What is the scariest thing you ever saw a student do?

[bch7773 0]

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They are now hanging upside down under the strut, with the static line on their opposite side. Basically if they let go right then its probably gonna be a horseshoe. .

can you explain why it would create a horseshoe ?? Never jumped S/L myself, so need some explanation.

well if he let go, the s/l will open the chute under his back. if he's lucky, the pilot chute will go around him rather then through his arms or legs. if hes not lucky, it goes around an arm or leg, and the canopy deploys with him attached.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[windcatcher 0]

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What is the scariest thing(for you) that you ever saw a student do?

I'm neither a jumpmaster nor an instructor. But I've got a good story from about 20 years ago. Does that count?

We had a stranger show up at the DZ with his own gear, and he convinced the owner that he was an experienced jumper. He put on his rig and walked toward the plane to make the load. Something didn't look quite right with his rig... Then it is said that my eyes got really big, and I let out a "Holy shit!"

What this guy had done was to flip the main lift webs around the side of the rig to the back side, and then don his rig that way. View the attached picture at this point for an example. That meant that his pilot chutes were against his back, and his handles and cutaway mechanisms were underneath the lift webs against his body. And he was heading for the plane to jump like that!

I sent him over to see the DZ owner, whose eyes also got really big and he uttered a similar expletive. The DZO just made him take the rig off, put it back on correctly, and then let him go back and board the plane. I was surprised...

that's freakin INSANE!!!

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[nate_1979 9]

I think that would be my first AFF 3 jump, ... The one that I went into a panic out the door of the plane, secondary AFF-I released, I grabbed onto my primary AFF-I with death grips out of control until something like 7,000 feet (I may have some of the details messed up, but it was something like that) ... Then on deployment had one brake that would not release, but didnt chop, landed it anyway with poor canopy control, and very nearly hit the side of a hanger on a cross-wind landing... .... That jump sucked. I think I'm lucky that I am still able to jump. I failed AFF 3 that day.

I still hear about it at my DZ to this day, .. turns out I scared the shit out of my AFF-I .... Sorry bout that

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[jheadley 0]

The first student I ever coached got so close to landing in a tree that he brushed the top of it with his foot as he went by.

That's the scariest thing I've seen a student do in my short time in the sport.

[JohnMitchell 16]

But John, when your put the Racer on the other way, you can't check the reserve pins!




That dude was way messed up. A little common sense goes a long way in this sport. I wish it was more common.

[rasmack 0]

We had a group of ~30 soldiers doing SL jums at our DZ, one of them for some reason didn't release both brakes. The instructor was yelling at him to get that toggle released, while he spiralled into the ground.

Luckily it was a Manta 288, so he got up and walked away, but everyone was already in emergency positions, ready to get an ambulance and guide it to the spot.

Edit: Oh, and then there was the student on a five second delay opening on his back. The pilot chute hit his boots coming out... Oh, wait a minute, that was me

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[ladyskydiver 0]

I can nominate myself for 2 stupid - i.e. scary - moves:

had my chest strap come undone in freefall - deployed by hanging onto the harness with one hand and hoping I didn't fall out then proceeded to do a downwind landing on rear risers. Hey, I was supposed to get the riser landing checked off my A card.

and

have deployed on my back while still a student.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[rehmwa 2]

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What this guy had done was to flip the main lift webs around the side of the rig to the back side, and then don his rig that way.

Come one, how else are left handed people supposed to wear a rig?

...
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

[riggerrob 643]

Similar to the know-it-all student who walked out of the gear shed with leg straps over his shoulders (rig on upside down).
Last time I saw him, they were picking him out of a tree on the edge of the DZ.

[riggerrob 643]

Maybe not scary, but definitely dumb ...
I told a student to start climbing out over the middle of the airfield.
He was so slow in responding that he didn't get a foot out until the edge of the airfield. He continued his painfully slow climb out until we were definitely over the forest, then I had to yell at him three times before he let go ... well over the forest.
He heard one piece of advice over his radio, so he tuned towards the forest, but he was so far from the ground instructor (other end of the DZ) that his body shielded his radio and he never heard it again.
He spent his entire descent facing the forest ... and was surprised when he landed in the forest.
We spent half the afternoon cutting his Para-Commander out of the forest.
&^%$#@!
After the fact, he mentioned that his previous jumpmaster had said something about his slow climbouts.
ARRRGGGHHH!!!!

[airtwardo 7]

Back in the static line only daze...

I saw a student with 4-5 S/L jumps take off his reserve and drop it from around 2000'.

