Reno Air Disaster Trends Socially

The catastrophic plane crash at the Reno, Nevada air races was captured in vivid detail on various video/news outlets, and now, it’s trending on the Internet as people gather around their computers/mobile devices sharing news, pictures, and video of the disaster.

The details of the crash are available all over the web, and while the loss of life should not be overlooked, the fact that the plane crashed into the grandstand and so far, there have only been three casualties is amazing in and of itself; especially when you see video of the disaster. ABC News has some more details:

At least 56 people were taken to local hospitals, including 15 in critical condition and another 13 were listed in serious condition.

Authorities said it’s possible the number of injuries may be even higher because some people left for the hospital in private vehicles.

One of the casualties was the aircraft’s pilot, Jimmy Leeward, who was an experienced stunt pilot. Apparently, mechanical issues contributed to the plane’s failure, as images of the aircraft missing its elevator trim tab have emerged. In fact, there is a great deal of content from crash, some in video, other in pictures, and again, it’s absolutely amazing the loss of life was not exponentially higher.

Reddit.com is all over this content with two active threads, and they are replete with images and video of the incident. Because of the sensitive nature of the content, viewer discretion is advised:

This angle has also been slowed down to 120 FPS, and it’s pretty jarring, especially when you consider the aftermath:

Perhaps the most compelling piece of content is an image of the aircraft seconds before it crashed into the crowd:

On Twitter, the Reno disaster is trending as people exchange information and give condolences. There are others, quite naturally, who are treating the situation like they would if they saw a traffic accident while out driving, that is, rubber-necking, but that’s just human nature. The desire to see overwhelms the desire to look away.

Pragmatic? Yes. Feel a little grimy after reading it? Yes, again. Something a little more appropriate:

And then there’s this informative nugget:

Perhaps “pushing the envelope” to impress the audience should be scaled back a little bit. In fact, it’s hard not to imagine such a transition when you consider just how up close and personal the coverage of disaster has been.