Gender reveal party took tragic turn when plane crashed in front of unsuspecting guests

A gender reveal event in Mexico took a tragic turn when a stunt plane participating in the celebration crashed in front of unsuspecting partygoers.

In a video shared on social media, the unidentified couple stands hand in hand in front of a large illuminated sign that reads “Oh Baby,” surrounded by friends and family.

As part of the reveal, the ill-fated Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee plane releases pink smoke into the San Pedro sky, while confetti is launched from a ground-based cannon.

Tragically, the plane’s left wing appears to fail as the pilot, later identified as Luis Ángel N., 32, attempts to pull the aircraft upward, leading to an uncontrollable spiral descent.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the attendees remain oblivious to the harrowing incident unfolding in the sky.

According to a report from a local news outlet, authorities discovered the pilot lying amid the wreckage of the plane after a concerned partygoer made an emergency call on Saturday.

Paramedics promptly transported him to the hospital, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

The heartbreaking video has quickly gone viral, reigniting the ongoing debate regarding the safety and appropriateness of gender reveal events.

One user on the platform expressed their concern by saying, “These gender reveal parties are getting out of hand when people die annually because of them.”

Another user criticized the video’s tone, noting, “The way the camera panned back to the couple with not the slightest care in the world for the pilot is sad.”

A third user shared their observation, stating, “For a moment I actually thought all the screaming was because they saw the plane. But no, it looks and sounds like only the cameraman noticed (at least initially).”

Certain X users have been speculating about the potential causes of the tragic plane crash during the gender reveal event.

One eagle-eyed user suggested, “Look carefully at the timing of the sudden upward movement, it exactly coincides with the CO2 cannon firing on the ground. It seems to me that the aircraft was literally blasted out of the sky.”

Another person offered their perspective, stating, “Looks like structural fatigue caused that climb to barely pull enough g’s to cause such a thing,” while a third user suggested that the pilot may have “overstressed the wings.”

Tragically, this incident is not the first time that a gender reveal event has gone terribly wrong, underscoring the risks associated with elaborate and potentially dangerous celebrations of this nature.

The dangers associated with gender reveal events have been tragically demonstrated in various incidents. In 2020, a celebration in California sparked a deadly wildfire that consumed approximately 10,000 acres of land.

In another incident, a couple faced criticism when their “oh baby” sign released torrents of pink smoke and confetti into the air, with several sparklers coming dangerously close to igniting nearby trees.

Additionally, an Australian family unintentionally set their car on fire in 2019 due to special tires designed to emit blue smoke to announce their baby’s gender.

These gender reveal-related tragedies prompted Jenna Karvunidis, a well-known mommy blogger often credited with popularizing such celebrations, to issue an apology for her role in starting the trend.

“Who cares what gender the baby is?” Karvunidis wrote in a viral July 2019 Facebook post. 

“Assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what’s between their legs.”