I am a quintessential millennial. I take selfies all of the time – with my kitten, with my friends and family, sometimes even on tours of manufacturing facilities.
It’s addicting to capture a moment in time, to share your experience with your loved ones – and readers. And, for someone like me, it’s a way to invite my friends and family, who are scattered across the country, into my life in a more intimate way.
But, too often, we sacrifice safety for the perfect shot.
The National Transportation Safety Board just released a report that said that selfies likely were the cause of a Cessna 150K crash in May 2014 that killed two people.
A GoPro camera found on board the two-seater aircraft contained video files of flights thought to have been taken the day before and day of the fatal Colorado crash, including a video of the six-minute flight preceding the crash flight.
In the videos, the pilot and various passengers were seen taking selfies with their cell phones, using the cameras' flashes during the night flights.
The NTSB said the crash likely was caused by the pilot’s loss of control and the stalling of the airplane “due to spatial disorientation in night instrument meteorological conditions.”
“Based on the evidence of cell phone use during low-altitude maneuvering, including the flight immediately before the accident flight, it is likely that cell phone use during the accident flight distracted the pilot and contributed to the development of spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control,” the report reads.
Two lives, two selves, were lost likely for a selfie.