reserve opening on exit question

[chutem 0]

Say your on the camera step of an otter and have a premature reserve opening resulting in you hanging from your reserve off the "tail section". Is the best plan of action to cut the lines/risers off with your hook knife and deploy the main once you are clear? What if you drop your hook knife, chew threw them? Of course preventing this situation with gear checks/maint and a pin check prior to exit would be preferrable, but what would "you" do?
James

[Jeff.Donohue 0]

Such a thing is unpossible.

I kid, I kid -- I was wondering the same thing after viewing that video...

Particularly, in that case, since he dumped his main thinking that it was the main that was hung up.

[tr027 0]

Try everything to free the reserve and take it with me first, so as not to leave any canopies hanging over the tail, for the plane's sake. Even though I might feel more in danger at the time, sitting here thinking about it makes me feel the plane is more in danger than me hanging there. If there's no way to free it then cut it off the risers.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[Zoter 0]

Related.....

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=911143;#911143

[chutem 0]

How selfish of me, I never even thought of trying to shake it off to "save" the plane. Realizing it is your reserve before you attempt to cut away would be very important at this point. I guess the blob of different color fabric should give this away pretty quick.
James

[skybytch 273]

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Realizing it is your reserve before you attempt to cut away would be very important at this point. I guess the blob of different color fabric should give this away pretty quick.

That's one reason that many people recommend that a main not be a solid color, and that the reserve be a solid and totally different color than the main. Coloring your gear that way will make telling which canopy is out in a high stress situation much easier.

[billvon 2,998]

>Is the best plan of action to cut the lines/risers off with your
>hook knife and deploy the main once you are clear?

If you are hopelessly snagged, yes. A woman in Arizona did just this many years ago. (SL jump, round main and reserve.)

[deadwood 0]

If we are talking about the same incident, she lives just down the road from me here in Albuquerque. Only it wasn't a static line jump. She had about 50 jumps at the time and it was a Twin Beech. Reserve went over the tail as she was backing out the door. She was being dragged behind the plane. She pulled out her hook knife, cut the reserve free, went into freefall and dumped her main.

Cool headed woman.

He who hesitates shall inherit the earth.

Deadwood
Skydive New Mexico Motorcycle Club, Touring Division

[tso-d_chris 0]

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Coloring your gear that way will make telling which canopy is out in a high stress situation much easier.

On "normal" cutaways, it also makes it more likely someone on the ground will recognize the canopy as a reserve, and look for falling cutaway main.

[Squeak 17]

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I guess the blob of different color fabric should give this away pretty quick.

unfortunately I didn't know PD made yellow reserves, I had only ever seen powder blue and white ones.
So I ordered my custom main in Yellow with only 2 top cells and one bottom cell different in colours.
When my reserve arrived it was the same colour yellow as my main, so a quick glance up at the canopy MAY not tell me much.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[riggerrob 643]

The horizontal tail on a Twin Otter is so high above the door that it is almost impossible to snag.

[mark 107]

Unfortunately, it is possible to snag the tail of a Caravan.

www.atsb.gov.au/aviation/pdf/vh-mmv.pdf

Plan A (Avoid) seems like the best option.

Mark

[billvon 2,998]

>The horizontal tail on a Twin Otter is so high above the door that it is
>almost impossible to snag.

Yep. I was quite suprised that the jumper on the otter at Rantoul was able to snag it by just standing up in the door with an open container. A combination of a high PC launch and bad luck I guess.

[councilman24 37]

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[skydiverek 63]

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I was quite suprised that the jumper on the otter at Rantoul was able to snag it by just standing up in the door with an open container. A combination of a high PC launch and bad luck I guess.

Here is the video of this incident. It was his MAIN though: http://www.amador.org/videos/Wffc%202004%20Canopy%20Accident.mpg