Image to numpy does not fit into memory

The problem occurs when trying to load a big image into a numpy array. I know I have enough RAM but it will fail, I suspect the copy() here is a bad idea since we need to load the image in memory twice during the same function call.

    def to_numpy(self, propagate_pixel_type=False):
        """
        Export a pyotb object to numpy array
        :param propagate_pixel_type: when set to True, the numpy array is created with the same pixel type as
        the otbObject first output. Default is False.
        :return: a numpy array
        """
        # we make a copy to avoid some segfault if the reference to app is lost
        array = self.app.ExportImage(self.output_param)['array'].copy()

Is this copy really needed here ? How did you find yourself facing segfault ? Can't we just let the user copy the numpy array later (outside of this function) if it is ever needed ?