[NYPOST] A US Air Force civilian contractor was killed when she walked into a drone’s rotating propeller at a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, airfield — after losing "situational awareness" while glued to a data-recording device, officials say.
Stephanie Cosme, 32, was fatally injured when she "inadvertently" stumbled into the moving propeller of a parked MQ-9A Reaper drone at Gray Butte Airfield on Sept. 7, according to a new statement from Air Force Materiel Command summing up the findings of a report on the accident.
"Without looking up to determine her position relative to the aircraft, [Cosme] proceeded to walk directly into the propeller of the [aircraft] sustaining fatal injuries," stated the final investigation report released Friday.
Won't do that again
In his statement of opinion, Accident Investigation Board President Brig. Gen. Lance French identified two causes for the accident.
First, Cosme was incorrectly instructed or trained on how to take data readings when approaching a drone while its engine is running.
Second, "she lost situational awareness" while walking around the unmanned aircraft taking readings with a hand-held measurement device, the report stated.
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