Information on not recent tandem double fatal

[iwasinkheson68 0]

Hi all,

I'm looking to find out some more info on a double fatality.

It was a tandem pair from a Brazilian registered plane.

Hop main canopy that spun into the ground.

I'd say it was within the last four or five years.

Anyone have any info?

Thanks,

Mike

[benlangfeld 1]

Quote

It was a tandem pair from a Brazilian registered plane.

In Brazil or elsewhere?

[DJL 235]

iwasinkheson68

Hi all,

I'm looking to find out some more info on a double fatality.

It was a tandem pair from a Brazilian registered plane.

Hop main canopy that spun into the ground.

I'd say it was within the last four or five years.

Anyone have any info?

Thanks,

Mike

Why is it that a Hop canopy is involved in so many? I know it's not because there are so many in use.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[riggerrob 643]

The accident involved a tandem jump from a Brazilian-made Embraer Bandierante airplane. Bandierante is a low-wing, light twin sort of like a Beechcraft King Air 99. Aircraft GPS did not contribute to the accident.

The tandem accident occurred on a South Pacific island, maybe Fiji (?). A detailed account is in the "Incidents" forum, a few years back.

[neandertal 0]

It happened in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, roughly two years ago.
The TI jumped on a flip through packed rig and couldn't cut away after the canopy start spun out of control.
The G forces generated by an un-leveled high performance wing combined with a flip through were not the cause of this double mal.
The lackness of a proper gear check was.

I knew him and his father, also an accomplished skydiver.

RIP

[chuckakers 425]

neandertal

It happened in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, roughly two years ago.
The TI jumped on a flip through packed rig and couldn't cut away after the canopy start spun out of control.
The G forces generated by an un-leveled high performance wing combined with a flip through were not the cause of this double mal.
The lackness of a proper gear check was.

I knew him and his father, also an accomplished skydiver.

RIP

What was incorrect or incomplete on the gear check?

Also, did the TI attempt to deploy the reserve after realizing a cutaway was not possible?

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[gowlerk 2,192]

Quote

What was incorrect or incomplete on the gear check?

Just a guess, but I'm thinking "flip through" in this case is referring to a three ring with the middle ring flipped through the large ring. Not what we usually use the term for.

I'm wondering about what kind of "high performance wing" though.

[raff 4]

This IS the term for having the container "flipped through" the lines, either above or below the slider, causing the risers to be twisted. This term has been in use for the thirty years I've been jumping. (This problem may or may NOT evidence itself during a gear check.)

If you leave the plane without a parachute, you will be fine for the rest of your life.

[gowlerk 2,192]

Not everyone uses US English as their first language. I am well aware of the common usage of the term. I am guessing at the meaning using the context of the post.

[yoink 321]

raff

This IS the term for having the container "flipped through" the lines, either above or below the slider, causing the risers to be twisted. This term has been in use for the thirty years I've been jumping. (This problem may or may NOT evidence itself during a gear check.)

It almost certainly wouldn't during a gear check before emplaning because the lines are all stowed. You wouldn't be able to see a flip through, would you?
It SHOULD have been caught by a continuity check during packing.

[DJL 235]

yoink

***This IS the term for having the container "flipped through" the lines, either above or below the slider, causing the risers to be twisted. This term has been in use for the thirty years I've been jumping. (This problem may or may NOT evidence itself during a gear check.)

It almost certainly wouldn't during a gear check before emplaning because the lines are all stowed. You wouldn't be able to see a flip through, would you?
It SHOULD have been caught by a continuity check during packing.

He must be talking about the three rings being flipped as he says it's the cause of not being able to cut away. In that case it should have been caught during one of several instances between packer and TI but the TI is ultimately responsible. Thinking through my own checks, besides the initial gear inspection prior to getting suited up I would be checking for this two more times before exit.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[wmw999 2,447]

There was a tandem double in late 2015 that might satisfy that, although the airplane isn't mentioned. It emphatically involved a spinning main, but there isn't any information about the cause of the spin. The TI was quite experienced, and was unable to deploy a reserve in time.

Obviously news articles won't have any details about causes. But "flipped through" could be 3-ring, shoulder strap (though that would be hugely uncomfortable), or through the slider with some involvement of a toggle.

I don't see any reference to it in either the incidents forum or the fatalities database. The Brazilian club doesn't have their own fatalities database that's accessible to the general public (neither does USPA, of course).

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)

[iwasinkheson68 0]

Thanks guys.

It was out of a 208. I think Wendy is talking about the right incident.

It was caused by an incorrectly assembled 3-ring (loop though middle ring) that wasn't able to cutaway what looks like a hung-up toggle. No issues with slider and no step through on the main. He did activate the reserve, but it never left the container.

[wmw999 2,447]

That would be consistent with neandertal’s description of something that should have been caught by a pin check.

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)

[neandertal 0]

English is my third "second" language, hence Neandertal without "h", as it is written in my native tongue.
I used to get frustrated with my grammar mistakes, but POTUS put me at easy... Thank you, Sir!

Here is what I should have explained better:

Comparing to other tandem canopies, the HOP lineage is in my book, a high performance wing, falling behind only to the 280 x-braced. To make matters worse, he was a big guy himself.

Please let me know the proper name for this occurrence, other than 3 rings flip through.

I have watched the video taken from his HC

AND I JUST SPOKE WITH HIS FATHER on the phone. He is in good spirits and accepted his loss in the best way I can possibly imagine.

This accident wasn't caused by a 3 rings flip through . It was caused due to a 3 rings assembly error . Only 2 rings were connected to each other, while one ring was left out. I call this error a 2 rings assembly.

The rig was used by several TIs throughout the reserve packing cycle and it was going to get repacked after this fatidic jump, since it was the last load of the day.

He deployed the reserve, but the pilot chute didn't extract the free bag off the container. It was just trailing behind.

I can tell he put up a good fight. He never gave up.

I didn't ask for any more details. Bad enough me calling him out of the blue to ask about his son's death almost 3 years latter.

Off course I thought about a overly tight hesitator loop (I know UPT hates this name) scenario AND/OR a combination of this with a bigger size reserve canopy from another manufacturer AND/OR many other scenarios that I rather not spend days speculating about it.

Again, a gear check would have saved two lives.

No Drogue, no JUMP!!