Sudden arm malfunction on landing

[ghost47 18]

Had an interesting thing happen to me this weekend. On landing for my fifth and last jump of the day, I was on final, started planing out at wherever it is I normally plane out, and then, when I went to full flare, found that my right toggle wouldn't go anywhere, because my right arm suddenly did not have the strength to pull it down. Pre-second time this has happened to me in 295 jumps.

What ended up happening was that, while my brain was trying to figure out why my right toggle wasn't moving, my left continued according to muscle memory and I finished the flare on the left. Result was that I sort of turned to the left, and tumbled / rolled on my right side on landing. No injuries, just a bit of dirt. One of the times I was very happy to be loaded at less than 1.0 ;)

What I'm wondering is, what would have been the correct course of action once I noticed that my right toggle wasn't going anywhere, but my left has already gone down a little? I'm thinking the answer is hold it, and PLF on impact. But curious to hear if others agree, or think it's better to: (a) let my left go back up a little so that it's even with my right or (b) finish the flare on my left and not my right, while continuing to hold my right where it is (in about half brakes) (which is what I did).

[pilotdave 0]

Sounds very strange. You're sure it was just you and not the brake line or toggle stuck on something?

Very lucky it was a lightly loaded canopy. A flare with one toggle isn't a flare at all, it's a low turn. That would probably be the worst possible thing to do. Landing priorities would be to land with your wing level, in a clear area, and preferably flare at least half way. Well, you can still get the first two. And PLF like you mean it.

Dave

[AggieDave 6]

You may have had a gear issue, as previously stated, or you may have had a health or strength issue. It happens, you can exercise around it to help for the future.

As for what to do if it happens.

WING LEVEL

I can't stress this enough for these sorts of situations. Get your wing level, hold it and PLF like your health and life depend on it (because it does).

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[jtnesbitt 0]

Was there any pain? Are you sure it was a hang up in your arm or could it have been gear as Dave already suggested could have been the issues too.

If it was your arm you might want to figure out what caused it in case it happens again or more importantly to prevent it from happening. As Dave already mentioned low turns are already dangerous and can be fatal even without the possibility of a locked up joint. What you described has only happened to me once but it was in my leg (knee) after spending half an hour on my knees packing up a rig. I went to stand up and my right leg simply stopped extending, when i realized this i forced it which caused immediate and intense pain followed by a few days of soreness.

The big thing is to find out what caused it regardless of whether its an equipment issue or a gear issue. If you have to landing in half brakes in MUCH better than landing with one toggle higher than the other.

"If this post needs to be moderated I would prefer it to be completly removed and not edited and butchered into a disney movie" - DorkZone Hero

[ghost47 18]

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Sounds very strange. You're sure it was just you and not the brake line or toggle stuck on something?

Not positive, no, but nothing felt wrong with the brake lines, and nothing seemed wrong with them either, on later examination.

On the other hand, this was the fifth jump of the day, and that's not out of line with how many jumps I do, so I don't have a good way to explain the sudden arm weakness either. And my right arm is my dominant arm, which means it should be stronger than my left.

I didn't think much of this at the time -- just chalked it up to a long day of jumping -- but, perhaps I should go get my arm checked out. It feels fine now, except for some soreness.

But anyway, thanks, everyone, for the replies. If it does ever happen again, I will try to even up my hands, and do the best PLF I can.

[Jbag 0]

if you realized it high enough, you could pass your right toggle to your left and flare with both in one hand, make sure you pull it straight down in the middle of your body if you do that though

IHYD

[MakeItHappen 15]

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On the other hand, this was the fifth jump of the day, and that's not out of line with how many jumps I do, so I don't have a good way to explain the sudden arm weakness either. And my right arm is my dominant arm, which means it should be stronger than my left.

Were you a floater on a left side door AC during the day?
You know - when you use your right arm to float (hold some force for some time) that your left arm doesn't or compared to diver exit position.

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[wayneflorida 0]

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Sounds very strange. You're sure it was just you and not the brake line or toggle stuck on something?

Not positive, no, but nothing felt wrong with the brake lines, and nothing seemed wrong with them either, on later examination.

On the other hand, this was the fifth jump of the day, and that's not out of line with how many jumps I do, so I don't have a good way to explain the sudden arm weakness either. And my right arm is my dominant arm, which means it should be stronger than my left.

I didn't think much of this at the time -- just chalked it up to a long day of jumping -- but, perhaps I should go get my arm checked out. It feels fine now, except for some soreness.

But anyway, thanks, everyone, for the replies. If it does ever happen again, I will try to even up my hands, and do the best PLF I can.

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

I've had my slider work down a little over my slinks and brake line ring and that prevented me from flaring that brake line. First time was when I was short and just coming in straight from about 1500 ft. with no toggle input until I flared. Left side stuck, right came down about 18". As soon I realized left
side was not moving I let up on the right side and plf'd in pretty hard. Twisted my ankle a little but was ok otherwise. Now I am always pulling down a little on my toggles to make sure they are free during the pattern. Happened when my rig was new and few jumps on it.

