speedy 0 #1 August 18, 2006 How many of us have done this? I have. Fickle wind killed man wearing parachute Fickle wind killed man wearing parachute By Alex Branch Star-Telegram Staff Writer An Erath County man fell to his death Saturday after becoming airborne in a parachute while tethered to a parked truck, a state trooper said Wednesday. Kelly Mills, 33, and some friends found the old parachute while cleaning out a barn, said Cpl. Kenneth Bratton of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The group wanted to try out the parachute, and Mills volunteered to be strapped in, the friends told investigators. They took the parachute to a field off County Road 208 and tethered Mills to a pickup truck with a rope, Bratton said. The friends held the parachute open until the wind caught it and lifted Mills 30 to 40 feet in the air, Bratton said. "Unfortunately, the wind stopped, and he fell straight down," he said. Wind gusts in Erath County were 15 to 20 mph Saturday afternoon but with many calm periods, according to the National Weather Service. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner has ruled Mills' death an accident. Dave Fallschirmsport Marl Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
206doorman 0 #2 August 18, 2006 I hereby nominate Kelly Mills for a Darwin Award. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #3 August 18, 2006 That's a bit harsh. I know 100's (Yes - 100's) of jumpers who have done the same or similar things and survived without incident. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdctlc 0 #4 August 18, 2006 I also know of many who have also done it including me. Was it fun sure but of those that I know of as having done it, 1 was badly hurt and took a long time to recover while the other (about 10 years later at a different location) was killed I see this come up as a fun thing to do but after the first incident I saw with a very long recovery time I suggest against it and have refused to do it. Squares really dont do so well tethered and they can easily get turned out of the wind line. When that happens, they pile drive you into the ground.. That is what happened to the fatality, active current skydiver, playing around, some how got turrned enough away and could not get it corrected back into the wind before impact. Died later that day after a medic flight to the trauma center. You can say I am being harsh or have a bad outlook on this but I guess I do and its for a good reason. It is an activity that I see as an accident waiting to happen if you use a skydiving square.. Scott C."He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #5 August 18, 2006 The reason I said it was a bit harsh is because it was such an intollerant reaction. We go out to play with parachutes each weekend. We stack them, we swoop them, we use them in many different ways. I'm sure every whuffo would want each fatality dealt with as a Darwin award. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
206doorman 0 #6 August 18, 2006 Perhaps, but if I found a tunnel-boring-machine in a barn and buried myself with it, i'd not be surprised by a similar dig. (sorry, pun intended) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdctlc 0 #7 August 18, 2006 QuoteI'm sure every whuffo would want each fatality dealt with as a Darwin award. I agree but on the same token, every whuffo that hears about an accident involving a parachute will stick that in the "Skydiving is stupid" file in their brain, even if it is by no means a skydiving accident. You can educate people on how to fly a parachute and on all of the issues that you noted but someone doing something stupid and dangerous will generate a huge negative effect on preceptions right or in most cases wrong... If the guy that killed himself had no skydiving experience he should get the coveted "Darwin" award for embarking on a stupid and dangerous activity with no idea what he is doing or for the consequences that may happen, and in this case did happen. My point was that yeah it has been done but with skydiving equipment but that it is not prudent and can kill you, Even with experience with parachutes it may still cause a harsh ending. People will do what they want and try their damndest to kill themselves with or without experience. If your going to be stupid and ignorant you had better be tough or at least have good life insurance Scott C."He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mostly_Harmless 0 #8 August 18, 2006 QuoteIf the guy that killed himself had no skydiving experience he should get the coveted "Darwin" award for embarking on a stupid and dangerous activity with no idea what he is doing or for the consequences that may happen, and in this case did happen. I don't agree with this. Has anyone ever been parasailing before? I have, way before I ever got into skydiving. Back then all I knew was that I was hooked up to a parachute and being towed behind a boat. It was fun and nothing eventfull really happen. At that time I had no idea that there were differences in skydiving parachutes and parasailing parachutes. These guys saw a canopy and probably said "hey, I've seen one of these being towed behind boats all the time, why not a car?" If the incident involved a skydiver then I think the Darwin Adward should be given out, but not to a whuffo._________________________________________ www.myspace.com/termvelocity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #9 August 18, 2006 Towing squares is a recipe for disaster (i.e. all the scar tissue in one of Robin Heid's legs) unless you carefully follow guidelines and wind limits published by the British Parascending