A gender reveal party in Mexico ended in tragedy after a pilot crashed as he flew over the heads of partygoers.
A video of the incident circulating online shows the red Cessna-type plane flying close to the ground as it approaches a couple waiting in front of a sign that reads “Oh baby.”
The plane releases plumes of pink smoke before the left wing appears to break off from the main body of the aircraft, sending it spinning as it careens to the left. The footage quickly snaps back to the couple who are embracing as confetti cannons go off.
According to local news site El Sol de Sinaloa, the pilot crashed in farmland behind the country estate where the gender reveal party was taking place Saturday evening. He was seriously injured on impact.
Paramedics from the Sinaloa Red Cross treated the pilot at the scene before taking him to a hospital, but authorities told CNN the pilot later died from his injuries.
The pilot was identified as 32-year-old Luis Ángel by El Sol de Sinaloa. Investigators are looking into what may have caused the crash.
No other injuries were reported due to the accident.
One social media user speculated in the comments under a video of the plane crash that a confetti cannon that went off below the plane may have contributed to the left wing breaking off. Other social media users noted that the partygoers seemed oblivious to the accident and kept celebrating the gender reveal.
In 2021, an eerily similar situation played out in Cancun when a gender reveal party ended in a plane crash.
A pilot and co-pilot were killed when their plane crashed into the ocean while trailing a banner revealing the gender of the onlooking couple’s baby.
In 2020, a California couple celebrating their pregnancy set off a wildfire by using a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” to announce the gender of their baby. The fire scorched nearly 22,000 acres of land, or 89 square kilometres, killed one firefighter and injured two others.
Jenna Karvunidis, the blogger who is credited with creating gender reveal parties in 2008, has repeatedly said she regrets starting the trend.
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