Rigging errors survey

[wmw999 2,445]

I haven't been an active rigger in over 25 years, so I have no skin in this "game." But I'm curious: what's the level (roughly) of the worst rigging error you've seen in a rig that you've repacked or personally consulted on. Not that you've heard about etc.

I'll leave the definition of classifications to others. I'm assuming that the really serious ones are likely to be over-represented in the numbers because if someone finds one, there's a decent chance it will have been consulted on, thereby increasing the exposure.

And if this poll sucks, then tell me how to make it better and I'll re-do it...

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[indyz 1]

I've never found anything that was likely to be fatal, but I do see a fair amount of shoddy work. Loops that are way too long, links installed in the wrong orientation, sliders upside down, service bulletins not complied with, RSL velcro mated improperly, major deviations from manufacturers directions, etc.

[dragon2 2]

I'm not a rigger, but this I've seen after repacks:
Main bag attached inside-out.
Main canopy attached back-to-front.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Liemberg 0]

I once saw someone install an FXC 'pin puler' AAD in such a way that pulling the reserve manually would have been impossible. So I did choose 'significant, but no real chance of injury' since I never jumped the rig in said configuration (I was looking on during that instalation, told him what I thought was wrong and he agreed with me...) To his credit I must say that had the FXC AAD fired, it would have pulled the reserve pins.

It was an eye opener.

On another occasion I blew several panels on a 24 ft reserve. A date of MFG stamp had been clumsily removed on that reserve and was replaced by a MFG-date five years later.

The culprit has since died of AID's.

Is there such a thing as Karma?

I dunno...

The worst I ever saw (and maybe I should have chosen another answer than the one I did - but this is a manufacturer, not a rigger) was a round reserve where the top was blown of. GQ securities thought it was a smart idea to stitch a kevlar reinforcement band all around the upper third of a bias constructed round reserve, effectively building a perforation band - bias constructed f111 stretches way more than kevlar so I can tell you first hand...

It really really really ruined my day when I saw one of my students do everything what he was taught and yet disappear behind the treeline with a streamer on his reserve.

Ever since scepticism has been a way of life for me.

"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

[billvon 2,991]

A Racer where someone "helped someone else out" and tightened the quickloop on their reserve. Bent both pins. Using all his strength (and several pulls) the jumper got the handle out, but it was well over 50lbs (that's as high as our scale went.)

[PhreeZone 20]

Directly spoke to an experienced jumper that got new gear delivered and when they went to pack the main for the first pack job the Slink was not correctly attached and would have fallen off. The jumper asked the rigger to reinspect the reserve since it had slinks prior to jumping it and rigger said it was fine. Asked for a second opinion by a second rigger prior to jumping and found the reserve slink was incorrectly hooked up and would have potentially disconnected under load.

I see links with the barrels on the outside all the time. I correct it usually.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[JerryBaumchen 1,362]

Hi Wendy,

I voted Possibility of Death ( voted only once ) because of two reserves that would have had a high probability of failure if used.

One was a large tear in a 24 ft twill canopy. A well respected rigger ( in those days ) had packed it last.

Another was a Pioneer 26 ft Lo-Po that the owner had patched numerous times with a variety of odd materials. He could not understand why I would not repack it.

JerryBaumchen

PS) The worst that I ever 'heard of' ( yea, I know; you don't want those ) was from the President of a large company who told me that they actually shipped a rig in which the four riser loops had only been hot-tacked and not sewn. The rig had been packed three times before the rigger doing the 4th pack-job noticed it.

[AHoyThere 0]

This was about 12 years ago or so. I'm not a rigger but I was dropping off my gear to the rigger. And he was in the middle of inspecting a reserve packed by a different rigger.

About half of the right/rear C/D line set were through the slider grommet correctly, and half were not threaded through the grommet. Those lines just went straight from the canopy to the links outside of the slider grommet.

So, where on the critical scale would you riggers place that kind of mistake?

[airtwardo 7]

I've had a few...

~Reserve bag and top skin torn by a gorilla with an aluminum packing paddle.

~Reserve packed incorrectly which resulted in a a line over, rigger and I reviewed the video they made while packing it, and it was almost too obvious...the fix?
Rigger doesn't video their pack jobs anymore.

~Main in for new steering lines which were not run through the slider grommets when returned.

~Had a rig returned to me after a re-pack with the wrong reserve ripcord, handle different and didn't fit the pocket right and the cable was too short.

Had my fair share of problems, found a good rigger that I trusted (Dennis) and now he's gone...

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

[piisfish 140]

i personally misrouted my 3rings on one riser, got through gear check at a major european boogie, and was spotted on the plane (around 9000ft) by Loic Jean-Albert. He rerouted it properly and our jump was uneventful.

The riser would not have released under tension

Besides that, I recently had a bad customer experience with a loft at a major US DZ. Ugly as hell packjob, reserve pud not properly velcroed, and data card shoved in the pocket worse than an old hankerchief. Will repack it myself hoping I can get a better result.

That's all for now

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[fcajump 164]

Just for the record, I would point out that a rigger finding an error, major or minor, while very concerning, does not indicate that we have a large percentage of errors walking around.

In way of out-right rigger packing errors, the worst I have seen was a Strong 26' packed with all lines in the closing stows of the diaper, with the rest stowed in the container... same rigger signed off on the rig for several years prior to my getting it.

Straight from the factory:

- I have been briefed to check a particular (uncommon) reserve canopy for its bar tacks as they sent out some with the finger traps made, but not tacked... Apparently they sent out others (fully QC inspected)... missing the lines. (I think that _might_ have been noticed during the packing.)

- I have found missing thread (~12") on a round radial seam. (This was ONLY visible from the inside, external looked fine.)

- Incorrect part used and incorrectly installed. In a discussion with the factory officials, we decided that it would most likely have worked, but by mutual agreement it was also corrected prior to repack.


Over the years I have taken a few standard assumptions when I inspect:

- the factory did make a mistake
- the prior rigger did make a mistake
- the owner has abused the rig

If I win (find the prior error), I get to fix it If after careful inspection I can't find it this time (loose), then I relent to packing it... But then I get to try again in 180 days.

There are other things that are not to my standards, but I can't say that they would have caused problems...

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[paramonoff 0]

I am quite new to rigging. What I saw - are few cases, when slinks on reserve were not sewn. Well, probably it's more question of "religion", but I believe, that if manufacturer says "it must be sewn", then it must be sewn.

Another case: Month ago I've got for assembly one rig with very old container, where the chest belt was replaced. The replacement was done with wrong thread and some strange sewing pattern. The container was not packed before and I refused to pack it as well. That's why it can't be considered as rigger error... at least at that time, when I got it.

[masterrigger1 2]

Quote

I see links with the barrels on the outside all the time. I correct it usually.

You have to note which manufacturer the canopy came from before doing that. Para-Flite, Glide Path, and Flight Concepts canopies where/are delivered with the barrels installed outboard.

MEL

Skyworks Parachute Service, LLC
www.Skyworksparachuteservice.com

[nt8us 0]

actually i have seen 2 instances where the outcome would have/could have been fatal.
the first was a round reserve that had been severly damaged by a hot knife. the rig came into my loft packed and sealed. there was no damage to the container but about 8 or 9 panels were full of melted holes that i can only describe as HUGE(with partially severed radial tapes.).and they were in the high pressure area.
the second was a 26 ft navy conical that had been used for like a hundred jumps as a main,and someone had put it in service as a reserve. when i did the old strength test panels just ripped very easily at about 5 to 10 pounds. out of the 88 panels in the canopy 28 were weak enough to rip by hand.the owner was a big boy too at about 225lbs. so my guess is he would probably have been severely if not fattlly injured.

[faulknerwn 38]

I had a rigger mis-rig an RSL so that when I chopped, my main didn't go away. After a few seconds going oh shit, I pulled the reserve which released the tension and the main flew off...

The most interesting I heard about was about a dude who bought a brand new Teardrop (mid-90's?) and it was assembled at the factory. He was in Russia and had a reserve ride. The reserve was hooked up sideways!!! (I'm thinking laid out like a flat pack but hooked up like a pro-pack?) Yowsa..

