Pilot dies in gender reveal stunt in Mexico

Footage shows an expecting couple smiling and holding hands in front of a sign that reads: “Oh Baby”.

The video, filmed by a party guest, begins as a light aircraft drafted in to perform the incredible reveal comes into view.

As the small plane approaches, it releases pink smoke to signify the couple, from San Pedro, Mexico, are having a girl.

But tragedy strikes as the pilot appears to pull the Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee aircraft upwards and the left wing suddenly gives way, sending the aircraft into a fatal tailspin.

Yet attendees of the event seemed oblivious to the horror happened above their heads, and continued to celebrate the gender reveal, The Sun reports.

Later photos too graphic to publish revealed the 32-year-old pilot, named locally as Luis Angel N., lying in the wreckage of the plane before he was rushed to hospital, where he died, local media reports.

The tragedy has gone viral online, and viewers had mixed reactions to the seemingly careless response from the party goers.

One said: “The way the camera panned back to the couple with not the slightest care in the world for the pilot is sad.”

Another added: “Why do they have to do such extreme gender reveals lately? Why can’t they just settle for something simple?”

And a third said: “It looks like he over stressed the aircraft. I wonder if he was above safe manoeuvring speed? I hate to see it.”

A Twitter user added: “Whats the point of this at the first place? I see so many accidents and incidents doing gender reveals.”

In 2021, a California couple’s gender reveal began a wildfire which scorched more than 7,000 acres of land.

The device used to release blue or pink smoke to announce the gender of an expected baby is thought to have sparked the blaze.

A spokesman for The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the family could be held responsible for the entire cost of putting out the fire – which amounts to millions of dollars.

And in the same year a dad-to-be died and his brother was hurt in a blast that reportedly took place while they were building a device to be used at a baby gender reveal party in Middletown, New York.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.