Surviving Plane Passengers Take Selfie At Site Of Collision With Fire Truck
By Jason Hall
November 21, 2022
Two surviving passengers of a plane crash went viral after taking a selfie from the site of the collision.
Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi was among the passengers on the Latam Airlines plane that collided with a firetruck at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru on November 18.
Varsi-Rospigliosi shared a selfie of himself covered in snow alongside a female passenger standing in front of the crashed Latam Airlines plane with a caption that translates to "When life gives you a second chance #latam."
The tweet has received more than 200,000 likes from Twitter users in awe of two people surviving a frightening near-death experience, but was also met criticism as they were -- unknowingly at the time -- standing at the site where two firefighters inside the truck had died.
Cuando la vida te da una segunda oportunidad #latam pic.twitter.com/Vd98Zu98Uo
— Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi (@enriquevarsi) November 18, 2022
Video captured from the scene shows LATAM A320 NEO plane collide with a fire truck entering the runway.
A fire truck entered the runway and collided with the LATAM A320 NEO that was taking off at Jorge Chavez airport in Lima, Peru#Peru pic.twitter.com/OYZia5W45V
— CNW (@ConflictsW) November 18, 2022
Several critics shared their displeasure of the selfie being taken in front of the site of a deadly accident.
Tragedia = Selfie #LATAM #Aeropuerto # pic.twitter.com/8JUzrR26AD
— Nico Sรกnchez (@nsavestheworld) November 18, 2022
— โก CHARLIE ๐ฮlectric ๐ (@Charly_Electric) November 20, 2022
Cuando te convertis en un meme de 9gag pic.twitter.com/br7L8fdXIG
— ๐ธ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ. ๐ท. (@mxmauro) November 19, 2022
I've seen it all now.
— Saul R (@saulrichman) November 18, 2022
Crash selfie.
End of the Internet
One member of a popular Facebook aviation group commented that the photo was "unbelievable," while another said it was a "bad taste selfie," according to News.com.au.
โNothing to be proud of, firefighters died,โ added a third commenter.
"Two firefighters die but sure, take a selfie and laugh,โ a fourth wrote.
Some commenters in the group defended the two passengers.
โI get it, they are happy because they are alive,โ one wrote. โPeople are just taking it the wrong way and getting offended for anything these days.ย
โThink about it, you realised youโve just survived an aeroplane crash, then suddenly it catches fire, and on top of it you are able to walk away from it unscratched? Iโd be the happiest and most thankful person alive!โ
โIn the moment they took the picture, only a few people knew that two firefighters had died. They thought it was a problem with the aeroplane," another added. โMedia took, at least, an hour and a half to report what really happened. Even firefighters from Lima didnโt know for the first hour. They just felt thankful for being alive.โ