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

I had a rigger mis-rig an RSL so that when I chopped, my main didn't go away. After a few seconds going oh shit, I pulled the reserve which released the tension and the main flew off...

The most interesting I heard about was about a dude who bought a brand new Teardrop (mid-90's?) and it was assembled at the factory. He was in Russia and had a reserve ride. The reserve was hooked up sideways!!! (I'm thinking laid out like a flat pack but hooked up like a pro-pack?) Yowsa..

Set up for cross wind landings!

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

[theonlyski 8]

Quote

Quote

I had a rigger mis-rig an RSL so that when I chopped, my main didn't go away. After a few seconds going oh shit, I pulled the reserve which released the tension and the main flew off...

The most interesting I heard about was about a dude who bought a brand new Teardrop (mid-90's?) and it was assembled at the factory. He was in Russia and had a reserve ride. The reserve was hooked up sideways!!! (I'm thinking laid out like a flat pack but hooked up like a pro-pack?) Yowsa..

Set up for cross wind landings!

Easier to PLF to one side or the other, the fronts and backs are a bitch!

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[riggerrob 643]

Yes, I had a similar experience with a pilot who had just bought an aerobatic airplane and asked me to repack the two pilot emergency parachutes that came with it.
From the outside, they looked like recently-manufactured Long Softies, but inside they had dirty, old, military surplus round canopies that clearly had dozens of jumps. When I applied the tensile-testing clamps, they tore at 15 to 22 pounds.
The owner's buddy gleefully encouraged me to tensile test a bunch of different panels and both pilot-chutes.
In conclusion, the owner was dissatisfied, but forked over the money for two new canopies and two new pilot chutes.
Eventually, the east coast rigger - who assembled them - lost his dealerships from two major manufacturerers of PEPs.

[riggerrob 643]

How about a bar-tack missing from a D-line on a square reserve.
The embarrassing part was that it had been packed at least a dozen times and I was the last rigger to repack it.
The owner got a free bar-tack because I was too embarrassed to admit my omission.

[riggerrob 643]

How about reserve steering lines figure-eighted on to toggles and finger-trapped but no knots or sewing?

It was simple matter for me to throw a stitch into them, but a phone call to the last rigger was far more awkward!

[SEREJumper 1]

I've found risers made by a master rigger that the confluence wraps were not sewn, just hot glued. On opening they would have more than likely failed or possibly failed at an altitude to low to deploy your reserve.

Inspect your new stuff as well, don't assume it was done right. If it looks wrong, it probably is.

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[AndyMan 7]

Likelihood of injury when I found an original Swift Reserve that was subject to a mandatory recall because of very poor landings . This canopy has been actively repacked for 20 years without anyone noticing.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[PeteS 0]

Oh boy, aside from unsewn lines from ALL of the major manufacturers of reserves. I saw one pilot rig that was not TSO'ed, repacked by an owner of a rig manufacturing company where he "shortened" the top loop by pinching it ABOVE the first grommet, (the loop was 900 lb Dacron) and threw a couple of supertack stitches in it! Pilot chute and some canopy in tow for sure! The rig had been packed like that for 12 years! Countless flights and who knows how many people wore it.
Another was a new rig that had all the looks of a factory final inspection, resv risers wrapped with the velcro, toggles in place but no guide rings or even the webbing that holds them!
One "helpful" "Master Rigger" that was too stupid to turn on the lights in his shop, pre-assembled a rig. He screwed a connector link right thru a reserve riser, I still have the bits of webbing that fell out of the link from that one!
Various miss rigs of steering lines, loose links and just plain shoddy work through the years.
Oh and one more, a reflex that was packed so poorly, I could lift the rig off the table by the pilot chute. A couple of shakes and it cleared but come on...

[kellja2001 0]

Not a rigger, so take my opinion with an extremely large pinch of salt...

The only one I've found was the 3-ring release "closing" loop (the one that has the teflon cutaway cable go through it) went through both the end of the hard-housing *and* the RSL attachment point.

Looking at it, nothing is likely to have gone wrong, but under the extra tension/stress during deployment, there's no way I could guarantee that.

[fcajump 164]

I haven't seen it, but learned to fear two words:

Molar Strap

(or is that supposed to be hyphenated...?)

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...