2005 US Incident Summary

[Ron 10]

Malfunctions, 9 (2, 3, 6, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21,25)

Due to landing, 6 (1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 20)

Equipment Issues, 3 (11, 21, 23)

Accidents due to low/no pulls, 3 (8, 22, 24)

Bizarre, 2 (10, 25)

Canopy Collisions, 2 (14, 15)

Freefall Collision, 1 (13)

Medical Problem, 1 (17)

Unknown, 0

1. 1/4/2005 Deland, FL. 400+ Jumps
Hook turn Vengeance 120. Visiting Jumper. 28 years old.

Lesson: Don’t turn low.


2. 1/15/2005 Dallas, TX. 99 Jumps
Slider came down and trapped a toggle. Jumper may have not released his toggles due to line twists and a long spot till very late.

Lesson: A controllability check includes steering and should be done before the hard deck.


3. 2/6/2005 Hawaii, 170 Jumps
Malfunction cutaway low. Deployed main around 1500-2000 feet. Cutaway at about 400 feet went belly to earth before the reserve pull. Had lost a canopy about a year before. This may have made him try and stay with the malfunction too long.

Lesson: Loss of altitude awareness. An RSL might have helped, but following emergency procedures, to include not busting your hard deck, would have helped as well.


4. 2/14/2005 Hawaii, 3000+ Jumps
Hook turn by an experienced jumper under a smaller canopy than he normally jumped.

Lesson: Even experience jumpers can get bitten when they try new equipment.


5. 2/16/2005 AZ. 4000 Jumps
Jumper landing in a tight area. Panic turn at 40 feet to avoid an obstacle.

Lesson: Landing out and walking is always better to trying to make it over obstacles.


6. 2/23/2005 AZ. 163 Jumps
Malfunction with lazy cutaway pull resulting in only one side releasing. Jumper then delayed reserve pull until it was too late.

Lesson: Emergency procedures should be drilled until they are natural. Emergency procedures are a two-handle operation.


7. 3/5/2005 Snohomish, WA. 190 Jumps
Low turn under a high WL (1.3 to1.4 to one). Last canopy was a 210 Specter. Jumper then bought a HP Vision 168 at 150 jumps. Jumper had a good spot, but flew too long on his downwind leg. Turbulence may have played a factor, but a panic turn was the reason for the death.

Lesson: Don’t donwnsize too fast. It removes any room for error with dangerous results. Smaller issues such as turbulence can be handled well with a canopy you have experience with. Jumping in turbulent weather with a new canopy is not a great idea


8. 3/5/2005 Perris, CA. 54 Jumps
Normal 2 way skydive with normal breakoff. No pull situation unknown reason. AAD was set at home which was 1500 feet lower than DZ elevation.

Lesson: Read the manual. Know the operational parameters of your equipment.


9. 4/16/2005 Atlanta Skydiving Center, GA. 1000 Jumps
Hook turn 270 turn then double fronts till impact. May have been distracted by a camera crew. Katana 120, which he loaded at around 1.8. Recently switched to a Katana 107.

Lesson: New canopy and showing off. New equipment or skills should be learned before additional stress is placed on performance.


10. 4/23/2005 Deland, FL. Experienced
An Otter on descent hit the jumper.

Lesson: It is wise to try and avoid an active landing pattern. Jump pilots should stay well away from the parachute landing area.


11. 5/1/2005 Dallas, TX. 5000 Jumps
Jumper deployed and a line wrapped around his left main flap. This resulted in the main being in tow. Jumper then deployed the reserve and they entangled.

Lesson: Not much can be learned from this. Maybe packing was a factor, or maybe it was just a case of bad luck. There was not much the jumper could do. A perfect case of, “You can do everything right and still die”


12. 6/5/2005 Sky Knights, WI. 100 Jumps
Malfunction with cutaway and late, some reports say no, reserve pull

Lesson: Emergency procedures should be drilled until they are natural. Emergency procedures are a two-handle operation.


13. 7/2/2005 Skydive Wayne County, IN 2100 Jumps
Freefall collision between a cameraman and a Tandem pair. Video person flew into the area above the tandem pair. On opening the tandem canopy opened quickly and lunged forward and to the left. The video person hit the TI and the injuries were fatal.

Lesson: Getting the perfect shot is not the most important part of any skydive. Stay well away from the area above and below a Tandem.


14. 7/4/2005 Cross Keys, NJ 1500 Jumps
Canopy wrap at 150 feet. Jumper followed the left hand pattern rule with a 180. The other jumper was higher and performed a right 270 and hit the lower jumper. Mixing low performance, high performance and higher performance landing approaches is asking for trouble. Low person has the right of way.

Lesson: Not much can be said. This jumper was hit from a canopy that came from above doing a different pattern. Communication might have prevented this. But landing in an area where everyone else is trying to land might not be a good idea. Why have exit separation, and why track away at the end of the jump if you are just going to all try and land in the same spot?


15. 7/4/2005 Cross Keys, NJ 2100 Jumps
Canopy wrap at 150 feet One jumper followed the left hand pattern rule with a 180. This jumper was higher and performed a right 270 and hit the lower jumper.

Lesson: Clear your airspace before you turn.
1. Talk about what people are doing for landing.
2. Don't feel the need to land where everyone else is.
3. Build a stack and fly it.
4. If it is not clear you don't get to hook.


16. 7/4/2005 Cal City, CA. 400 Jumps.
3 lines broke on opening, no emergency procedures were performed. Possible the jumper was knocked out by the opening and died as a result of the landing.

Lesson: It is quite possible that a hard opening might have knocked out this jumper.


17. 7/22/2005 San Marcos, TX. 2 Tandems, 1 AFF Jump.
He was 72 years old and did not respond to radio contact. Brakes were unstowed, neck was found broken after landing.

Lesson: Old age can be a problem in high-risk sports. As the sport becomes easier, older people will jump. Other than imposing medical rules, or age limits; not much can be done to prevent this type of accident.


18. 8/06/2005 Rantoul, IL 4000 Jumps
Heavily loaded Vengeance, deployed at normal altitude, resulting in a spinning mal. Jumper rode it ~10 revolutions before cutting away at 800-1000 feet. He then took a fairly long delay before deploying his reserve at a very low altitude. Jumper impacted at reserve line stretch.

Lesson: The jumper lost track of altitude and rode a mal well below the recommended altitudes in the SIM. He then took a long delay after the cutaway. An RSL might have prevented this, but remembering that emergency procedures are a two-handle operation and maintaining altitude awareness would have fixed it as well. RSL’s will not help with altitude awareness. Establish a hard deck and PAY ATTENTION TO IT.


19. 8/10/2005 Rantoul, IL. 80 Jumps
Jumper cutaway and was in freefall for a few seconds before he went to his reserve. they are speculating he was around 1500 feet when he cutaway and 300 when he deployed. losing altitude awareness is not something an RSL can fix.

Lesson: The jumper lost track of altitude and rode a mal well below the recommended altitudes in the SIM. He then took a long delay after the cutaway. An RSL might have prevented this, but remembering that emergency procedures are a two-handle operation and maintaining altitude awareness would have fixed it as well. RSL’s will not help with altitude awareness. Establish a hard deck and PAY ATTENTION TO IT.


20. 8/13/2005 Ogden, UT. 1 jump (Tandem)
Gust of wind seems to have collapsed the Tandem canopy as they landed near a building.

Lesson: Land safe, not close. Turbulence is invisible and can take down airliners.


21. 8/21/2005 Marana Skydiving Center, AZ. 1 Tandem 2 S/L Jumps
On his second Static Line jump, the student exited well, but when he went to pull the Practice Ripcord, he instead mistakenly pulled his cutaway handle. The jerk from the release of the deploying main parachute flipped him on his back and when the RSL released his reserve in this position, the pilot chute shot between his legs and tangled around one of his legs. The pilot chute remained tangled around his leg until impact.

Lesson: Drill the dive till it is natural. This is a case where an RSL contributed to the fatality. On the whole RSL’s save more people than they kill, but they do have dangers and jumpers should know the dangers.


22. 9/11/2005 Monroe, GA. 6000+ jumps
He had serious medical problems (stroke) regarding cognitive and short-term memory loss. This jumper was a well-respected DZO and jumper years ago. However his medical condition resulted in his losing his FAA medical and not being allowed to jump. He also had his driver’s license revoked for accidents, and at least one DZ only allowed this jumper to do Tandems. D-license# D911, incident was on 09/11/05, possible suicide since the jumper had made 3 jumps that day and several that weekend according to some reports.

Lessons: This jumper had been grounded at several DZ’s, had his flying medical and his Drivers License taken away. Many people feel that this person should not have been solo jumping and some feel that this may have been a suicide. This is a tough call to make, but there comes a time when people should not be allowed to jump. The past medical history and personal accounts of his inability to handle complex situations makes me think that when a jumper is grounded by the people that love him…It might be for a good reason.


23. 9/30/2005 East Troy, WI. ??? Jumps
Wearing a camera suit. He attempted to deploy his main he pulled his pilot chute through the right wing of the suit resulting in a "horse-shoe" malfunction. His handles were found in place. Also, his hook knife was out and the main bridal was cut a few inches above the attachment point to the D-bag

Lesson: Proper care in picking a suit that will not allow a gap that you can reach through is important. More important is that you should never attempt rigging tricks in the air while you are falling at 120 MPH. Stop the skydive. Several people have survived two outs, but no one has survived landing just a pilot chute.


24. 10/16/2005 Skydive the Rockies, CO. 4000+
Low Pull, CYPRES fire with two canopies out resulting in an un-survivable landing.

Lessons: Know your gear. AAD’s are great, but as this accident shows they can add problems. Have a hard deck and do not ignore it.


25. 10/30/2005 Skydive Atlanta, GA. 2 Jumps
Disabled Student fell out of a harness. Student’s condition made it so they had to be helped to exit. The student slipped down on exit and then went into a “pike” position in freefall. Instructor tried to hold the student and deploy, but he was unable to hold him.

Lesson: Tandems are not normal skydives. Handicap Tandems are a world all on their own. Take every precaution to ensure that the TI will be able to control the skydive. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure that you will be able to control the legs of a disabled passenger.


26. 11/5/2005 Perris, CA. 100+
The jumper was observed flying straight and in control until about 2-300 ft. At that time he was over or a bit north of the hanger. He started a spiral and continued until impact. one toggle was stowed and one was unstowed.

Lesson: A controllability check includes steering and should be done before the hard deck.


Malfunctions are back as the number one killer in this sport. Nine jumpers ignored a hard deck, controllability check, and failed to perform emergency procedures in time to save themselves. Many of these might have been saved by an RSL. However, in most of these cases a jumper started their emergency procedures and failed to complete the second step. Reserve drills should be practiced until they are natural and BOTH handles are pulled all the time. RSL’s save more people than they kill, but jumpers should place more focus on proper emergency procedures and drill them until they are perfect.

Landing Issues are lower, but only by one this year. Education seems to be taking hold, but the problem still remains that the jumpers that need the education are the ones that will not take the classes. Even experienced jumpers make mistakes that kill them. The trick to surviving is to minimize the new things and try to control the situations where you try new equipment or stunts.

Equipment Issues are hard to fix. Only one death this year could have been prevented by a better selection of equipment (23).

Low/No Pulls have always been a problem to determine the reason. Loss of altitude awareness seems to be a major factor in two deaths this year (8, 24). Ironically an AAD might have saved the first one, and it contributed to the fatality in the second case. AAD’s are good, but jumpers should know the limitations and AAD’s do not fix altitude awareness problems. One no pull this year seems to be either a medical issue or a suicide (22). People who have been grounded should not be allowed to jump until cleared by a Doctor.

Bizarre accidents happen. Either party staying away from each other’s airspace could have avoided accident number 10 on this list. An accident of this nature is very rare but should remind us that the big sky theory does not work all the time and it should not be relied upon. Tandems are not normal skydives. Handicap Tandems are a world all on their own. Take every precaution to ensure that the TI will be able to control the skydive. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure that you will be able to control the legs of a disabled passenger. This is another accident that is so rare that it has only happened once to the best of my knowledge. Still every precaution must be taken.

Canopy Collisions. Lower jumper has the right of way. Obey traffic patterns and it is not necessary to land in the same place as everyone else. Why have exit separation, track away from each other to all pack into the same area and try and land in the same place?

Freefall Collision. Stay way from the area above and below a Tandem pair. There are more important things than the perfect shot.

Medical Problem. Possibly two, maybe three jumpers this year died either due to or in part due to a medical problem. This is a difficult area. As jumping becomes easier, older jumpers and impaired jumpers will participate. Maybe a medical for jumpers over a certain age, or with known conditions should be required. In one case a hard opening might have played a role. Maybe nothing else was wrong with the jumper until the opening. In another case an older man came to love and want to learn skydiving. The problem is that this sport is not easy, and maybe it needs more physical fitness to participate. In another case we had a very experienced jumper who some consider to be an icon of the sport try to continue jumping after some serious medical issues. This is difficult area and maybe no answer exists. However, a person who wishes to learn to skydive should be in shape, or get a medical for their safety. Jumpers with experience who have been grounded by people who love them…maybe should stay on the ground.

Difficult area.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[pbla4024 0]

Ad 1) This visiting Czech jumper had 400+ jumps.

Fido

[Ron 10]

Quote

Ad 1) This visiting Czech jumper had 400+ jumps.

Thanks, newspaper reports said almost 1,000.

Do you know this for sure?

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[pbla4024 0]

It was even less, just 300+
Here is report (in Czech):
http://www.blueskies.cz/default.asp?menu_type=article&articles_style=&articles_id=216
,but you could see at least numbers and equipment used. WL was about 1.9, second jump on new canopy after downsizing from Sabre2 150.

Fido

[speedy 0]

Quote

More important is that you should never attempt rigging tricks in the air while you are falling at 120 MPH. Stop the skydive.

This is one thing you keep saying Ron, and for some reason it annoys the hell out of me.
For me a skydive starts when you leave the airplane and ends when you are on the ground. This is where incidents start to happen, people think just because they have pulled something, they have stopped the skydive. Well they haven't, and they are still skydiving until they are on the ground.

You cannot stop a skydive until you are on the ground. This is what makes skydiving such a risky sport. You are going to continue going downwards with no way to stop until you hit the ground. Just make sure you hit the ground softly or at least at a survivable speed. A canopy over your head will help you achieve this. Once you have a canopy over your head do not switch off, you are still skydiving. Keep flying until your are safely on the ground.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[airtwardo 7]

It's a matter of semantics.

Many people consider the "Skydive" as the Free falling part of diving through the sky.

If, as you say "You cannot stop a skydive until you are on the ground."

When does the "Parachute Jump" start and end?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Quote

More important is that you should never attempt rigging tricks in the air while you are falling at 120 MPH. Stop the skydive.

This is one thing you keep saying Ron, and for some reason it annoys the hell out of me.
For me a skydive starts when you leave the airplane and ends when you are on the ground. This is where incidents start to happen, people think just because they have pulled something, they have stopped the skydive. Well they haven't, and they are still skydiving until they are on the ground.

You cannot stop a skydive until you are on the ground. This is what makes skydiving such a risky sport. You are going to continue going downwards with no way to stop until you hit the ground. Just make sure you hit the ground softly or at least at a survivable speed. A canopy over your head will help you achieve this. Once you have a canopy over your head do not switch off, you are still skydiving. Keep flying until your are safely on the ground.

Dave,

I think most people understand the point he is trying to make. Back in the day it was "when in doubt, whip it out". A catch phrase is easier to remember at 120 mph.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[voidlizard 0]

So sad...

Could anyone comment incident #23? What actions seems to be right in the situations like this?

Do camera suits usually have RSL-like locks to release wings?

I have never jump with a camera suit, but I am going to.

[tphilpin 0]

The heading "Malfunctions" is misleading in this incident context. Only #11, & 16 of the malfunctions described, in and of themselves, would have caused the incident regardless of what the skydiver did.

Poor procedures in dealing with "a situation" resulted in the deaths of the rest. Malfunctions suggests that the equipment is unreliable. In actuality, it is the skydiver that malfunctioned.

The heading "Pilot Error" may be more applicable to these incidents and most of the others with a deploying or opened canopy.

[stratostar 5]

Could anyone comment incident #23? What actions seems to be right in the situations like this?
(quote)

Cutaway and pull reserve. (op 1)
Or try to find the little wing release at 120 with a bunch of shit flappin around trying to rip your wing off, (OP #2)
I like OP # 1 the best myself, seen it done live and up close.


Do camera suits usually have RSL-like locks to release wings?
(quote)
Yes and no, all suits are different, mine came stock with them
I cut them off and built my own mo better ones.

I have never jump with a camera suit, but I am going to.
(quote)

Remember video is the second most dangerous jump you can do.
Start by getting some trainning from an experinced camera person and only do one new thing at a time, like jump your suit
A few times to get the feel of it, then add the camera set up ECT.

~

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[grue 1]

You beat me to it. Malfunctions didn't kill most of those people, their way of handling the malfunction did. I think we should be classifying such things under "human error"

cavete terrae.

[tdog 0]

Quote

Ironically an AAD might have saved the first one, and it contributed to the fatality in the second case. AAD’s are good, but jumpers should know the limitations and AAD’s do not fix altitude awareness problems. .

This was my first complete calendar year in the sport... I have read incident reports going back for years, hoping to learn, so history would not repeat itself...

What I learned in 2005 first hand, that I did not "learn" or "learn to appreciate" from the forums and/or my mentors...

AADS add risk...

But I still jump with one, and plan on doing so forever (based upon current schools of thought)...

I was on jump #24... I believe this incident would have been a "gee wiz that was low" instead of a fatality if the jumper did NOT have an AAD.

(Note, I am not advocating getting rid of your AAD... This reminds me of a friend who was "pronounced dead" when his truck rolled on the highway and he was thrown 250' because he was not wearing a seatbelt. But after 6 months in a coma and 25 surgeries, he was saved, the doctors call it a miracle... The photos show that if he WAS wearing a seatbelt he would have been killed and he lived because he went thru the windshield before the cab was crushed, but now he goes around preaching the use of seatbelts because he knows they save more than they kill.)

Many people have asked me about my first hand experiences with the skydiving incident above. The most common question is, "why did he not cut away the main when it downplaned" or, "If it was me, I would have initiated a downplane so I could have chopped it before it was too late."

This normally goes into a conversation that goes like this... "ME: At what altitude does the cypres fire??? Yep, somewhere between 750 and 1000 feet... Lets say it takes a few hundred feet for it to inflate... Where are you... Somewhere at 500 feet... Lets say a downplane takes you back to freefall speeds, or near those speeds.... How much time do you have from 500 feet??? Do you think 500 feet is the time to start a downplane? Do you think you could identify the problem and chop the main in time?"

That is where it sets in and people start to understand how it could happen to them... That to survive a cypres fire downplane, you have to be on the top of your game, you have to overcome the huge stress of knowing you just pulled low, identify that you have a downplane, get over the urge to "make sure it is save to cut away" and just get rid of it in a second or two...

Other AAD related incidents this year... The Perris incident where the AAD was set for the wrong ground elevation. That opened a lot of people's eyes. Adrian Nicolas' two out on a swoop, clearly was another "aad caused" death. (Don't flame me, yes I know the high speed swoop/human error was what really initiated the chain of events, but without the AAD would Adrian be around today?)

These incidents in 2005 have educated me that the AADS will likely work exactly as designed - however the AAD can be a blessing in disguise when it does what it is supposed to.

In conversation with friends, I have asked. "How many two out scenarios did not start with an AAD fire?"

Anyway, this is my "take home knowledge" from 2005... Know thy AAD, set it correctly. And... Visualize your two out procedures where the second becomes inflated at 500'.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

What did *you* learn in 2005? Please share.

T.

[dragon2 2]

I'd add:

No 8: Lesson: PULL!!

Reading the manual will help but if she had just pulled there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place of course.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[piisfish 140]

if you're going THAT low, shouldn't th eprocedure be STRAIGHT TO SILVER ? and not "let's try the main first" ??

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[wmw999 2,439]

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if you're going THAT low, shouldn't th eprocedure be STRAIGHT TO SILVER ? and not "let's try the main first" ??

People do what they're used to doing. The vast majority of the time if you're told "PULL NOW" you'll go for the main. Habit.

So think about it, plan it, but understand that it might well happen.

Wendy W.

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)

[FeFe 0]

Quote

Could anyone comment incident #23?

I would go for cutaway-reserve right away
first of all, the gaps between wings and body on all of my camera suits are not big enough to pull a PC through
second, in a theoretical situation of such thing happening - I imagine it will be quite tricky to grab and disconnect the RSL shackle which attaches the wing quickly
RSL shackle won't release under tension - it needs some slack
I believe there will be quite some tension on the wing in freefall with a mess of a bridal around it

[niu 0]

"24. 10/16/2005 Skydive the Rockies, CO. 4000+
Low Pull, CYPRES fire with two canopies out resulting in an un-survivable landing. "


Does anyone know why this person pulled low?Was it just a fuckup or was there a bad separation or such?

[tphilpin 0]

TDog,

In my opinion, what you should have learned from #24 is: Go directly to your reserve below 1500 feet!

Your main probably takes 500-1000 ft to open. The cypress arms by 1,000 ft and fires at 750 ft. A deploying main puts you in the cypress operating window.

Below 1500 ft - go directly to the reserve.
Below 1500 ft - go directly to the reserve.

The reserve must open by 300 ft to be TSO certified. Having an open canopy sooner will give you some time to sort out your landing and give you a few more outs.

What is the downside? I don't think there is any. Waiting to have your reserve repacked will give you some time to think about what caused you to pull below 1500 ft to begin with. It will also let you think about life.

The repack cost? Think about it like a bank account. You deposit $60 in your account with a repack. Every day 50 cents gets deducted from your account for your rig being in date. If you pull your reserve before your account balance reaches zero (120 days) you lose the balance. Your reserve repack may be a lot cheaper than you thought. So why not blow the account balance to save your life. You have probably spent more on a Friday night.

Pulling your reserve takes the AAD out of the picture. It also gives you something you can't buy... some extra time to get it sorted out and land safely.

Blue skies.

[tdog 0]

Quote

TDog,

In my opinion, what you should have learned from #24 is: Go directly to your reserve below 1500 feet!

You are right... See wmw999's post above... Are you 100% confident that you, when you suddenly realize you are low, are going to bypass your habits and muscle memory and go for something completely different, that you may or may not have pulled at terminal, before??? Obviously people have not...

So you are 100% right... But... There is still a lesson to be learned for after you screwed up, because let's face it, if humans never screwed up we would not need airbags in cars, AADs in skydiving, and hard hats on construction sites.

T.

[Ron 10]

Quote

More important is that you should never attempt rigging tricks in the air while you are falling at 120 MPH. Stop the skydive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is one thing you keep saying Ron, and for some reason it annoys the hell out of me.

Get over it. People die since the forget they are falling at 120 MPH and fail to act to stop that situation. The must stop.

Quote

For me a skydive starts when you leave the airplane and ends when you are on the ground.

Here is where you said something that really bothers me. A skydive starts even before you get geared up. It starts with an attitude of safety, goes into proper gear selection, maintaining current, practicing your emergency procedures, planning the dive, checking the gear....ect all done hours, days, mths before the jump that might kill you and ALL could change a fatality.

But the simple fact is that landing at 120 will kill you, so you must stop.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Ron 10]

Quote

The heading "Malfunctions" is misleading in this incident context. Only #11, & 16 of the malfunctions described, in and of themselves, would have caused the incident regardless of what the skydiver did.

Poor procedures in dealing with "a situation" resulted in the deaths of the rest

Poor malfuntion procedures is what killed these people if there was no mal, they would not have screwed up.

The focus is then on what they did wrong...Which was deal with an abnormal part of a skydive.

Yes, they screwed up, but many of these people had 100 to 4000 jumps. Showing that on a "normal" jump they did fine. It was only when a different situation came up that the series of events started.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

The reserve must open by 300 ft to be TSO certified.

300 feet or 3 seconds. I think you will find that most are tested to 3 seconds. Loss of altitude in 3 seconds will vary greatly depending on speed. At 120 mph it is around 520 feet.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[AFFI 0]

“1. 1/4/2005 Deland, FL. 400+ Jumps
Hook turn Vengeance 120. Visiting Jumper. 28 years old.

Lesson: Don’t turn low”

Expanded lesson:
There are two categories of low turn deaths. One is High Performance landing (attempts) and the second being canopy pilots simply taking evasive action in order to avoid an obstacle. The don’t turn low philosophy is sound when taking into consideration the high performance landings but if someone skydives long enough there is likely going to be an instance when the skydiver will be in a situation where turning low to the ground is necessary in order to avoid a hazardous obstacle. The obvious is avoidance, another words don’t put yourself in a position that necessitates a low turn to avoid an obstacle (power lines, buildings, trees, another canopy on a collision course, etcetera…). Remember, to increase the odds of surviving a landing it is advisable to have the canopy overhead when intersecting the ground; I have not seen a favorable landing when the canopy and person hit the ground at the same time. If the circumstance ever presents itself for whatever reason, that the canopy pilot must turn low to the ground but does not possess the knowledge and skill to keep the canopy overhead while turning, their odds of surviving is greatly diminished.

The solution?
Learn how to change your heading on the horizon utilizing the Slow Flight and Flat Turn technique. An important aspect of learning this evasive action technique is to know the Stall Point of the canopy you are piloting in order to prevent a stall low to the ground. When put into a situation where an evasive maneuver low to the ground is necessary there is likely to be high adrenaline levels and excitement – remain calm and don’t panic, repetitive practice is essential to better ensure that the maneuver is preformed correctly so lots of practice at safe altitues is recommended. What is a safe altitude? Rule of thumb is to not perform maneuvers that could create a problem beneath an altitude you are not willing to cut away from (I.E. your hard deck). Stall avoidence practice I would do above my decision altitude, Flat Turn practive below as long as I am over my holding area.

To quote Scott Miller from his "The Low down on Low Turns" essay:

“Suppose a jumper who needs to make a low turn could do so without making the canopy dive at the ground. Suppose the person could make a slow, flat turn, keeping the canopy above his or her head and maintaining a low rate of descent. Suppose the jumper could turn 90 degrees or more without losing much altitude. If the person could do this, he or she could avoid the obstacle and still land softly.
"Flat turns" are one of the most useful things you can do with a canopy, and may be the only way to avoid a hazard at a very low altitude without crashing your canopy into the ground. Unfortunately, many skydivers are never taught to make them. In fact, instructors usually spend a great deal of time discouraging students from flying this way.”

“By spending some time flying your canopy in brakes, you will explore a range of maneuverability
that many jumpers don't even know exists.”

"The Low down on Low Turns" by Scott Miller is a good read, even better yet take a course where such life saving techniques are taught...

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

[tphilpin 0]

TDog,

I understand your natural interest to defend the conclusions of your post. Realistically, if a skydiver fails to pull at the proper altitde, than fails to pull the reserve when below 1500 ft. what are the chances that the same skydiver will be able to assess, manipulate and respond correctly to a two out situation?

Focus on the performing the first two procedures. The two out scenario has many permutations based upon the size of the canopies involved, their position, and rsl attachments. (See PD's study on their website). Most skydivers are along for the ride at this point.

Quote

when you suddenly realize you are low, are going to bypass your habits and muscle memory and go for something completely different

Deploying the main at the bottom of the skydive should never be a habit but rather a conscious decision.

Perhaps a better mindset to have is " Always deploy your reserve unless you determine you are above 1500 feet"

[kallend 2,026]

First time in 10 years that "landing" has not been in 1st place.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.