He said he was trying to 'hang' it like the big guys do to get a better visual on the target!

The guy had never been withing hiking distance to the peas since he started!

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

[Vertifly 0]

An X-Girlfriend of mine flying under canopy and another chick running the radio...

X-Girly coming in and nearing final over the fueling area, flying toward the instructor, instructor says "turn left". But you know how when someone is coming toward you and you should say the opposite direction when giving instruction...well, yeah, such is the case here. Listen on, this gets good!!...

X-Girly turns right,
Instructor yells, "NO, turn left!",
X-Girly turns more to the right directly toward a spinning prop of a waiting aircraft.

It's sunset load by this point, and you know how everyone usually is chillin with a beer and stuff. People out there begin screaming and giving the cut throat sign at the pilot waiting in the plane. "Kill the ENGINE, Kill IT, KILLLL ITTT!!!" Of course he doesn't see it and she keeps on flying along. ...directly over the spinning props of the aircraft and PLF's on the runway.

Well, it turned out the X-girly was doing the DZ owner behind both our backs (Radio chick was the DZ-owners girlfriend). Radio girl must have suspected...but that is just my opinion. I mean, the owner was the radio chicks soon-to-be husband...go figure. I regret never having made a play for Radio chick, she was kinda hot and we both had a good excuse.

[mikew02 0]

grab my chest strap right next to my reserve handle

[skytripper 0]

i was just taking a really close look at my video and realized that I grabbed onto the caribbeaner rings above my shoulders when the parachute deployed. I never really understood what I did wrong but the more I read the more I realize that this was sorta stupid.

The TI ended up having to tell me to let go of the rings twice under canopy.

My question is this: Is this a common problem and has anyone encountered a similar scenario?

Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving! ~ Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame

[sinker 0]

I was at TSC once in 95 or 96 when Chris Martin was TM'ing a dude who was considering AFF... the poor guy had a bugger of a sinus infection and chose to have video of the tandem. Chris did all he could to move around and avoid the snot rockets that kept flying up past him.

Not scary frightening, but scary gross for Chris... we were laughing our asses off watching that video...

the Tandem student landed w/ snot ALL over his face. Yuck.

-the artist formerly known as sinker

[brianfry713 0]

I'm not the best person to answer this, but I think by "caribbeaner rings" you mean the 3-ring release attached from the instructors harness to the main risers and the main parachute. The TI probably didn't want you touching them since if you were to pull the release cable out of the locking loop, the riser would release and that would be bad. It is a common reaction to grab the risers or the 3-rings on opening, espically if you're not used ot opening shock and don't know what to expect.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[JohnMitchell 16]

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The TI ended up having to tell me to let go of the rings twice under canopy.

My question is this: Is this a common problem and has anyone encountered a similar scenario?

Many passengers want something to grab onto. We train them to grab the front of their won harness, the main lift web. Ask your instructor before the next jump (I hope you'll make more

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[yarpos 4]

in the 70's, doing 8 way practice from an islander. instructor on team usually puts out a couple of students during the (long) climb. Student in fore and aft rig gets to door, then checks reserve, deploying said reserve to floor in doorway (stunned second of silence, everyone has big eyes). Instructor starts to push him out the door, there is a tremendous BANG! and he is gone...side of the plane ripped open like its been attacked with a giant can opener...which motivated a rapid save yourself type exit by the rest of the load. The student somehow survived with significant damage to left side of body , his main lift web half sawn through. Absolute miracle he survived and lucky for the rest of us he left the tail on the plane.

regards, Steve
the older I get...the better I was

[skytripper 0]

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I'm not the best person to answer this, but I think by "caribbeaner rings" you mean the 3-ring release attached from the instructors harness to the main risers and the main parachute.

I wish that I knew more about the gear configuration but I think that I was grabbing at what attached me to the Instructor's harness.

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The TI probably didn't want you touching them since if you were to pull the release cable out of the locking loop, the riser would release and that would be bad.

Again, I don't know enough about the gear to know what this means but I will copy this post and bring it "with" next time I jump. The first time, I was in full "whuffo" mode, now I got a whole list of questions prepared.

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It is a common reaction to grab the risers or the 3-rings on opening, especially if you're not used to opening shock and don't know what to expect.

Hells yeah. I thought that I was going to lose my dinner from the night before when that "shock", as you call it, happened. I thought it was all over. The Canopy ride was slightly poo-inducing the (controlled) spiraling and what not... but the free fall is like pudding.

Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving! ~ Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame