Broken steering line and bruised tailbone

[cvfd1399 0]

Well I had my first nuisance mal yesterday. Jumping a mt1-xx deployed at 3500, and bam instantly into a left had turn, I figured that the a toggle must have unstowed , but when I looked up half of the right control line was trailing behind the canopy, and the rest was still in the stow. I unstowed the left brake and then put the ripcord in my jumpsuit knowing what was about to happen. I did a controllability check, and found that I could still seer it although turning left was a bitch, so I decided to make small right hand circles to stay on the spot I was aiming for. At about 100' the wind picked up and I found my self sinking straight down over the taxiway, if it would have stayed the same I would have made it over the concrete and into a nice patch of soft grass and mud. So here comes flare time and I reach up as high as I can and do a pullup on the rear risers. it did not flare as much as I had hoped and I landed square on my tailbone. I was stunned and could not move for about 30 seconds. I rested a sec and people came to check on me. I decided I wasn't as bad off as I thought I was. Today my ASS hurts to sit and stand! Here are my lessons learned 1. Never fly over anything that I do not wish to land on. 2. When in doubt PLF! I am not sure if a plf would have broken my ankles or knees, but it never crossed my mind. So I could not do anymore jumps this weekend, I will wait a few weeks for my ass to heal. Now I am gunshy about landing. The two good things are that I lived and nothing is broken, and I got to do my first CASA jump(beer) before it broke down. That tailgate is GREAT! If anyone has anything to add to this PLEASE post. It is all about learning.

[Scrumpot 1]

If you truly did a pull-up on the rear risers, as you describe, I would think that your canopy probably actually stalled, dropping you nearly straight down ...as seems to be supported and as is indicated by you landing square on your ass. (I've seen this happen before)

What was the size of this canopy? ...Wing Loading? What is your experience? ...# of jumps, etc.?

Glad to hear that everything (relatively) worked out okay for you. Here are just 2 quick observations/questions for now, just for starters:

#1. Did you practice any "riser flares" up high before getting to this point?

#2. PLF, under the circumstances should have been the FIRST thing you were thinking of, and should have been planning on after having decided you were gonna land "toggle-less".

With a little more details maybe we can provide a bit more directly pertinent feedback for you, and maybe even some further items to perhaps think about as well. ...Did you pack this canopy yourself? Was it your own gear? What sort of pre-jump gear inspection did you do (whether yours or rental)? Visible line wear/how many jumps on line-set/what type of line material was it) etc. etc. The more detail you can give, the better.

Blue Skies,
-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[cvfd1399 0]

It was a 370Sqft f-111 paraflite loaded at about .93 I have 9 jumps. I did practice flare at about 2k but it is hard to see results in the air. I have never landed on rear risers. It was rental gear, Pre jump inspection by myself and 2 employees. Rig was packed prior to my arival at dz. Unknown number of jumps, and type of material for linesets. Proally is what ever came on the canopy from paraflite. I agree it was a learning experience for myself I will always keep in mind the PLF from now on. As far as stalling the canopy goes, it never stalled it just flattened out it's angle to a "level" flight, but never made it to a full flare. I might have started to flare too late. Typically do you start a rear riser flare earlier or later than if you were using toggles?

[cruzlite 0]

Chad,

Glad to hear you didn't break anything...

(I've had 1 compression fracture - 1 herniated disk)
(not jump related)

Sounds like you're up and around today, without
too much pain, which makes all the difference!

If you should experience persistant pain...don't hesitate to get an MRI.

Keep us posted.

Lu7k,
D

[TimDave 0]

The rear riser flare will stall the canopy faster than the toggles and sometimes with less warning. Glad you are OK

[PhreeZone 20]

It sounds very much like a rear riser stall. On a rear riser landing the canopy will not plane out for very long without progressing to a stall. A rapid pulling of the risers will cause a compete stall faster then anything. I stand up rear riser flare landings by pulling only 4-6 inches down on my rear risers. Anything over about 7 inches and the canopy is in a complete stall.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[GravityGirl 0]

Hmmm. In your FJC, were you taught that if your canopy does not pass a controlability test, then you should cut away and pull your reserve?

IMHO (as an AFF-I). The first thing you should do on opening is a controlability test. This is most important if you notice a problem.

If you cannot turn right, turn left and flare you may want to consider getting another canopy over your head.

Had you considered cutting away?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[phoenixlpr 0]

Its a bit hard to beleive that the normal procedure for a student in case of broken break line is riser flare. Are you trained for that? Have you practiced it before? Id rather go to plan B in that case. Its good to hear that you are OK. Ive landed on tail bone twice. I know how it feels and how long it heels.

