USPA Newsletter report of Texas Argus event

[riggerpaul 1]

Hi,

I just read the USPA newsletter that includes the story about an Argus in Texas that did not properly cut the closing loop.

I am surprised that I hadn't heard of it before. Was it reported here and I missed it?

Does anyone have a better description of what happened than USPA printed?

Does anyone know how it was determined that the loop was partially cut and tore apart later?

The details in the USPA newsletter are pretty thin.

I just want to hear more about the whole thing, hopefully from people who actually saw what there was to see.

Thanks!

[NWFlyer 2]

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Further Investigation for Argus AAD
A senior rigger in Texas recently reported to USPA that a reserve container did not open after the Argus automatic activation device (AAD) activated the cutter during a skydive when a jumper deployed his main canopy at a low altitude. The jumper landed uneventfully under his main canopy, removed his container and dropped it on the hangar floor to be packed. The reserve container remained closed until the packer had nearly finished packing the main bag into the container. As the packer was closing the main flaps, the reserve pilot chute launched. Investigation revealed that the AAD had activated the cutter at an undetermined altitude but it severed the reserve closing loop only partially. The reserve pilot chute launched only after additional strands of the closing loop broke and the closing loop opened up at the finger trap part of the loop. The rigger contacted Aviacom, manufacturer of the Argus AAD, regarding the issue, and the company asked that the unit be shipped to the factory in Belgium for testing. In December 2010, the company released a service bulletin mandating that cutters manufactured before August 2007 be replaced by March 31, 2011. This cutter was manufactured in March 2009. The rigger and USPA both notified the Parachute Industry Association. Further details and recommendations will not be available until further investigation by the manufacturer.

(For reference - what was in the newsletter)

"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

[NovaTTT 2]

A system is only as robust as its weakest link.

The Argus is clearly limited by the cutter. Thought they'd taken care of that already - sort of.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[VincePetaccio 0]

I was wondering the same thing... hadn't heard about this incident until I read about it it yesterday. Weird.

Come, my friends! 'Tis not too late to seek out a newer world!

[davelepka 4]

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I am surprised that I hadn't heard of it before. Was it reported here and I missed it?

In all fairness, the USPA newsletter also had a blurb about the Otter crash in GA last week, so it's possible that this AAD problem occurred very recently, and maybe it hasn't hit the forums yet.

Either way, it sounds like the same problem they had with those other cutters. Either the cutter not cutting the loop and trapping it, or the loop moving off to the side and the cutter only partially cutting the loop.

In either case, the cutter in question was well out of the DOM the manufacturer stated was the 'problem batch'. What this means to me is that they either didn't have the correct manufacturing info or didn't correctly identify the problem during the first recall. The long and short of it is that any Argus cutter is back on the table as being 'suspect'.

[councilman24 37]

As stated in the USPA report PIA received the information and PIA is considering its actions. Both technical and rigging committee chairman are consulting with others and are very concerned. Aviacom is not a member of PIA and so internal procedures don't apply.

The initial report was written by others not associated with PIA and forwarded to PIA by USPA. At this point it is the author's to distribute as they see fit. As much as I don't like it I don't feel I have permission to distribute it further at this time. USPA's statement includes essentially all of the information reported.

As a non regulatory association there is little PIA or in fact USPA can do other than report incidents as was done by USPA. Aviacom previously believed they had addressed any concerns with the cutter replacement. As far as I'm aware there has been no response to the latest report by Aviacom. Again, the USPA item includes essentially all of the information reported.

Individual container manufacturers may have more they can do.

This reply sucks, I know it so don't bother telling me.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[pilot-one 0]

The rigger that has the information and that filed the USPA report is not a dz.com user. I know a little bit about the incident but not enough to elaborate other than it occurred a few weeks ago around the beginning of March 2011.
I doubt anything will ever show up on this forum. I'm not aware of the skydiver being a dz.com user either.

[davelepka 4]

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the cutter in question was well out of the DOM the manufacturer stated was the 'problem batch'

unless i read the report wrong(or the statement you made), the cutter in question was manufactured in march 2009. the cutters that needed to be replaced were ones manufactured prior to august 2007

You read something wrong. I was stating that the cutter in this incident was not from the recalled batch of cutters. Therefore, either the recall was not extensive enough, or the problem wasn't fully understood, and whatever is causing it is still present in cutters previously believed to be good.

The only upside to this is that the faulty cutters should essentailly 'do no harm' in that they will not cause an incident by doing something unexpected. The failure results in less action from the cutter, which is a bitch for the user if they are in need, but not a risk to others, like a mis-fire in the middle of a skydive.

[riggerpaul 1]

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The rigger that has the information and that filed the USPA report is not a dz.com user. I know a little bit about the incident but not enough to elaborate other than it occurred a few weeks ago around the beginning of March 2011.
I doubt anything will ever show up on this forum. I'm not aware of the skydiver being a dz.com user either.

Okay, not a dz.com user. But you are.

Could you ask if he would be willing to publish whatever he sent to USPA?

There really shouldn't be any need for secrecy about this.

After conversations with a number of people, I have learned that there is hard evidence that the loop was partially cut.

Had the available information been published in the first place, I would not have started this thread.

[davelepka 4]

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Okay, not a dz.com user. But you are.

Could you ask if he would be willing to publish whatever he sent to USPA?

There really shouldn't be any need for secrecy about this.

As much as I hate to use this term, EPIC FAIL on the part of all involved with this incident.

For there to have been any delay in getting this info to 'the masses' is insane. Of the few times that DZ.com, or the USPA mailing list, or facebook could have been of some real value, this was surely one fo them.

What we have now are potentially ineffective AADs that jumpers are using as we speak. I know it's a back up device, and I know you're not supposed to rely on it, but none of the Argus jumpers I know want to be the next Tommy Piras and be remembered as the reason that Argus went out of business.

There is no excuse for keeping this info from the public for several weeks. The USPA blew it waiting for their next 'update' to release this. They could have at least sent it out to their database of instructors. Any jumpers with knowledge of this who didn't post anything, either here or on facebook, also dropped the ball. This isn't the kind of thing you keep to yourself, in fact it's the oppostie, even if you don't jump an Argus, or know anyone who does, or even care about the Argus one way or the other, the info still needs to be out there becasue there are people jumping them, and they need to know that their AAD might be as useless as the 15 year old Cypres I have in my desk drawer.

[Divalent 137]

Yes, the irony is that, in this specific case, it looks like the failure of the device fortuitously prevented what should have been a sure 2-out situation.

[riggerpaul 1]

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Okay, not a dz.com user. But you are.

Could you ask if he would be willing to publish whatever he sent to USPA?

There really shouldn't be any need for secrecy about this.

As much as I hate to use this term, EPIC FAIL on the part of all involved with this incident.

+1

(Nice to see we can agree on something.)

[NovaTTT 2]

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The only upside to this is that the faulty cutters should essentailly 'do no harm' in that they will not cause an incident by doing something unexpected. The failure results in less action from the cutter, which is a bitch for the user if they are in need, but not a risk to others, like a mis-fire in the middle of a skydive.

Unless a partially cut closing loop goes undiscovered during a day's jumping (such as would have happened here if the loop hadn't failed during the main packjob) and the reserve is released in the middle of a skydive. Or in the door. Or in the plane when the door opens. Or Etc.

Yes, it's the user's fault for entering the activation zone, but I still don't see an upside to the Argus cutter problem.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[riggerpaul 1]

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The only upside to this is that the faulty cutters should essentailly 'do no harm' in that they will not cause an incident by doing something unexpected. The failure results in less action from the cutter, which is a bitch for the user if they are in need, but not a risk to others, like a mis-fire in the middle of a skydive.

Unless a partially cut closing loop goes undiscovered during a day's jumping (such as would have happened here if the loop hadn't failed during the main packjob) and the reserve is released in the middle of a skydive. Or in the door. Or in the plane when the door opens. Or Etc.

Yes, it's the user's fault for entering the activation zone, but I still don't see an upside to the Argus cutter problem.

+1

There is no upside. The reserve opened unexpectedly shortly later.

Reserves should neither stay closed when you wanted them to open, nor open unexpectedly when you did not.

Two out avoided or not, since the jumper was wearing an AAD, we can only say that he wanted that reserve to open when the AAD fired.

[Divalent 137]

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Unless a partially cut closing loop goes undiscovered during a day's jumping (such as would have happened here if the loop hadn't failed during the main packjob) and the reserve is released in the middle of a skydive. Or in the door. Or in the plane when the door opens. Or Etc.

Reminder to self: always check the AAD prior to every jump. (I presume that had it not deployed during the main repack, a glance at the device during a routine prejump gear inspection up would have revealed that it was no longer armed.)

[pilot-one 0]

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The rigger that has the information and that filed the USPA report is not a dz.com user. I know a little bit about the incident but not enough to elaborate other than it occurred a few weeks ago around the beginning of March 2011.
I doubt anything will ever show up on this forum. I'm not aware of the skydiver being a dz.com user either.

Okay, not a dz.com user. But you are.

Could you ask if he would be willing to publish whatever he sent to USPA?

There really shouldn't be any need for secrecy about this.

After conversations with a number of people, I have learned that there is hard evidence that the loop was partially cut.

Had the available information been published in the first place, I would not have started this thread.

That won't be happening since the dz.com drama and the bullshit of the computer screen skygods has long run him off. I don't even dare ask.
If you want more info PM me and I will give you his email address so you may contact him directly.

[NovaTTT 2]

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Reminder to self: always check the AAD prior to every jump.

That's a good self-reminder. Not all jumpers check their AAD status prior to every jump. The Set It and Forget It attitude is not uncommon.

FWIW

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[davelepka 4]

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the dz.com drama and the bullshit of the computer screen skygods has long run him off. I don't even dare ask.

That's a cop out. There's a legitimate safety issue at hand for a large number of jumpers. The guy could easily put his feelings aside and posted a statement, or simply use a proxy who isn't afraid to post.

In any other case, he can come and go from here as he pleases. In this case, being the keeper of essential safety-related information, he has a duty to spread the word in any and every way possible. The issue goes beyond his personal feelings, and into the safety of others.

[pilot-one 0]

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the dz.com drama and the bullshit of the computer screen skygods has long run him off. I don't even dare ask.

That's a cop out. There's a legitimate safety issue at hand for a large number of jumpers. The guy could easily put his feelings aside and posted a statement, or simply use a proxy who isn't afraid to post.
In any other case, he can come and go from here as he pleases. In this case, being the keeper of essential safety-related information, he has a duty to spread the word in any and every way possible. The issue goes beyond his personal feelings, and into the safety of others.

That's why he filed a report with the USPA. I don't think he's copping out. I don't blame him for avoiding this forum.

[skybeergodd 0]

I wonder if this incident has anything to do with the numerous recent used Argus AAD's listed for sale in the classifieds

[mark 107]

Rigging Innovations withdraws approval for Argus AADs: http://rigginginnovations.com/support/sb/SB-1548.pdf

Mark

[BrianM 1]

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The only upside to this is that the faulty cutters should essentailly 'do no harm' in that they will not cause an incident by doing something unexpected. The failure results in less action from the cutter

Do no harm, unless the cutter is located above the freebag or PC and clamps onto the loop with sufficient force to prevent the reserve from being deployed even if the ripcord is pulled.

The odds of that happening are probably small - the window between AAD firing and "too low to matter anyway" is not very long - but that doesn't mean that it won't happen, just that it won't be a frequent occurrence.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[RiggerLee 61]

There was a lot of descusion in the tec meating at PIA on loop length/delay times. It only takes a small change of loop length before you start haveing signifigant delays. It's the oposit problem but the same result. and just for the record, I think delayed openings have played a part in more fatalities then we think. I can look back on couple that I witnessed that make sene now only in retrospect.

There are several cutter designs out there. There's more to the hole cutter thing then people ever thought. It's another subject that was under heavy descusion. I was lissening to a Dutch guy. who was kind of doing a study on it.

And just as a personal observation, check out the cutter on the new M2 AAD. I personally sat there and watched them blow loops in half with no tension of any kind just lieing lose on the table. Both Specter and HMA. They claim that they cut in shear at both edges rather then against an anvil like the knife and circuler cutters. Don't know shit about the AAD but the cutter seems to be the nicest on the market.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[bluskidave 0]

What was stated in the USPA e-mail newsletter is an accurate assesment on what happened. The rigger followed all proper channels in reporting the incident.The cutter failed to cut the reserve closing loop completely. I have an Argus in my Mirage.If I jump the rig due in light on what has happened I will not not turn the AAD on.

[pchapman 279]

So an incident report from the DZ is on http://www.pia.com/TechnicalSpecialPage.htm under "Texas USA 2.11".

At least the loop length appears to be more or less to spec.

I had a closer look at the photos in that report. Is it just me, or is the configuration of the loop bizarre?

It looks like the top end of the loop isn't free, but that it is still captured by the cutter. And that it was dragged through the cutter (leaving it fuzzy), since the cutter is shown at the very top of the loop, not at the cut location.

Very odd.

Then think about the Mirage configuration, after the cutter relocation mod. There's the pilot chute, then the cutter above, then the last 4 flaps (bottom, sides, top). How do the photos make sense if the pin stayed in?

Or what am I misinterpreting from the photos?

Too late at night for me to try to figure it out now. But have a look and think about it.

And Eric Butts who co-authored the report, is he on DZ? I know his name, but can't recall his screen name.