Water Landings

[Skypilot 0]

Hi to all. I am doing some research on water landings. i would like to hear from people who have landed in the water and the techniques they used. Flotation? Difficulties expperienced? Recovery from water? drop zone rescue boat or coast guard etc any other relevant information. I am compiling this as part of my instructor A thesis in The Australian Parachute federation. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Go big!

[bob.dino 1]

I've not landed in water, but there's been a few incidents and such reported here over the years. A search on water landing throws up a few nuggets of useful info amongst all the "water training for B licence" posts.

Or, if you want to restrict your search to the Incidents forum, there's 400 and change posts, some with very useful info.

I'm sure others will chime in with first-hand info.

[kelpdiver 2]

you might also want to look up threads for Bridge Day where the BASErs have a good number landing in the river. Their procedures should be nicely fleshed out.

[FrogNog 1]

I think Amazon might know a thing or two about not dying in water landings. Something about doing a couple of them and a career as a professional "don't-die" trainer...

The advice of hers I remember most strongly is that hot chicks in bikinis cluttering up the boat are NOT what you want while you're outside the boat trying to get in without drowning. I think she said the best are big, strong men. (Not sure if she said that last part regarding water landings or just in general.)

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Amazon 7]

Are these planned water jumps.. or unplanned?


I have a "few" water landings ( I did one into the lake last summer at Lost Prairie under the Papillion I got from Viking).... and have watched literally thousands of Air Force flight crew students do them at the USAF Water Survival School under parasails as part of the water training.
How I handle them as opposed to what I would teach another skydiver are two different things. I myself am going to have my Air Force LPU's for any water jump I am going to do and I am flaring to wet feet then chopping the main upon hitting the water. ( I have seen people misjudge and cutaway way to far above the water and nearly hurt themselves from the fall. ) I am comfortable with my procedure and have always done it that way. The whole getting out of the harness ( SIM ) with the LPU's on is not going to happen.... there is NO WAY I would be able to swim down out of the harness, especially with the LPU's on and especially with them inflated. I myself do NOT inflate them nowadays unless I reallllly need them, but even uninflated its hard to get them from out of the harness while you are swimming in the water.. The reserve provides plenty of flotation for me. ( oh.. another word of caution with reserves and water landings.. especially with a belly mounted reserve.. I HIGHLY recommend looking off to your side with your head back a little when you enter the water... getting the reserve slammed into your chin or eating the belly wart.. HURTS.( the aircrew types did not have chest mount reserves so this was never trained.. it was just something I learned the nosebleed way)

A lot depends on what sort of equipment you have and the conditions of your landing. A lot of what you do depends on if you have support boats and flotation. Is it a lake .. the ocean.. or a fast moving river, there are a LOT of variables.( Check the SIM)

Military training way
The USAF at the time was teaching to steer into the wind after making the 4 line modification, deploy life raft kit, deploy the underarm LPU's, prepare the Capewell releases by putting their arm thru the V of the risers with their fist under their chin then release the Capewell cover with their other hand. We trained them to test the Capewell integrity visually and by bouncing their body in the harness while the arm was still thru the V of the risers. Next step was to repeat the process on the other side. With Capewell releases we had them cover the releases with their hands and hold them in place ( plus it keeps their hands right on the releases ready to get rid of the canopy upon landing).
(If the student flew aircraft with the Martin Baker seat with KOCH releases we just had the student cover the releases with their hand.) They may have had to steer their canopy to maintain its flight into the wind (VERY CAREFULLY to prevent an accidental release of the Capewell with the release rings now exposed.)
When approaching the water for a landing we had them assume a good prepare to land attitude and be ready to do a PLF. It is VERY hard to judge the depth of water. ( although if you see good sized waves, that can be a clue that its not just a few inches deep. I have landed in shallow water I could have sworn was 10 ft deep or more but was only a foot deep and did a somewhat muddy PLF.)

We taught them to take a deep breath as they approached the water and to look at the horizon and not at the water under their feet to avoid water/ground rush.
Upon getting FEET WET they were trained them to release the canopy
(NEVER EVER CUTAWAY ABOVE THE WATER) (We had them cutaway the canopy with the Capewell releases by inserting their thumbs up thru the release rings and pulling OUTWARDS not DOWNWARDS. With the Koch releases the procedure to release was by pushing up on the outer portion then pulling down on the inner portion of the release). The idea to release the canopy was to let the wind push the canopy off behind them so they did not get entangled in the canopy. In no wind, or if it did come down on top of them, they were trained to pull the LPU water wings under their armpits and Velcro them together in front immediately after releasing the canopy. If the canopy was on top of them they had trained to find a seam and follow it to the edge of the canopy.( this was already something they did back in a protected area where we could get to someone who might freak out with a wet canopy over their heads. We had them make sure they were clear of ALL of the suspension lines, from their bodies and their raft. Once clear of all the lines, we had them find the raft lanyard and pull it to them then disconnect the Velcro on the LPU's and push them behind their arms and swim/climb into the raft and have fun paddling around for a few hours. When the Huey’s came showed up we used the hoist to haul them up into the air about 20 feet...then lowered them back down into the water until the big boats came and plucked them from the water. (We did not want to corrode the Huey's with salt water) Training over.

They had/have a LOT of equipment for Survival.

If I am planning a water jump I am following what has worked for me.
(CAVEAT for OTHERS)If you have planned a water landing, you need to have good flotation and follow the recommendations in the SIM.

If you have not planned one... then you use whatever you have to maintain whatever flotation you can get to stay alive and survive. A reserve will give you some flotation for a while until it becomes water logged. You can take off the harness and put the reserve under your chest for better flotation than having it behind your head. Just put the harness on backwards with the reserve in front of you. You can fill parts of your clothing with air once you are in the water ( some clothing holds air well for some types of material)... you may have to refill it frequently but its better than nothing.

USPA SIM

The current SIM has this information in Section5

Water Hazards

1. Procedures for an unintentional water landing:


a. Continue to steer to avoid the water hazard.

b. Activate the flotation device, if available.

c. Disconnect the chest strap to facilitate getting out of the harness after landing in the water.

d. Disconnect the reserve static line to reduce complications in case the main needs to be cut away after splashing down.

e. Steer into the wind.

f. Loosen the leg straps slightly to facilitate getting out of the harness after splashing down.


(1) If you loosen the leg straps too much, you may not be able to reach the toggles.

(2) Do not unfasten the leg straps.

g. Prepare for a PLF, in case the water is shallow (it will be nearly impossible to determine the depth from above).

h. Flare to half brakes at ten feet above the water (may be difficult to judge, due to poor depth perception over the water).

i. Enter the water with lungs filled.

j. After entering the water, throw your arms back and slide forward out of the harness.


(1) Remain in the harness and attached to the canopy until actually in the water.

(2) If cutting away (known deep water only), do so only after both feet contact the water.

(3) If flotation gear is not used, separation from the equipment is essential.

k. Dive deep and swim out from under the collapsed canopy.

l. If covered by the canopy, follow one seam to the edge of the canopy until clear.

m. In swift or shallow water, pull one toggle in or cut away.

n. Refill your lungs at every opportunity.

o. Swim carefully away upwind or upstream to avoid entangling in the suspension lines.

2. If using the Air Force type (LPU) underarm flotation equipment-


a. Although worn underneath, the bladders inflate outside the harness, so removal of the harness is not practical without first deflating the bladders.

b. If you must remove the harness after landing, the bladders should be deflated, extricated from the harness, and reinflated (orally) one at a time.

3. The risks of a water landing are greatly increased when a jumper wears additional weights to increase fall rate.

4. Camera flyers, skysurfers, and other skydivers carrying additional equipment on a jump need to plan their water landing procedures accordingly.

5. Other references


a. SIM Section Section 2-1, USPA Basic Safety Requirements on water jumping equipment

b. SIM Section 6-5, Water Landing Recommendations (unintentional and intentional)

[Amazon 7]

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The advice of hers I remember most strongly is that hot chicks in bikinis cluttering up the boat are NOT what you want while you're outside the boat trying to get in without drowning. I think she said the best are big, strong men.

Uh a boat full of people in general is a BAD IDEA.... a boat full of people that have not had some form of lifeguard or water safety training is not a good idea. A boat with NO ROOM in it for the jumpers and equipment retrieved from the water is truely STUPID.

Now if the bikini clad women have the skills to save someone if necessary.. no problem

Me, I prefer someone big enough and strong enough to haul my fat ass out of the water if I am not able to for some reason.

I was a lifeguard.. and when someone needs help.. you have to react.. and having people not able or willing to react properly can be a serious problem. Having throwable flotation on the boat is a very good idea. I know.. I am just a worry wart.. but stuff happens.

[pBASEtobe 0]

I've got 23 water landings. Is that a lot? They were all BASE jumps and most of them were into very still water. About 5 or 6 were into a river with rapids. I landed close to shore where the water wasn't flowing as fast. It's really not that difficult or scary. I've had the canopy fall over my head twice. At first it scared me but then I realized it wasn't a big deal and I got out of it. Dependent on your flare technique the canopy will either drop down behind you (if you flare into a head wind) or it'll over shoot you and fall in front of you (usually if you're landing with a tail wind). It's actually pretty hard to get it to fall right on top of you.
I just sit there in my harness, nothing loosed or unbuckled and I wait for the boat to come pick my sorry ass up!

[riggerrob 643]

I agree with 99% of what Amazon said.

However, ...


"f. Loosen the leg straps slightly to facilitate getting out of the harness after splashing down.


(1) If you loosen the leg straps too much, you may not be able to reach the toggles.

(2) Do not unfasten the leg straps."

This dogma made lots of sense when solid saddles were fashionable, but I think that we should re-think it in light of modern split saddles and twitchy, fast canopies.

My policy is to pull the tails of the leg straps loose, but not touch the buckles.

What do other people think?

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

Me, I prefer someone big enough and strong enough to haul my fat ass out of the water if I am not able to for some reason.

***

Pick me... PICK ME!!




~And I agree ... loosen the leg straps some and make sure you can kick off your shoes fast...with the chest strap undone you can 'swim' out of the rig if need be without even undoing the leg straps.

Then again all my rigs have either B-12's or QR hardware 'just in case'

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

[Amazon 7]

That was right out of the SIM....

Me I have yet to ditch a harness yet. And I am certainly not going to loosen my leg straps. I do loosen my chest strap on every jump and it comes off very easy once tension is off my harness.
If I did not have flotation I would take off the rig AFTER I have chopped the canopy and made sure I was clear of any suspension lines. The reserve can act as a certain amount of flotation for you and in this case I would prefer to have it in front of me than back behind my head.