[cvfd1399 0]

I could steer it. it was pretty hard, but the thing is 370 sqft. I decided once it met the "3 S" requirements I was gonna land it. I did not want to cut away a stable parachute, just so i could stand it up. It had not gotten that bad.

[riggerrob 643]

Judgement calls on damaged canopies is difficult, especially with your limited experience.
With 4,300 jumps total, 18 reserve rides and having landed more damaged first-generation tandem canopies than I care to remember, I would not have tried to land with a broken lower steering line. Breaking a lower steering line means half your steering toggles have been rendered useless.

On the other hand, one time I landed a tandem with one broken upper steering line. Since only 1/8 of the upper steering lines were broken, I barely noticed a difference in how the canopy flew.

Definitely take a few weeks off to heal.
Before you resume jumping, ask a crusty old military surplus jumpmaster to roll you around on the grass for an hour or two to refine your PLF technique.
Even though serious PLFs are no longer taught by most civilian skydiving schools, they have saved my butt on a couple of occaisions, allowing me to limp away from bad landings that would have crippled mere mortals!
Hah! Hah!

[flygirl03 0]

you are so lucky. ive heard people can land on their tailbone and it jars the whole spine up to the brain... not sure if that is true, but it sounds scary.

my daughter fell off play ground equipment about 5 years ago and landed square on her tailbone. she couldn't walk for about a week. we had it exrayed..only a bad bruise, no break or separation, but even now she has pain sometimes, after sitting a long while or sitting on a hard surface.

hope you heal quickly !! and hope you don't have any after effects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
earthbound misfit

[skybytch 273]

Quote

ive heard people can land on their tailbone and it jars the whole spine up to the brain... not sure if that is true, but it sounds scary.

It's true. Landed on my tailbone hard enough once that I felt it to the tips of my fingers and toes and to the top of my head. Yes, it was scary.

[billvon 3,030]

>Its a bit hard to beleive that the normal procedure for a student in
> case of broken break line is riser flare.

I teach something like that. If they see substantial damage (i.e. big holes, broken lines) they should cut away. If they see one broken line or a stuck toggle etc it's their call. Do a controllability check (with rear risers if neccessary) and then take appropriate action. The reason I don't say to just cut away from any canopy damage is that they someday may be under a damaged reserve, and knowing how to fly it rather than just "cutting it away" might prove handy.

[rushmc 23]

You bring up an interesting point! On the other hand in am a little impressed that one with nine jumps had their head in the situation to that degree. Good choice or bad they were thinking!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[cvfd1399 0]

I had the same thing happen in middle school, me and my best friend were swinging on the swing, and I swung so high the S hook where the chain attached to the top pole unhooked and I flew off and landed on a pine tree root. Could not walk the rest of the day. When I go to the movies and sit for a few hours it hurts like hell to stand up.

[flygirl03 0]

and now you've done it again ??? OUCH!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
earthbound misfit

[cvfd1399 0]

How about that! It's not my ass, but mine feels like that. There is a bruise right in the crack of my ass!

[hanka 0]

You should visit a doctor (X-ray) to be on the safe side.
Something similar happend to me (2 broken vertebrals)

AFFcentrum.cz

[Scrumpot 1]

That is nasty! (and borderline on TMI IMHO )
In all seriousness, if you haven't already you probably SHOULD go get that checked out. Looks like you indeed came down pretty hard.

Without having been there and seen it, by the way you describe, I can still almost 100% guarantee that you rear riser stalled. Otherwise, had you put just the "proper" amount of rear riser input in, the canopy would have leveled out & still continued forward. A rear riser flare is not quite a "flare" as I know you would be conventionally thinking of it, or expecting. Instead of deflecting only the trailing edge (which a toggle flare does) you are instead more or less "leveling" the entire planform. Remember that rear risers also have attached to them your C & D lines. Your loss of speed instead of being in BRAKES would be predicated only on the amount of windspeed you were facing into & for how long. That's why it also takes some patience and BALANCE (ie fortitude) in holding the rear risers at ONLY that amount to keep it planed-out whilst bleeding off that speed and planning to PLF upon 1st contact.

Next time out at the DZ, see if you can't get an instructor or the loft rigger/packers to maybe hang a canopy for you. Then take a look at the difference between what pulling toggles, then pulling just rear risers does, to help you envision this. It is very easy to stall the canopy quickly & nearly without warning on rear risers! If ever landing on rear risers again, remember the feeling and the temptation that I know exists to "flare deeper" to slow down, then (if you have already levelled off) DON'T DO IT! With more experience (and practice up high) you can gain a "feel" for when the canopy is going to stall, and the "trick" with rear riser landings is to be flying almost right on top of, but not over that threshold.

Hope all this has helped. Heal quick & return to us more learned (and experienced), eh?!

Blue Skies,
-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone