3723, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was forced to make an emergency diversion to Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) on Thursday, July 16, 2026, after encountering severe turbulence that resulted in an injury. : The flight originated from North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas and was originally bound for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Phantom energy

July 16, 2026

Popular Mechanics asks an interesting question, “Do you need to unplug your appliances?” PM reminds us of the routine reasons we should comply with this practice: “While it may seem like an old-fashioned habit to unplug your appliances, it’s actually a quick and easy way to save some energy and improve the safety of your kitchen. In the summer, when many of us are away from home for long-awaited and meticulously planned trips, taking a few seconds to pull the plug can prevent potential hazards and maybe even lower your electric bill.”

But there’s a more compelling reason provided by PM to unplug those appliances: “Unplugging equipment is a good practice is because of something called ‘phantom energy’ or ‘standby power.’ This concept is best described as electronics and appliances that continue to draw power even when they’re turned off. Your phone charger plugged in with no phone attached? Still using energy. The coffee maker on your kitchen counter with the digital clock? Yep, still sipping electricity. Over time, that can add up. Plus, other gadgets like toasters, air fryers, and irons can lead to possible housefires if left plugged in for too long.”

Read the rest of the Popular Mechanics article to glean even more information.

Pilot experiences mid-air health emergency

July 9, 2026

A passenger flight from New Jersey to Nova Scotia deviated from its flight path on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, due to the pilot experiencing a medical emergency.

An AOL report tells us that passengers immediately sensed something out of the ordinary, according to ABC News. Passengers then apparently assisted the pilot, who was suffering an extended seizure, as the copilot took over the flight. The aircraft was diverted to Boston, and the pilot was taken to the hospital for medical care.

Fireworks thrown into crowd

July 2, 2026

Fireworks are a popular occurrence around July 4th celebrations. However, the Roman candle thrown into a crowd watching Jurassic Park caused havoc among outdoor moviegoers in northern Washington, DC.

A police report detailed that the incident happened around 10 pm Wednesday evening, June 24, 2026, at Alethia Tanner Park in DC’s Eckington neighborhood. The large crowd was gathered for the summer movie series sponsored by the NoMa Business Improvement District.

Here’s a video of the incident: