Low opening - Cypres Fire

[Scubadivemaster 3]

Let me preface this by saying that I hesitated all week posting this in hopes that one of those involved would post something here. It feels like it is their right to have first crack at it, and it almost feels like I am violating some confidence to post this. Nonetheless I was forced to change my perspective on some things by this incident and would feel worse if someone who could have avoided an incident with this knowledge is hurt by the lack of it. I mean no criticism of those involved, they are both far more experienced and skilled skydivers than I am, and very nice people.

On Saturday, two visiting skydivers to my home DZ lost altitude awareness and one had the opportunity to experience a cypres fire, and two-canopies out situation, a down-plane and a tree landing. Miraculously he suffered only minor cuts and bruises, though I am sure his back will take a while to recover from the jarring landing.

Both jumpers are experienced jumpers. The jumper experiencing the cypres fire has 1100 jumps.) Both normally jump at a turbine DZ where they exit between 13500 and 14500. We generally exit at 9500.

The two have been learning to sitfly (have between 60 and 100 sitfly jumps, most or all with each other).

He is using one of the old style dytters with the dial that only has one altitude warning and a wrist mounted altimeter. She is using a Skytronics Dytter and presumably a wrist mount altimeter. I did not see a chest mount and didn’t ask her if she normally wears one.

The pair exited at 9500 and fell for about 45 seconds in a sit. At that point she realized they were low, turned and deployed. He deployed an instant later, and reports that as he came under his main saw his reserve come off his back. He was at about 700 feet and headed into a wooded area. The two- out settled quickly into a biplane. He reports that he remembered an article in a recent Parachutist that said he could steer the main (front) canopy and attempted to do so to avoid the trees and aim for a clear area to the right. As he steered, the two-out evolved into a side-by-side (400 feet) then into a down-plane (200 feet). He was over the trees in a down-plane when he cut away. As soon as he cut away, the reserve surged from behind him to in front of him (or he swung back, depending on the perspective) and the reserve dove him 180 degrees to the left and into the tree tops, which are between 60 and 80 feet high. The trees were dense enough that the canopy collapsed as he passed through the trees, apparently going straight down. He was still upright when he hit the ground.

The other jumper opened low but uneventfully and landed in a clearing and came back to him.

Both state they never heard their dytters. On inspection hers was inoperable. I am not familiar with Skytronics, but another skydiver said that it acted as if the batteries were dying. His appeared to be working but emits what is to my ears a pitifully quiet beeping. A Protrack screams in comparison.

He stated that he cannot see his wrist mounted altimeter in a sit and was relying on the audible, which he never heard. They both state that they are so accustomed to the greater altitude that their mental clocks were not telling them that the skydive should be over. Not belly flying, they could not see the big green altimeter coming up at them.

He was very shaken up and made the statement “You read about people doing things like this in Parachutist (incident reports) and wonder what people were thinking. I can’t believe I lost altitude awareness!” He was incredibly lucky not to have been badly injured.

I had seen him open very low earlier in the day and very gently called him on it. On reflection, I think I was so gentle that he didn’t realize I was serious.

Lessons learned:
1. Don’t rely on an audible.
2. If jumping at a new DZ, try to jump with some local jumpers for several jumps.
3. If jumping at a new DZ, plan to open higher than normal.
4. If sit flying, make sure you have an easily visible altimeter.
5. If using an audible, get one that would wake the dead with its flatline.
6. If using an audible, be familiar with low batter warnings and check it often.
7. When mentally rehearsing how to handle a two-out, realize that you will probably be below 750 feet. Silly as it is, I had never considered that. All the training videos show them occurring with lots of altitude to work with. That is the image that was in my mind. Not anymore.
8. Be ready to steer the instant you cutaway.
9. When you read the incident reports, don’t assume that the person was just suddenly overcome by “dumbass” and that you will never do that. Carefully consider how you could inadvertently put yourself in the same situation, and what you have to do to avoid it. (Not saying the jumper involved dismissed the incident reports this way.)
10. We have a duty to make others aware of their low openings. If you have a visitor at your DZ, or even someone you just don’t know well, don’t hesitate to call them on opening low. I saw his nice gear and smaller elliptical canopy and said to myself “This guy knows what he is doing and doesn’t need any flak from me.” Had I taken a few minutes to talk to him I would have found out then that he is a very gracious person and would certainly have appreciated and listened to my concern that he had opened low. Even if he had not been the type of person to accept that criticism, I neglected my duty to him by not clearly offering it.

[bodypilot1 0]

Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't matter how many jumps you have.


Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[NWFlyer 2]

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Both normally jump at a turbine DZ where they exit between 13500 and 14500. We generally exit at 9500.

With their experience levels it just goes to show how powerful the "internal clock" can be. 45 seconds of freefall at freefly speeds probably would have been about right for the altitudes they were used to.

The internal clock is great to develop but this does show there are situations where it can get you in a heap of trouble.

"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

[CornishChris 5]

I am not sure of the relevance/importance of point 2 - the local jumpers.

This is often not practical and if someone came to me I would probably suggest they did a solo first and open higher than usual to check out the LZ from the air.

Basically a first jump at a new Z is a bigger risk than usual and should be treated with the respect it deserves.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[jeremy_o 0]

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I am not sure of the relevance/importance of point 2 - the local jumpers.

I understood it as the fact that the local jumpers will have an internal clock for their DZ. So, if nothing else..you see them leave, then you get the fuck out too. Makes sense to me.

http://planetskydive.net/ - An online aggregation of skydiver's blogs.

[Scubadivemaster 3]

That was exactly my thought, though I agree with Chris's point that at larger more commercial dropzones finding locals to jump with you might prove difficult.

[mktoson 0]

No. 2 should be replaced with "maintain altitude awareness". Altitude awareness should tell them when to break off/deploy when at a new dz, not a local jumper leaving the formation. Be concious of the exit altitude difference when jumping at a new dz.

So far, this is the oldest I've ever been.

[tigra 0]

You should always pay attention to your exit altitude no matter where you are jumping. At my dz on any given day, throughout the day it can range from 10K to 15K, depending on conditions, air traffic or if the pilot's feeling a little generous. I'm always a little floored at the excuses experienced skydivers can come up with for low pulls especially. Really- new DZ, low exit altitude, inaudible audibles? Does anyone actually buy that BS?

[AFFI 0]

Quote

Does anyone actually buy that BS?

Yes, to a certain extent, especially when depending on altitude awareness devices other than that which the eyes deliver.

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[tigra 0]

Everyone makes mistakes and of course there are factors can can affect altitude awareness, but altitude awareness is ultimately our responsibility. Depending on a device is just another mistake, isn't it? Its the excuses that bother me- whether the jumpers in question were making them or the OP was trying to make excuses for them. Why not just say "I lost altitude awareness and I'm lucky it didn't turn out worse than it did." ????

Maybe I'm just cranky. Its not the first time I've heard an experienced skydiver try to make excuses for a cypres fire and I'm sure it won't be the last. At least he didn't blame his cypres for "trying to kill him"!

[BillyVance 34]

Quote

Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't matter how many jumps you have.


Be safe
Ed

You got that right... I've had two cypres fires because of low pulls - first one on a 10 way with an average of 2000 jumps each participant whose organizer told me a 3500 foot breakoff, and it went to shit just before breakoff and I end up finding someone just below me tracking the same direction. I waited for him to pull, then I pulled below him. I didn't want to risk a mid-air on opening. I was already in the saddle when I felt the pop on my back, and immediately cut the main away just before the reserve came out of the freebag. Uneventful reserve landing.

Second time it happened, I was on a big way when we hit clouds during tracking and my goggles fogged over. I wasted precious time trying to wipe them off so I could see the altimeter. Again, same result...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[NWFlyer 2]

So, Billy, you weren't just waiting to hear your audible?

"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

[Remster 30]

Quote

At my dz on any given day, throughout the day it can range from 10K to 15K, depending on conditions, air traffic or if the pilot's feeling a little generous.

While at many DZs, jump after jump after jump, you may get 13.5 on the nose (or close to it). You do get used to it.

Tigra: we're not talking about excuses, we're talking about reasons why.

Remster

[popsjumper 2]

Thanks for the posting and the slap-on-the-head wake-up call to all of us.

My big problem with all this is:

"He stated that he cannot see his wrist mounted altimeter in a sit and was relying on the audible..."

Like AFFI said...use your eyes, guys. Get off the eloctronics dependency and use your eyes more.

and

"..., which he never heard."
And right there is why.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[mouth 0]

This is a good wake up call for all of us because it can happen to anyone...yes, even Skygods with thousands of jumps.

Do NOT ever rely totally on an electronic device to save your life. They can fail. You can simply not hear it. Anything could happen.

ALWAYS use your eyes and look. After awhile you can tell pull altitude just by looking.

If you are freeflying remember that your fall rate is higher than if you are doing RW. Adjust your mindset to check your alti often. Position one somewhere so you can see it in a sit. What good is a wrist mount alti if you can't see it? NONE

--
Hot Mama
At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit.

[georgerussia 0]

Quote

The two- out settled quickly into a biplane. He reports that he remembered an article in a recent Parachutist that said he could steer the main (front) canopy and attempted to do so to avoid the trees and aim for a clear area to the right.

I can't find this article now, however that's what the 2007 SIM suggests for a biplane two-out:


a. Unstow the brakes on the front canopy and recover gently to full flight.
b. Leave the brakes stowed on the rear canopy.
c. Steer the front canopy only as necessary to maneuver for a safe landing.
d. Use minimal control input as necessary for landing.
e. Perform a parachute landing fall.


There seems to be a good logic in unstowing brakes on the front canopy. However I'd feel hesitated unstowing brakes on the front elliptical, and especially trying to maneuvre it with the bigger reserve behind me. Does the SIM suggestion covers ellipticals as well?

Also I remember biplane discussion some time ago, and the advice was to keep it as-is, and only doing small rear riser turns necessary for a safe landing. It was explicitly said that brakes are to remain stowed, and that with modern gear (particularly when there is a huge difference in size and speed between main and reserve) unstowing brakes on one of the canopies could make the biplane unstable. Was it something like that, or I just misunderstood something?

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[riggerrob 643]

Most of the studies on "two out" were done with rectangular 9-cell student canopies that were fashionable in the early 1990s.

While I have only suffered a two-out once, my bias is to do the fewest control inputs as are needed to aim to for a large open field. I don't care if the field is three miles from the DZ, as long as it is open.

[freefli 2]

Like you said, it can even happen to those with thousands of jumps.

A couple of months ago in Tecumseh Michigan, two very experienced jumpers with thousands of jump were doing a 2 way. Both are very familiar with the dz, the jump plane, and going to full altitude of 13,5. Both were so involved in their skydive that while facing each other in a head down carve, they both had Cypress fires. Yes you read that right. Both jumpers were uninjured, just very sore. One jumper was so dazed that once he landed he was walking around looking for his main.

It can happen to anyone I suppose, I just hope I'm never that stupid....