Should I have changed the landing area?

[Bolas 5]

Apologies for the length:
I did a balloon jump last week. The pilot was a friend of mine's father. We get to around 7,000 feet and decide on a landing area and tell the chase truck to meet us there.

Landing zone from altitude looked okay but not great: trees on two sides, trees and high powerlines on one side, a church with a fenced in cemetery and parking lot with a small short grass area. The field had high grass and clay in the center.

3 of us were jumping. I got to go first. I climbed out of the balloon and was trying to hang off the straps on the bottom of the balloon. I got my hand on one but fell when I tried to get my hand on the other.
I dump around 4000: open canopy, slider stowed chest strap loosened and brakes popped by 3000. I look down at the landing area and it is now very obvious that the field is not at all flat. The clay is a kind of gully that goes diagonally across. (Very crappy diagram attached) I did see a cow pasture I could hit just past the trees but we had chosen this area and those pastures had cows (maybe with horns) and most likely electric fences.

There wasn't much winds so I decided to land from in front of the power lines down the hill and back up to the trees. I did not want to be any where near them. I make my turn to final trees in front of the lines and realize I'm too high. I get on my front risers a little but I'm not losing enough altitude so then I do a few S turns to bleed off more altitude. I'm getting kind of close to the trees at the end of the field so I flat turn and flare turn a little and stand it up with a little run and drop the canopy in front of me no more than 10 feet from the trees.
(red mark near trees)

The second guy comes in and lands the other way (up the hill) and hurts his ankle on initial contact and runs/hops off putting his weight on the other one to finish it. (red mark just past gully)

The third guy comes in the same way and lands on the short grass. (red mark in solid green)

The second guy was okay (nothing broken or torn)but he couldn't jump the rest of the weekend and had a crutch for a few days.

My first priority was to stay as far away from the power lines as possible and keep them behind me. I didn't even aim for the short grass, the tall stuff was fine. Should I have taken an alternate area? I know when you're on the DZ you "land safe, not close" Does that apply to balloon jumps as well? If I had taken an alternate area do you think the other jumpers would have done the same?

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[YahooLV 0]

A better question would be: "Did you and the other divers pick alternate landing areas before you jumped?"

When spotting for a jump, all outs need to be addressed, especially when you're jumping in unfamiliar territory. 7000 feet is pretty high up, and you can't see the ground terrain as clearly as you should. Everyone on the load needed to be aware of what was around, what was possible, and what might pose a danger. What were the alternate landing areas like? Why did you choose that particular site? When jumping from an aircrft in unfamiliar areas, and spotting from altitude, one MUST be aware of ALL possibilities, and chose accordingly. Everyone should also realize that an "out" might have to be used after freefall.

When I do balloon jumps, I try very hard to make sure everyone knows as much as I know about the intended landing area, and every out that is possible until you have no altitude left to work with.


Keep jumping, Keep your eyes open, Have fun!

Curt

http://www.curtisglennphotography.com

[Bolas 5]

Quote

A better question would be: "Did you and the other divers pick alternate landing areas before you jumped?"

No, we were directly over top of the landing area. When we got out and there was no winds on the ground either. One thing we could have done is had the chase truck check the site out. Even though the guy was not a jumper he could have given us perspective as to if they would try to land the balloon there.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[IvanPeters 0]

Your diagram gives no idea of scale but it sounds like the landing area you picked was not particularly huge and was surrounded by hazards on all sides. Possibly not the best choice.

You might be able to consistently land in the pit but it's amazing how quickly your accuracy can go down the pan when you add unfamiliar territory and the pressure of not having any outs.

I can't give an opinion on whether you should have taken the out. It is an opinion I could only form when placed in that situation and seeing what you saw. But I would suggest that "land safe, not close" applies to any jump - not just ones at the DZ.

Ivan