SOCC

[tkhayes 348]

"Survivors of Canopy COllisions"

I am one, Kallend is one. Who else?

What have you done to change the way YOU fly a parachute today?

[airtwardo 7]

About ten years ago I got hit broadside by a guy spinning his RESERVE down to try to follow the main...




...I try real hard these days, not to be in the same airspace as total idiots.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[philly51 0]

Mine was in Feb., 2009. Turned in on final, and boom! The other jumper collided with my canopy at 100'.

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, Shouting "...holy shit...what a ride!"

[david3 0]

So what do you guys do differntly now?

[kallend 2,027]

Quote

So what do you guys do differntly now?

Keep away from the crowd. Have a bright orange canopy, kick my legs most of the way under canopy (movement attracts attention) and paranoid about looking all around, especially before turning base to final.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[tkhayes 348]

I systematically and consciously try to fit into the 'pattern' from opening to landing. I may overtake people or people may overtake me, but I am constantly adjusting based on where I am and where everyone else is.

If I am the first one down I try to set a good pattern and landing direction.

[muff528 3]

20-way. Collision shortly after opening. The right few cells of my canopy brushed the right-side A-lines on the other canopy. (head-on) Small puffy clouds just at opening alt. The other jumper just appeared from behind a cloud and I am sure that is how I appeared to him. Both canopies momentarily collapsed and re-inflated. I was looking over my left shoulder at the DZ and I heard his yell just before the contact. No fun.

[JohnRich 4]

Collision:

4-way, lazy tracks - it's just a 4-way among trusted friends, no need to work hard at tracking, right? Two canopies opened in the same neighborhood, both with off-heading openings pointing towards each other - what are the odds of that? One canopy had line twists so the jumper couldn't take any evasive action. Now we're up to odds of a million to one! Collision, wrapped in lines, one canopy remained inflated and flying. Altitude: 2,500'. Canopies cleared, inflated, landed as-is. Both jumpers okay.

Fact:

Two canopies, each flying towards each other at 20 mph, close at a rate of 60 feet every second. If you're 100 feet away, you are only 1.7 seconds from impact. DO something, and do it FAST.

Action:

Track like your life depends upon it, always. It does.

Maneuver as necessary the entire time you're under canopy to jockey for position amongst others to gain the clear sky you need to be safe.

Don't hesitate to land farther away in the landing area to avoid a crowd.

[Beachbum 0]

Didn't know you have had one John ... now your "scream" comment makes a little more sense!

As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

[topdocker 0]

Jump 25, Nov 1, 1987.

Collided with another low-timer at 1400 feet, no set pattern (Cessna DZ, and back when "High Performance" was an all F-111 nine cell loaded 1:1). Both cutaway and walked away. Short reseve ride under a round.

Corrective action:
Took up CRW and learned to avoid other canopies. Fly a predictable pattern, minimize turns in traffic.

Of course, I have induced some "collisions" doing CRW, but we just call them "docks!"

top

Jump more, post less!

[david3 0]

Quote

Collision:

4-way, lazy tracks - it's just a 4-way among trusted friends, no need to work hard at tracking, right? Two canopies opened in the same neighborhood, both with off-heading openings pointing towards each other - what are the odds of that? One canopy had line twists so the jumper couldn't take any evasive action. Now we're up to odds of a million to one! Collision, wrapped in lines, one canopy remained inflated and flying. Altitude: 2,500'. Canopies cleared, inflated, landed as-is. Both jumpers okay.

Fact:

Two canopies, each flying towards each other at 20 mph, close at a rate of 60 feet every second. If you're 100 feet away, you are only 1.7 seconds from impact. DO something, and do it FAST.

Action:

Track like your life depends upon it, always. It does.

Maneuver as necessary the entire time you're under canopy to jockey for position amongst others to gain the clear sky you need to be safe.

Don't hesitate to land farther away in the landing area to avoid a crowd.

This is the simplest (best?) answer. It also seems to be the hardest for many people to personally implement, me included. It’s like a parking lot, everybody wants the spot close to the door. Why? Are we not healthy enough to walk from a farther area of the landing zone? Is getting a good place in the packing area (or getting your gear to your packer first) worth dying for? Do you have to land in the peas? Can’t you make an imaginary target as your goal? Maybe if the dz is big enough the plane should be divided up into separate landing areas. 22 people divided into 6 different areas of the dz. Maybe if the drop zone just provided a ride from a point farthest from the packing area to encourage people to spread the landing pattern out a bit. It just seems like target fixation is our problem and if we could give everybody a different target we could lessen our proximity to each other. Just thinking out loud.

[NWFlyer 2]

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Maybe if the dz is big enough the plane should be divided up into separate landing areas. 22 people divided into 6 different areas of the dz. Maybe if the drop zone just provided a ride from a point farthest from the packing area to encourage people to spread the landing pattern out a bit. It just seems like target fixation is our problem and if we could give everybody a different target we could lessen our proximity to each other. Just thinking out loud.

This is fairly common on bigger-ways - people are assigned sections of the landing area and (sometimes) there are penalties for landing in another area without a damned good reason. It's usually not seen as necessary on "normal" loads but maybe it's something to consider (but there'd have to be enforcement/penalties for not landing in your assigned area).

I'm totally fine with walking in - I do it a lot. At some DZs, landing far out will have me in just as fast - at Nationals this year at Skydive Chicago I got to know the grounds crew and their golf carts really well as I always landed on the far end of the landing area to get as much of my "own" space as possible (which is extra challenging when you've got planes taking off every 5 minutes, like they did during 4-way).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[david3 0]

Quote

Quote

Maybe if the dz is big enough the plane should be divided up into separate landing areas. 22 people divided into 6 different areas of the dz. Maybe if the drop zone just provided a ride from a point farthest from the packing area to encourage people to spread the landing pattern out a bit. It just seems like target fixation is our problem and if we could give everybody a different target we could lessen our proximity to each other. Just thinking out loud.

This is fairly common on bigger-ways - people are assigned sections of the landing area and (sometimes) there are penalties for landing in another area without a damned good reason. It's usually not seen as necessary on "normal" loads but maybe it's something to consider (but there'd have to be enforcement/penalties for not landing in your assigned area).

I'm totally fine with walking in - I do it a lot. At some DZs, landing far out will have me in just as fast - at Nationals this year at Skydive Chicago I got to know the grounds crew and their golf carts really well as I always landed on the far end of the landing area to get as much of my "own" space as possible (which is extra challenging when you've got planes taking off every 5 minutes, like they did during 4-way).

Yes, I have been on big ways where my sectors landing area is off the airport. We don’t need anything that extreme but dividing up the LZ may not be a bad idea. Enforcement of this or any rules would be difficult at first but once the effort is made by the DZO or his staff to strictly enforce the rules I think it would empower the average jumper to police it. I don’t know what the interval would have to be for enforcement by the staff but when jumpers get lax they crack down again and encourage others to speak up when they witness infractions until it becomes ingrained in the culture.