the_sarge 0 #1 July 7, 2008 A couple of days ago i had an incident during a 4-way jump. A badly executed block resulted in a crash which made my reserve handle come loose. After my main was deployed, i noticed that the reserve pilot chute and freebag was trailing behind me. The main (Katana 120) was flying perfectly. I decided to pull in the reserve and freebag, stuff it under my suit, and land my main. It was quite a struggle, and i didn't have control of the situation until 500ft, where i was able to release the brakes and steer my canopy to a landing. I have heard suggestions of cutting the main canopy after opening or to deploy the reserve before deploying the main. What would you have done in a situation like this? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiverton2 0 #2 July 7, 2008 QuoteA couple of days ago i had an incident during a 4-way jump. A badly executed block resulted in a crash which made my reserve handle come loose. After my main was deployed, i noticed that the reserve pilot chute and freebag was trailing behind me. The main (Katana 120) was flying perfectly. I decided to pull in the reserve and freebag, stuff it under my suit, and land my main. It was quite a struggle, and i didn't have control of the situation until 500ft, where i was able to release the brakes and steer my canopy to a landing. I have heard suggestions of cutting the main canopy after opening or to deploy the reserve before deploying the main. What would you have done in a situation like this? You did the right thing. Reserve might open with an extreme linetwist due to the tumbelling bag.Using your droque to gain stability is a bad habid. . . Also in case you jump a sport rig!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris_K 0 #3 July 7, 2008 I would have done the same as you. If your under a good mai, why cut it away? by the sounds of it the freebag was flying but the reserve had not come out (2 out situation) If you were flying normally, just catching a bit of air on the free bag and reserve pilot chute, stowing it all away, I think, would be a better option the cutting away. Who knows if the reserve was not fully deployed, maybe it would not deploy. what altitude did you deploy at? / were open at?Downsizing is not the way to prove your manhood. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orange1 0 #4 July 7, 2008 QuoteQuoteA couple of days ago i had an incident during a 4-way jump. A badly executed block resulted in a crash which made my reserve handle come loose. After my main was deployed, i noticed that the reserve pilot chute and freebag was trailing behind me. The main (Katana 120) was flying perfectly. I decided to pull in the reserve and freebag, stuff it under my suit, and land my main. It was quite a struggle, and i didn't have control of the situation until 500ft, where i was able to release the brakes and steer my canopy to a landing. I have heard suggestions of cutting the main canopy after opening or to deploy the reserve before deploying the main. What would you have done in a situation like this? You did the right thing. Reserve might open with an extreme linetwist due to the tumbelling bag. Maybe just my low jump numbers talking here, but not having control till 500ft sounds scary. Particularly as brakes not released till then and there have been enough threads recently about needing to do control checks before hard deck.Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,314 #5 July 7, 2008 Exactly what you did.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ficus 0 #6 July 7, 2008 Video of a similar incident: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2016760 In the situation you describe (floating reserve handle), I think I'd be looking over my shoulder at line stretch, ready to chop it if I see my reserve PC or bridle. As it happened, I think you did the right thing by containing the freebag. Unstowing the brakes at 500 feet, though...it's a good thing you didn't have a stuck toggle or a brake line broken below the cat eye. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #7 July 7, 2008 QuoteMaybe just my low jump numbers talking here, but not having control till 500ft sounds scary. I'd say that having a reserve canopy trailing after you is more scary that you have not done the control checks before hard deck. There is not hard deck in this case just sh1t and deep sh1t, because your reserve is compromised. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the_sarge 0 #8 July 7, 2008 QuoteI would have done the same as you. If your under a good mai, why cut it away? by the sounds of it the freebag was flying but the reserve had not come out (2 out situation) If you were flying normally, just catching a bit of air on the free bag and reserve pilot chute, stowing it all away, I think, would be a better option the cutting away. Who knows if the reserve was not fully deployed, maybe it would not deploy. what altitude did you deploy at? / were open at? I deployed at 4000 ft.... Main was open at 3000 ft. The reserve was inside the freebag all the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacketsdb23 49 #9 July 7, 2008 I would have thought about landing with the brakes stowed if you hadn't unstowed by 500ft. I have never tried to land a Katana 120 in half brakes and risers only, so take that for what its worth. Sounds like you kept a good head and did what you had to. Congrats.Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #10 July 7, 2008 You're alive and talking about a very scary incident that has no standard answer/solution. Well done. My focus would be on prevention. See what can be done to avoid the same situation.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #11 July 9, 2008 I agree that you did the right thing. One thing for the others, though: Not releasing the brakes was a good thing. Had he released the brakes before retrieving the PC and freebag, the additinal forward speed of the main could have easily caused the floating PC to pull the reserve out of the freebag...two out.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #12 July 11, 2008 I would do what you did. I've found myself reeling in my reserve below 500', and it's a fine line between pulling enough on the suspension lines to get control of it quickly, but not pulling so hard that a bight comes out of the safety stow. In my case, it had been a loss of altitude awareness and my CYPRES fired immediately subsequent to my main deployment. I felt the ping and caught the reserve bridle over my shoulder at around 400', but for some reason didn't or couldn't reel it in with that. I got the freebag & pilot chute between my knees at around 150', unstowed the brakes, checked for power lines, turned 30 degrees and flared. Mine was uber stupidity counteracted by an overdose of luck. Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paul87 0 #13 July 21, 2008 From my point of view, you did the right thing. "flying" is the most reasonable thing I ever done Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
