Woman Loses Hand, Suffers Head Injuries In Texas Plane Propeller Accident

A 23-year-old editor of an online fashion magazine "accidentally walk[ed] too close to a small plane's propeller" and was seriously injured in McKinney, Texas. Lauren Scruggs' hand was severed and her head and shoulder were also hit.

Scruggs, who had interned for Michael Kors and Gossip Girl and now edits LoloMag.com (she was in NY for Fashion Week in September), is in serious condition, according to Radar. According to a statement on CaringBridge, "Lauren has received facial and shoulder reconstruction, as well as the loss of her hand. We are currently praying for healing on the left eye and brain. She is in stable condition with ongoing surgery. Keep praying!" and a more recent one noted, "Lauren's surgery went very well this morning. She is now resting in ICU with the family. She is able to open her right eye to see while her left eye is still bandaged. Please continue to pray for the vision of her left eye, as we will not know the status of her sight for some time. As Lauren begins to wake up, she is learning the extent of her injuries. Brittany was able to explain to her that she was in an accident, sustaining multiple injuries. She seemed to acknowledge what Brittany explained and confirmed it with a hand squeeze."

The plane was a two-seater 2011 Aviat Husky A-1C-180. An aviation enthusiast told Fox 4 in Dallas, "These [propellers] aren't going to break if they hit you. It most likely is going to kill you if you get too close... If the engine is running at speed it will suck you into it, just like a jet engine will suck you into it," said Blackman.

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By Jen Chung in News on December 5, 2011 6:16 PM

Comments [rss]

Jack Mehoff

You new yorkers are ego porkers

Dan Meshugunahbaum

"her head and shoulder were also hit."

What about knees and toes, knees and toes?

FU Boy

Girl never saw "Raiders of the lost Ark." Pay attention when you're anywhere near a plane.

pendejito

Texas 8, but defintely a New York 5 or 6.

HughGass

wouldn't be a story if she was a fatty

Maria

BS. That kind of stupid would always make a story.

spogged_out

or male or non-white or old or poor or from a non-english speaking country.

splicernyc

I thought the pilot was supposed to wait for the propeller to stop rotating before letting people off.

Maria

The engine WAS shut down. The propeller keeps going a long time after. No one ever waits for the propeller to stop rotating. it would be impractical. Even in commercial airplanes its still moving when people get off. In fact the propeller often starts moving just from wind. They are always dangerous. Most people know to avoid them.

JacksBack72

I owned a single-engine complex aircraft for 7-years. . . and I would NEVER allow any passenger off my aircraft until the engine was shut down!
I simply can't imagine how any pilot-in-command would allow any passenger off his aircraft while the props were still turning.
BTW- there is absolutly nothing 'funny' about this incident/accident. . .

splicernyc

Nothing funny at all. It sounds as if this woman put her trust in the pilot, unaware of the danger. This pilot has to answer for this.

Maria

The engine was off. The propeller was still moving, like they always do. They move for about thirty minutes after the engine shuts off. they don't just stop.

JacksBack72

Splicer- Actually, I didn't think it through that far. . . But I do quite agree- the pilot of this aircraft should have his ticket pulled by the FAA. . .
Either forever- or for a significant period of time: 3-5 years.

Maria

No. You are perfectly allowed to let people off while the propeller is turning. Even hellicopters, which are far more dangerous. Seriously, you can't figure someone is that stupid.

mitch cumstien

No offense to this chick and her injuries but humans been walking around spinning and whirling pieces of machinery since the wright brothers skipped across the dunes in kitty hawk.. Why is this even news on gothamist?? that some spaced out nitwit, no offense to the general nitwits, climbs out of a functioning airplane and walks into a spinning propeller. sorry but darwin and general common sense where not on this persons mind. hope she gets better and promises the human race not to try and breed because the spawn of this one could someday trigger a third world war or kill a bunch of people because of the lack awareness of ones surroundings.

smalll

Once again we come face to face with one of the great unanswered questions of theodicy -- why do bad things happen to beautiful people?

And how could God allow the Holocaust to occur, seeing as how the Nazis were such snappy dressers?

"Tim Osman"

Seriously how the fuck does this happen?

SFNY

Propellers are designed to suck air at the front and push air out the back, so it's possible she was at what she thought was a safe distance but was sucked back into the blade. She might have put her hand out first to try to stop herself from being sucked in, severing it and throwing her off balance so that her shoulder and face fell towards the blade.

There are accidents all the time with plane engines, outboard motors, cruise ships etc. sucking people in.

"Tim Osman"

I guess it is safe to assume that she was walking or standing somewhere oblivious to the danger or the pilot did not realize where she was or never shut the engine down or restarted the engines without knowing she was there.