I suppose it is a miracle that
it does not happen more often with all the uncontrolled crowds, animals and
vehicles milling about the airstrips, but it went wrong in Ilaga when a woman
walked into the [spinning] prop of a TwinOtter.
The Indonesian pilots, lacking the inherent protection accorded to foreign pilots, immediately closed up the aircraft and departed ….their only option as otherwise they would have been chopped up themselves.
Apparently normal operations resumed after 10 minutes.
A purpose built
branch/string barrier has been erected to prevent future tragedies.
I witnessed a similar tragedy, that time involving a distracted airport worker, during Tour 7.