The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that selfies likely caused a small plane to crash in Colorado in May. Quartz writes that Amritpal Singh, who was transporting musician Jatinder Singh, most likely became “disoriented by the flash of his cellphone” after taking a selfie. It’s the first time the board has ever cited a selfie for a plane crash.
There was a GoPro on board the camera, and although it wasn’t on during this flight, investigators combed through the camera’s memory card and found that Singh and passengers were “taking self-photographs with their cell phones and, during the night flight, using the camera’s flash function during the takeoff roll, initial climb, and flight in the traffic pattern” on the flight immediately before the one that crashed.
Quartz notes that the trend of selfies and photos is a common one among pilots, even though it violates rules set by the FAA and other organizations.
(Photo: Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office)
