unhappy news

[nimbus 0]

Just saw this on the 7pm news... this is the text on the ABC (Australian) news website...
" Man dies in parachuting accident
Separate parachuting accidents at the same location in Sydney have killed one skydiver and left another critically injured.
An ambulance representative says a man in his early 30s suffered multiple fractures this morning after his main parachute failed.
The man was flown by helicopter to hospital.
Three hours later, a second parachutist died.
There are so far no details about the second accident, which also happened near a parachute school in south-western Sydney."
I'm sure the TV news says that both died... the first accident had two canopies entangled...That's all there is at the moment.... very sad.
My thoughts are with all those who were there, the friends & family of the skydivers, and to the skydivers who died, now you can fly forever...
Larissa

[medster 0]

they both died this afternoon. :(
My thoughts are with all those who were there, the friends & family of the skydivers.
like to know what happend.
I was going to jump today as well...but it seamed to be a little windy. maybe that was a problem.?!!?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
here's the report
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Two experienced skydivers Saturday plunged to their deaths in separate accidents at the same drop zone on the outskirts of Sydney Saturday.

The Sydney Skydiving Centre mourns its tragic losses
Police and paramedics were called to the Sydney Skydiving Centre near Picton after the first man fell to the ground sustaining critical injuries when, to their horror, a second man fell to his death.
The first incident happened about 11am (AEST) when the parachute failed on a 34-year-old diver who had notched up hundreds of jumps and held an international skydiving licence.
"The man struck the ground after his primary parachute apparently failed during a jump and his secondary parachute became tangled," a police spokesman said.
Three hours later, an equally experienced skydiver aged in his 20s fell to his death when his parachute failed to open.
Sydney Skydiving Centre owner Phil Onis said he was in shock.
"It's just beyond belief, to tell you the truth, just totally beyond belief," Mr Onis told AAP.
"These are highly experienced skydivers that have been jumping for many years."
All skydiving was suspended at the centre which has been operating for 35 years, but jumps are expected to go ahead as scheduled Sunday.
Mr Onis said the fatalities were the first at his centre in a decade.
Police at the centre were planning to work through the night with management and representatives of the Australian Parachute Federation to find out what went wrong.
The federation's NSW safety officer Leigh Shepherd said skydiving centres observe strict safety measures.
"The extremes we go to for safety are very high," Mr Shepherd said.
"Obviously two incidents have now happened but until that's investigated we can't say why.
"My understanding is there's nothing the drop zone could have done to supervise it any closer or prevent it."
He said there was a 0.03 per cent chance of being injured during a solo jump and even less probability in a tandem jump.
There has not been a skydiving fatality in NSW for two years.
"I'm still confident that the most dangerous thing we do each weekend is drive to the drop zone rather than the actual skydiving," Mr Shepherd said.
"I'd still encourage people to come and try and when you try tandem, it's still the safest way to do it."
It is standard practice for skydivers to sign an indemnity form acknowledging they risk serious injury or even death when they skydive.
Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter, which airlifted the first man to Liverpool Hospital, said it had airlifted three patients involved in serious skydiving incidents since March.
AAP sal/gmw/de

[mountainman 0]

Thoughts go out to all the family and friends of the victims. Also, thoughts to the DZ........two in one day?? They need the prayers.
--------------
Richmond Boogie pics...

[airann 1]

Right on Mountain.
It just never gets any easier on what to say.
Newbie Hon: It is never one thing.
It is always 100 things that cause an accident.
When I had my accident- I thought about what went wrong so much -
I traced it all the way back to pull time, to the morning I got up, and back to the day I was born.
So, these things we learn from but we do not dwell on.
I love you ALL, Ann
Skydive~Friends~Happiness
AirAnn
www.AirAnn.com

[mountainman 0]

Quote

and back to the day I was born

Maybe it has to do with coming out "s/l" style then, eh?? --------------
Richmond Boogie pics...

[skybytch 273]

My deepest condolences to their "real" and dz families... what a tough day...
pull and flare,
lisa
---
Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious

[skymedic 0]

My thoughts and prayers go out to there family and DZ family too.
Marc
Because I fly, I envy no man on earth

[heathmor 0]

Thoughts and prayers to all those close to them. And prayers for all of us on our future jumps. Be Safe Everyone!!!
OH! and have a blast!!!
Heath

[chickenhawk420 0]

Same here, thoughts to all family, friends and people who saw and helped. Shit happens, could be a 101 causes, learn don't dwell.

[skreamer 1]

Two in one day at the same DZ??? Man, that is shocking news, especially considering that Australia's skydiving community isn't that big either.
I'll spare a thought for them, their families, fellow skydivers and the DZ on my next jump.
Will

[skyhawk 2]

thoughts with the familys
Sunday Mail (brisbane) Sep 23
TWO DIE IN SKYDIVE HORROR
Police yesterday watched in horror as a parachutist fell to his death while they wree investigating the death of another daredevil only hours earlier.
The double tragedy happened yesterday ay Sydney Dive Centers dropzone at Picton, south of Sydney.
Veteran skydiver Brendon Cook 34 died last night in liverpool hospital after suffering severe chest and head injuries when he landed heavily from a jump about 11am.
Mr Cook an experienced skydiver who had completed about 450 successful jumps was airlifted by helicopter to hospital in a critical condition.
While surgeons were fighting in vain to save the life of Mr Cook who also broke both legs in the incident police witnessed a second death. They were interviewing people at the dropzone when another man believed to be in his 20s plummeted to his death infront of them The man whose name was not released last night died instantly when his chute failed to open.
Mr Cook struck the ground after his primary parachute apparently failed and his secondary chute became tangled.

[FreeflyPlaymate 0]

If anyone finds out the name of the guy who was in hi smid 20's will you PLEASE let me know, one of my buddies left about a month ago to Australia...well first to New Zealand, from his agenda he should still be in New Zealand...although he said he was going to be in Australia after he was there for a couple months...just anyone if ya get his name, tell me it isn't Jim. My thoughts and prayers are with all the family and friends of the lives lived who are really flying now....
**BLUE ONES**
BITE ME.... :P

[nimbus 0]

Hi FreeflyPlaymate,
the other skydiver was a 24 year old from Sydney, called Jethro.
Larissa

[medster 0]

nimbus,
how did you find this out please?

[nimbus 0]

There were some more details on the ABC (Ch. 2) news at 7pm tonight, about the accidents and the investigation. I can't get into the article on the ABC website.... I think the name was Jethro I was trying to get into the website article to see if they had that name too...

[nimbus 0]

Just found this report on the ABC website: (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/nat/newsnat-23sep2001-84.htm)...
Twisted parachutes blamed for skydiving deaths
Police have released the names of the two experienced skydivers who died in separate incidents near Picton, south of Sydney yesterday.
Brendan Cook, 35, from Griffith in the ACT initially survived his fall, but died later in hospital, while 24-year old Jethro Thornton from Ermington, near Parramatta, died on impact.
Lee Shepard, from the Australian Parachute Federation, says Mr Cook's primary and secondary parachutes twisted.
Mr Shepard says twists are a routine opening problem and parachuters can usually correct the situation.
"They're taught drills on their initial training on how to get out of the twists but the more and more experienced you get the more likely you are to jump smaller and more high performance canopy," he said.
"So as the parachute is twisting you are loosing height at a greater rate of knots so you have less time to react."
again, thoughts to the families, friends and dz...
larissa

[Brokeneagle 0]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends; and to the DZ involved-- it is so tragic to lose even one of us; two of us in one day goes way beyond that-
Brokeneagle.
I'm really very gentle, no matter what my kung-fu teacher says...

[freeflir29 0]

Damn...Jay is gonna have a lot of drinkin buddies! You guys owe beer when you get to the bar! Condolences to the family and friends.
"This conversation ends right here Captain! You can talk to the ALO when he gets back."-Me
Clay

[medster 0]

I mean how hard can it be to untwist out of a line twist?
Sorry to ask, I'm still very new to the sport, and I only have 1 line twist, and it seamed to be easy.