Association. The first LeMoigne (Para-Commander class, pulled-down apex, etc.) were tested with auto-towing. Mind you, proper para-sailing canopies have fewer vents, etc. Para-Commander class canopies are the only class that are any good for para-sailing. Trying to para-sail an old round canopy behind a car is a scary way to pass a windy day. When winds get gusty, things get nasty. That is when I hide behind a sewing machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,989 #10 August 18, 2006 >Squares really dont do so well tethered . . . It's like anything else. If you know what you're doing, it's pretty safe. Paragliders are winch and car launched all the time without problems. The condition you're referring to is "lockout" and the towee must have a way to release the tow line when that happens, which then results in a short parachute ride to the ground. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJmikeD 0 #11 August 18, 2006 maybe he should have been in the AFF course before attempting this stunt. could of helped! If you are tied to a truck you are not in control of the breaking and speed of your canopy. In many ways this is nothing like skydiving. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elisha 1 #12 August 18, 2006 Quote>Squares really dont do so well tethered . . . Then use and elliptical! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #13 August 19, 2006 Quote>Squares really dont do so well tethered . . . It's like anything else. If you know what you're doing, it's pretty safe. Paragliders are winch and car launched all the time without problems. The condition you're referring to is "lockout" and the towee must have a way to release the tow line when that happens, which then results in a short parachute ride to the ground. Apples and oranges. Towing a square parachute or even tying off to a fixed object in high winds is dumb. A release does not make it any safer. Ask Harry O’Connor and he was under a round. The release was not fast enough to save his life.My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pjc 0 #14 August 20, 2006 A small point - But if I'm understanding this correctly, the pick up wasn't towing the canopy but was parked and just being used as a teather to fly it (like a kite) in gusty conditions. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dorbie 0 #15 August 20, 2006 I have doubts that the wind just stopped and that's what killed him. It was a parachute afterall. Most bad outcomes are caused when you start to downplane against the tether. Even rounds can do this if they have ports, and I've seen video of a round being towed then downplane against a rope and breaking the "pilot". IMHO it is less likely that an experienced skydiver would downplane against the tether on a square or a round, (and less likely to attempt this in a "fickle wind") but joe public has no idea what's going on. Anyone doing this without some training and canopy experience is just gambling with their legs, spine & life. A Darwin Award to anyone who just finds a parachute and decides to use it without training for anything other than decoration. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,989 #16 August 21, 2006 >Towing a square parachute or even tying off to a fixed object in high winds is dumb. Tow-launching a square parachute is a lot easier than tow-launching a paraglider. Square parachutes are not subject to nearly as many partial collapses, and "steer-pump-steer" is not a part of any skydiver's emergency procedure (because they don't need to know how to actively reinflate a wing.) If you know what you're doing, tow-launching a square is a lot easier than tow-launching a paraglider. If you DON'T know what you're doing, both are dangerous. >A release does not make it any safer. Ask Harry O’Connor and he was under a round. If ANY release fails it can be dangerous - again, no matter what you're launching. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zing 2 #17 August 21, 2006 I've got an interesting video that shows a variety of rounds, squares and parasails attempting to be towed or tethered. If someone could pm me the method for putting it on a post, I'd be happy to to do so. The outcomes on all are painful looking.Zing Lurks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #18 August 21, 2006 QuoteIf you know what you're doing, tow-launching a square is a lot easier than tow-launching a paraglider. What ever you say. That must be why it is such a popular activity around the DZ on windy days. Towing a ram air behind a truck is not rocket science. There is not to much to “know what you are doing”. The problem is it takes 2 to “know what they are doing” and doing it at the same time. I have never seen it done without someone going to the hospital. Since you “know what you are doing” you go for it. I will watch and try to learn.My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kege 0 #19 August 21, 2006 If you really want to try towing a skydiving canopy, we found a fairly easy and relatively safe way of doing it. As these parachutes are not designed for being towed, if you want to try it over solid ground, be sure to have video. Our "system" consisted of snowmobiles towing canopies on a frozen lake with 10" of fresh snow on top of the old snow and ice, one driver, one cutaway guy facing rear (tow rope detaches from the snowmobile, not jumper, so this guy is paramount to the operation's safety). We decided pretty early on that we'll stick to swooping the ice/snow and not even trying to gain much altitude. Falling to the snow from 3 feet hurts a lot less than from 50ft, even when doing 30-50 mph, as we did. It was more fun that way too, me thinks. Everything went really smooth and we tried many different canopies (Manta 288, Sabre2 135, Vengeance 120, Katana 107, Velocity 103, ExtremeFX 88). Winds were light, tow rope was about 200ft long and attached to a climbing harness underneath skydiving harness, attachment point was in the chest. It sure was fun. Imagine doing a 2 mile swoop on snow, dragging your foot in fresh snow, carving it, trying some freestyle moves and so on. We made a video of it (we had headcams plus another snowmobile for video), www.kerkkohalme.com/video/virtasalmi.wmv, it's a 70mb file, but gives you a good idea of how fun it was. I personally would not do it over hard ground, ever, and do not encourage anyone else either. In this unfortunate event, I feel bad for the loss of life but also believe anyone who fails to see an accident in the making when a non-skydiver finds an old parachute from a barn and decides to strap it on and tow it behind a truck is having serious issues with reality and life expectancy. I think our system combined with some experience on parachutes worked brilliantly. Cheers, Kerkko P.S. Realizing that frozen lakes are not available everywhere one could probably do this with a boat over water, but it will bring along a whole bunch of added complexity, with issues like how to not drown, impact with water is harder and more abrupt than snow, wet gear, engine propellers etc etc.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jtval 0 #20 August 21, 2006 QuoteI don't agree with this. Has anyone ever been parasailing before? I have, way before I ever got into skydiving. Back then all I knew was that I was hooked up to a parachute and being towed behind a boat. It was fun and nothing eventfull really happen. At that time I had no idea that there were differences in skydiving parachutes and parasailing parachutes. These guys saw a canopy and probably said "hey, I've seen one of these being towed behind boats all the time, why not a car?" If the incident involved a skydiver then I think the Darwin Adward should be given out, but not to a whuffo. The darwin award is a awarded for a stupid death. if a trained skydiver burns in it usually isnt stupid, it's usually an accident/misjudgement of some sort. when a group of whuffos get together and have no clue how to work some kind of equipment and one dies that is at least one sort of stupid. I don't care weather it belongs as a darwin award or not but if any of themwould have thought one bit abotu how they clearly had no idea what they were doing this guy may have been alive. the difference between parasailing and this incident is that the Boater has (or SHOULDhave) expereince towing them. yup, its dangerous but there is usually somekind of expereince with the boater/parasailing outfit.My photos My Videos Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerry81 10 #21 August 21, 2006 It seems tow-launching was sometimes used by accuracy jumpers back home, back in the day, to practice landings without actually jumping from a plane. I heard it a few times from a guy who was there. Saw the pictures, too. Pretty long rope and a release system at the harness. One danger mentioned besides the obvious was releasing the rope while it was still under tension as the harness end of the cutaway system would recoil right back in your face. Of course, this story was usually accompanied by the tale of the rocket scientists (skydivers, not whuffos) who tried it by tying the tow rope around the chest strap. The test pilot nearly died when the knot moved off-center, pulling his canopy to the side and diving him into the ground. So... QuoteTowing a ram air behind a truck is not rocket science. There is not to much to “know what you are doing”. The problem is it takes 2 to “know what they are doing” and doing it at the same time. I have never seen it done without someone going to the hospital. ...this is a pretty good comment. I remember last time I saw a paraglider being launched with a car, the guy feeding the rope from the open trunk lost most of the skin on his palms. We told him to wear gloves, but he knew what he was doing... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenMachine 0 #22 August 21, 2006 Yeah, using gloves anytime you are working with ropes under load is a good idea. I have been successfully towed (and towed others) behind a golf cart using a large, docile, square canopy, and a long tow rope. A real good working knowledge of how to operate a parachute seems a must...unless it is a real forgiving situation, like using a boat Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #23 August 21, 2006 QuoteThe darwin award is a awarded for a stupid death. And a skydiver getting killed while being towed is a stupid death.My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BBKid 0 #24 August 21, 2006 QuoteAn Erath County man fell to his death Saturday after becoming airborne in a parachute while tethered to a parked truck, a state trooper said Wednesday. Helps if people actually read the source material...... Nick --------------------------- "I've pierced my foot on a spike!!!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #25 August 22, 2006 QuoteQuoteAn Erath County man fell to his death Saturday after becoming airborne in a parachute while tethered to a parked truck, a state trooper said Wednesday. Helps if people actually read the source material...... QuoteApples and oranges. Towing a square parachute or even tying off to a fixed object in high winds is dumb. It helps if people read the complete thread before make remarks.My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
