US Air Force reveals how the contractor who walked into the propeller died

At Gray Butte Airfield in California, Stephanie Cosme, a 32-year-old civilian contractor for the US Air Force, lost her life on September 7th last year as a result of an accident. As she got caught up in the data recording, she started to lose her sense of direction and ended up being killed by MQ-9A’s rotating propeller i.e., it became the cause of her unexpected demise. A report of a real method was submitted by the Air Force Material Command to explain the causes that led to that failure.
The MQ-9A, described in the report as an “armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft,” serves dual purposes: primarily targeting dynamic execution targets and secondarily functioning as an intelligence collection asset. At the time of the accident, Cosme was employed by Sumaria Systems, providing test support services to the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center.
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The investigation into the accident by the Air Force Materiel Command’s accident investigation board revealed two primary causes. “First,” the board stated, “the test engineer was incorrectly instructed or trained on how to take telemetry readings when approaching the MQ-9A while the engine was running. Second, she lost situational awareness while walking around the mishap aircraft taking telemetry readings with a hand-held measurement device.”
Cosme was focused on the testing device, “looking down at the testing device the whole time, and appeared to be pressing buttons, possibly to keep the backlight on.” Despite attempts by a colleague, who “began walking towards Cosme, shouting and waving his arms in an attempt to get [her] attention,” and others who “began shouting and waving to get [Cosme’s] attention as well,” she did not look up. she “proceeded to walk directly into the propeller … sustaining fatal injuries.”
The investigation went further to disclose one of the main causes of the accident, the major communication gap among the contractor’s test team and the ground support staff, and the other reason was the pressure to complete several inspections on time because of the previous delay and and cancellation of the tests. A mock-up effected by the board of inquiry concluded that the whirling propeller was not visible from the tail of the aircraft at that point where Cosme took off.
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Cosme is survived by her parents, two siblings, a fiancé, and a stepdaughter. Her obituary on Legacy.com reflects the essence of her life, stating, “family was the center of Stephanie’s world.” She is remembered for her “passion for crafting, baking, aviation and all things strange and unusual.” The obituary further notes, “Whether she was planning a party or working on an art project, she approached everything she did with dedication and enthusiasm, leaving a lasting impact on those she encountered.”