[Stumpy 284]

I'm also new to the sport, but the way I understand it is this - New people are given big canopies because they generally don't do anything fast - a line twist such as you and I have experienced will generally be fairly easy to kick out of. Now imagine the experienced jumper under a heavily loaded small canopy - a small line twist causes the shape of the canopy to change which will then worsen the problem as those things respond so fast, and before you know it the canopy has twisted so fast as to have spun the lines into a rope all the way up - time to cutaway as you'll be moving pretty fast and have no chance of kicking out. If the same happens on the reserve, well..........
Obviously I don't understand that much so to all the far more experienced jumpers, if I'm wrong please put me right!
Blue ones
D
"That's very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes" - Captain Kirk (allegedly)

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Thats right stumpy....
line twists under a large student main is not a critical mal... you usually have enough altitude to kick out of em... thats a combinaison of the extra altitude students/novices open at, and that the canopy are quite docile and will withstand some distortion before behaving like killers...
now put the same line twists (and we're not talking about dozens of twists, but a couple..3,4...) under a more heavily loaded eliptical, and that canopy will spin VERY rapidly..... and the odds are it will have twisted by the initial turns that became the spin, making it harder to kick out of (thats what my brain tells me anyways)....
Now, you have a highly loaded canopy turning very fast (eg pulling a few Gs) with mini rings and no cutaway cable riser housings (note that I dont know if this is the case with this incident, but its a very commun configuration - I have it) and you end up with a possibly nasty situation you cant cutaway from....
My thoughts to the famillies....
Remi
Muff 914

[Kris 0]

Quote

Now, you have a highly loaded canopy turning very fast (eg pulling a few Gs) with mini rings and no cutaway cable riser housings (note that I dont know if this is the case with this incident, but its a very commun configuration - I have it) and you end up with a possibly nasty situation you cant cutaway from....

That is something I worried about since I am a big guy and decided to get mini-rings on my new Mirage. My cutaway was noticibly harder than on my old Talon rig with the bigger risers. I had a spinning mal on my Talon as well. Luckily, I had just oiled the cables on the Mirage I was jumping and I have anti-line twist armored risers so while it took a little muscle, I was able to cutaway my wildly spinning Heatwave last weekend with one hand.
I think the mechanical advantage for cutting away is 200:1 for large rings and 40:1 with mini-rings if I remember correctly. If not, someone correct me.
Kris

[Gravitymaster 0]

I have had line twists so severe the canopy starts to spin and the lines are forcing your head down. When that happens you have to chop it immediately as the canopy is only partially open and you are losing altitude and run the risk of a "red out"

[Michele 1]

Don't think, though, that a student canopy won't have this.
I had line twists so bad that I even though I started to get them untwisted, the slider never came down down, and the canopy most likely never opened fully. (the general opinion was I also had a line over and an unstowed brake from my description of the canopy and sequence of events once down). In the video, you can see the bag start to spin as it comes off my back, and a line (the brake?) fly out from the line groupings. In re: the red out, after a few (3 or 4) gnarly spins, my hands felt like overstuffed sausage, and my feet felt the same way.
Thankfully, I had the extra altitude to make my student brain actually recognize the situation and cut away. I was back under a good canopy by just shy of 3K. I recall my jm telling me that he spotted me under canopy, spinning around, and he was wondering about it because a) he knew how tentative I am in the air, and couldn't imagine that I would want to spin like that, and b) student canopies just generally don't go into that flat of a spin (he called it a helicopter spin) (this is beyond me, I still don't understand what he meant).
Know your procedures, know yourself, and pull if you have to.
Glad you are o.k., Kris, and that Master D is still with us!
Ciels-
Michele
"What of the dreams that never die? Turn to your left at the end of the sky".
~e e cummings~

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Quote

and run the risk of a "red out"

one the of fly boys on here correct me if I'm wrong, but a red out would ocur if if your body was pulling negative Gs (blood being rushed to the head)... this would be the case if you were spining on a point located "below" your feet.
In a hard canopy spin, your body is pulling positive Gs (spinning around a point loacted "above your head"), and as such what you would experience is a back out.
And Michele, shity can in deed happen no matter if your a student on a big canopy or a 15,000 jumps pro canopy pilot....
Remi
Muff 914