[simplechris 0]

I had this exact same thing happen to me a couple of weekends ago. I was jumping a demo canopy with really long brake lines and when I came into flare my left hand and arm cramped on me. It was my 4th jump of the day and last load and it has never happened before. I just plf'ed and did kind of a baseball slide for about 10 yds but it was trippy. I'm jumping a different demo and haven't had it happen since. Not sure if it was because of the extra long lines and length required to acheive input or just that I need exercise or something. Guess I need to drink more water and eat some bananas.

[airdvr 210]

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when you use your right arm to float (hold some force for some time) that your left arm doesn't or compared to diver exit position

What?

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[danielcroft 2]

What's the procedure for cutting away your arm anyway?

[JohnMitchell 16]

From the looks of your profile, you don't weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. How's your upper body strength? Doing some exercises for upper body strength may help you.

Also, when you pull the toggles down, do you have your hands close to your body or out to the sides? The closer your hands are to your chest, the more strength you have, so keep the hands in close.

When you pull the toggles down, many people run can run out of muscle at that halfway point. Bring your elbows outward and upward to push the toggles the rest of the way down.

The possibility of the slider coming down and adding line drag may be part of the problem. I really like my slider stops at the top of my risers.

[ghost47 18]

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From the looks of your profile, you don't weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. How's your upper body strength? Doing some exercises for upper body strength may help you.

Hm. My profile says I fly a Sabre 2 190 loaded at 0.92 lbs/ft². So, doing some math, that puts me out the door at 174.8 lbs. Which puts me at roughly 155 lbs, dry. (And it's probably closer to 160 lbs these days.) Not quite sure how you're getting less than 100 pounds, regardless of the level of moisture retention.

No doubt upper body strength exercises could help. But this has not happened in the previous 294 jumps, even on the days when I've made 5 or more jumps a day. I've never had trouble flaring the canopy. As others have pointed out, I should probably be more worried about why this happened (which I'm starting to, so thanks to those that pointed out I was worrying about the wrong thing).

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Also, when you pull the toggles down, do you have your hands close to your body or out to the sides? The closer your hands are to your chest, the more strength you have, so keep the hands in close.

When I plane out, I think my hands are fairly close the chest (visualizing, now). When I finish the flare, I think my hands go out a little, but not much.

But thanks for the tips on flaring, and I will pay more attention to how I'm doing it on my next jumps. If I'm doing it in a way that takes more energy, I'll adjust. No reason to make things harder ;)

[JohnMitchell 16]

oops, totally blew the arithmetic. yep, your weight's about 160.

[Harmless 0]

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oops, totally blew the arithmetic. yep, your weight's about 160.

JohnMitchell everyone, loving father, caring husband, dedicated instructor, amazing skydiver, horrible mathematician.

"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

[JohnMitchell 16]

Think about that next time I'm working your airliner into Seattle.

[catfishhunter 2]

......is going to drive next time we go to tacoma..

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[Harmless 0]

I always fly to PDX... If I need to go to Seattle I drive from there.

"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

[JohnMitchell 16]

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I always fly to PDX... If I need to go to Seattle I drive from there.

You're really screwed. I work 3 of the 4 major arrival routes (STAR- standard terminal arrival route) into PDX. If you're coming from Vancouver or Anchorage you'll miss my airspace.

[hookitt 1]

Switch the mouse to the left hand, go see a chiropractor to put your neck back in order. Then start working out again. At least, that's what I had to do.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[Harmless 0]

Shit It's usually a connecting flight from SLC, but never from the north

"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

[yoink 321]

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As for what to do if it happens.

WING LEVEL

I can't stress this enough for these sorts of situations. Get your wing level, hold it and PLF like your health and life depend on it (because it does).

There goes my 'all experienced jumpers know their landing priorities' theory...

[tjm 0]

On really cold jumps my right forarm tends to cramp up under canopy, and this caused my hand to become weak and lose a little feeling.

I just have to pay close attention to as to not lose my grip when flaring. Just something with my joints or tendons I guess.

If you're not living on the edge; you're taking up too much room!

[ghost47 18]

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Were you a floater on a left side door AC during the day?
You know - when you use your right arm to float (hold some force for some time) that your left arm doesn't or compared to diver exit position.

We were doing 10-way that day, and I was always one of the later divers, so nothing like that.

However, on that last jump, there was a bit of a collision at the door getting out, and my neck got a bit crunched. Thought nothing of it then, but am now wondering.

In any case, I decided to see what an MD had to say before my next jump. Appointment this Friday. The right arm feels okay (if still a little sore), but why take the chance.

[hookitt 1]

MD will suggest physical therapy if he finds weakness. A chiro will put it back in place allowing proper function. Just a thought.

Good luck.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto