Almost hit by a Plane!

[Jockeyshifter63 0]

OK So "No shit there I was", (at least that is how I think I am supposed to start this), anyway last Friday I was Under canopy at 1500 feet keeping an eye out for the canopy traffic and anticipating starting my downwind leg, looking up, down, left, behind left, right, behind right, forward and holy crap! right again and all I see is propeller. My hand goes to my cutaway but then I think shit I am just under 1500. Not good - really not good then at the last second the pilot must have seen me and goes hard right and up. Damn that was close! Here is the thing - I was exactly where I should have been. Following the canopies before me in the landing pattern, I was parallel with but south of jump run and our runway and about even with the middle of the runway. A Tandem instructor and a couple of others saw it all and told me the plane was a blue and white 172. No one got the tail #. Later I was told that the pilot was following pretty standard procedure for navigating airport to airport. He crossed the runway perpindicular in the middle at 1500 feet. The only thing my pilot buddies that jump said was he must not have seen a note on his map indicating a drop zone and he sure as hell wasn't monitoring radio traffic. I am not a pilot and am a noob skydiver. Is this std for pilots navigating and if it is it sure seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I am amazed that when he avoided me he didn't get someone else. We had all just left a full Otter minutes ago.

[BillyVance 34]

Glad you weren't hit and nobody was hurt. There have been quite a few near-misses, some with heart pounding video. And there have been actual collisions.

Skydive Dallas used to sit under a major approach corridor to DFW, until a near miss with a Boeing 737 changed things. There was a collision in Massachusetts where a plane that was lost or off course and not in radio contact, ended up flying directly behind and below a jump plane. Jumper exited and hit the rear stabilizer and all on the lost plane died in the ensuing crash. Also, somebody's got great video of falling between the wing and rear stabilizer of a plane that's used for fighting fires from the air. That was in Colorado IIRC.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Zlew 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBRtnE05ILs

[davelepka 4]

Sectionals (maps for piltos) are marked with parachutes for DZs, but the marks are often off to the side of the actual location with a little arrow pointing toward the airport. There is other info about the airport printed over top of the airport itself, so the parachute symbol get pushed off to the side.

Beyond that, there are no rules preventing pilots from flying over a DZ. Unless it's controlled airspace (unlikely for an airport with a DZ), the pilots have every right to be there. Getting the tail number wouldn't have done much, at best you could contact the pilot and give them a head's up as to the location of the DZ.

A tip for you, when scanning for traffic, or dealing with traffic, anything that is in line with the horizon is exactly on level with you. If something appears to be above the horizon, it's higher than you, and if something appears to be below the horizon, it's below you.

[PiLFy 3]

Wow. Glad you're OK. I'd have had to check my underwear for sure after that. This is another example of why us Newbies should be allowed to jump w/a camera. We get into some of the best sh*t ...

[Tatetatetate 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyZ27d9dwGQ&feature=player_embedded

@ 3 minutes 38 seconds

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

A tip for you, when scanning for traffic, or dealing with traffic, anything that is in line with the horizon is exactly on level with you. If something appears to be above the horizon, it's higher than you, and if something appears to be below the horizon, it's below you.

nice tip


One of my favorites at the DZ is watching when our jump pilot chases off small airplanes that are flying around our DZ. It's funny, and very gratifying having that flying guarddog taking care of it.

Dr. Cessna needs to check the NOTAM's, for cripes sake, when he does his once a month ego flight.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[thrillstalker 0]

out of 150 jumps i have seen aircraft traffic three times. of those three only two were planes below us. pilot did a go around and all was well.

could you or anyone on the load not see the ac prior to exit?

experienced jumpers, how big is our "blind spot" when spotting for ac? can you have clear skies on exit and 2 minutes later under canopy get buzzed by an ac? wouldn't said ac show up when you spot (if you do it well)?

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[riggerrob 643]

"... The only thing my pilot buddies that jump said was he must not have seen a note on his map indicating a drop zone and he sure as hell wasn't monitoring radio traffic. ...

[Jockeyshifter63 0]

could you or anyone on the load not see the ac prior to exit?
---------------------------------------------------------

Our Jump run that day was east to west and we exit facing south. The plane came from the north. Honestly from 12500 AGL and him at 1500 AGL plus if he had come in from quite a distance north I doubt we would of seen him even facing north. What was interesting to me was I didn't even hear him til he was right there.

I like the horizon tip and plan to use it in the future.

[chuckakers 425]

Finally, one GOOD reason to have a GoPro - awesome youtube vids!

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[velvetjo 0]

Quote

Dr. Cessna needs to check the NOTAM's, for cripes sake, when he does his once a month ego flight.

A NOTAM for skydiving does not clear the airspace for jumpers. VFR flying in uncontrolled airspace is see-and-avoid, no matter whether you're flying a Cub with no radio, the Goodyear blimp, a hot air balloon, an F-18, a Life Flight helicopter, or a student canopy. You'll likely have the right of way as an unpowered craft, but it's definitely not worth it to be "dead right". We all need to be prepared for evasive action in situations like this.

Like it or not, it's shared airspace. With pressures like user fees facing all of us who work and play in it, we're a lot better off finding ways to help each other than making comments like "Dr. Cessna".

Lance

[rmarshall234 14]

Lance has it right.

See and Avoid is the law of the land...or in this case, the law of the sky.

Although a bit late for the comfort of all, the pilot did exactly as he should have - he altered course to the right.

Fortunately, he was looking outside the cockpit when it mattered the most.

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

could you or anyone on the load not see the ac prior to exit?

From 12,500 feet it would take the jumper a little over 3 minutes to reach 1,500 feet, both freefall and canopy time. At 150 mph the plane would have been a little over 8 miles away. I doubt anyone could have picked it out at that altitude and distance.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[DBCOOPER 5]

my hands are sweating...

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[Beerlight 0]

Many pilots are totally unaware of what the tiny parachute emblem on the sectional means.

True story. Few years ago, I went flying with a whuffo friend that owns a Baron, went tooling around Texas. He's blasting right up on a DZ. I said ah, hey let's give that DZ a wide berth. He thought...I was crazy for that suggestion.

He had no clue....at 180 kts. There are many of them out there....just like that guy.

Yep, see and avoid.

[hackish 8]

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to sick the USPA on AC GPS manufacturers. It wouldn't be too difficult to have the GPS show a "warning, parachuting activity" in addition to the standard icon.

We jump at an executive airport with a tower but it's not that uncommon to see AC taking off or in the pattern when we're under canopy. The pilots seem to be well informed about our activities.

Makes me nervous but everyone at our airport is very strict about announcing the paradrop and when all the jumpers have landed to the tower. Some people seem to think having a tower at a DZ is a bad thing...

-Michael