Crossfire safety bulletin

[DBTECH 0]

Date of Notice: September 14, 2001
Effective: Immediately
Applicability: Attached list of Icarus Crossfire Canopies

Compliance: Mandatory
Restriction: The applicable Icarus Crossfire Canopies are Restricted
to toggle control input only below 1000 Feet AGL. No Front Riser
Control Input is authorized. Unauthorized front riser control input
may contribute to severe buffeting or instability of the canopy.
Background:
The Icarus Crossfire was released in August 2000. After its release it
became apparent that an anomaly existed where some Icarus Crossfire
Canopies experienced severe buffeting when initiating front riser
control inputs.
After conducting a series of experiments and tests on the effected
canopies, the canopy’s trim was modified. Additional
modifications have also been implemented.
We have been made aware of additional Crossfire canopies that have
experienced buffeting and/or instability during front riser controlled
flight similar to that which was experienced with the original model.
This has been documented in a variety of sizes, wing loadings, and
various meteorological conditions, and is not limited to any one
manufacturing plant.
Based on the body of information we have received, we are
investigating all possibilities that may contribute to this condition.
We have concluded that this condition is limited to canopies within a
range of serial numbers. This list is attached to this document.
To assist our customers who have parachutes that are UNAFFECTED, a
subsequent register is also posted on our website listing those
canopies that are NOT subject to this Safety Bulletin.
Required Action: It is imperative that all Crossfire owners,
operators, pilots, drop zones, jumpers, and any other users cease and
desist the use of front riser control input on the affected Crossfire
canopies immediately, pending the finalization of our evaluation.
Until such time Icarus Canopies action a directive to remedy this
anomaly, we feel that this action is necessary in the interest of our
customer’s safety.
A statement will be released on or before 01 October advising the
results of our evaluation and additional directives and actions will
be issued at that time.
Icarus Canopies have established an email address
crossfire@icaruscanopies.com and invite Crossfire users to advise us
if you have or haven’t experienced this anomaly (please list
your canopy’s serial number). Any other relevant information or
comments are also welcomed. Any questions you may have will be replied
to as rapidly as possible.
This bulletin and the canopy serial number lists are also available to
view on our website www.icaruscanopies.com.
Current & Future Orders: This anomaly does NOT exist in Crossfire
canopies currently being produced. Customers are able to continue
purchasing the product with confidence.
Note; No other Icarus Canopies models or designs are affected.
For more information contact:
Simon Mundell
Icarus Canopies, Inc.
1627 US Highway 1
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Telephone 561-581-8131
crossfire@icaruscanopies.com
http://www.icaruscanopies.com

Serial Numbers of Canopies Subject to Safety Bulletin #20010914
8138 96613335 50312705 96612816 96612926 96612997 96613112 96613184 96613258
8139 96613337 50312717 96612817 96612927 96612998 96613113 96613185 96613259
8148 50112562 50312729 96612818 96612928 96613008 96613114 96613186 96613260
8178 50112574 96112739 96612819 96612929 96613012 96613118 96613187 96613261
8186 50112580 96112748 96612820 96612931 96613013 96613125 96613188 96613263
8244 50112586 96112751 96612821 96612932 96613019 96613126 96613189 96613267
8251 50112601 96112754 96612822 96612933 96613020 96613127 96613194 96613269
8259 50112613 96112766 96612835 96612937 96613028 96613128 96613195 96613270
94812367 50112619 96112784 96612848 96612938 96613031 96613129 96613197 96613271
96112910 50112622 96112793 96612851 96612939 96613032 96613131 96613198 96613272
96212737 50112646 96112796 96612852 96612941 96613033 96613132 96613199 96613273
96312762 50112667 96112808 96612854 96612943 96613034 96613136 96613200 96613275
96612896 50112676 96112811 96612855 96612944 96613042 96613137 96613201 96613282
96612977 50112679 96212740 96612859 96612945 96613043 96613138 96613202 96613283
96612980 50112685 96212746 96612860 96612946 96613044 96613139 96613203 96613285
96613015 50112703 96212749 96612861 96612947 96613046 96613140 96613204 96613317
96613016 50112718 96212752 96612862 96612948 96613047 96613141 96613205 96613318
96613045 50112727 96312732 96612865 96612949 96613048 96613142 96613206 96613319
96613068 50212572 96312738 96612866 96612950 96613049 96613143 96613215 96613321
96613116 50212575 96312741 96612871 96612951 96613050 96613144 96613221 96613323
96613123 50212617 96312747 96612872 96612952 96613051 96613145 96613222 96613331
96613124 50212623 96312750 96612873 96612953 96613054 96613146 96613223 96613333
96613157 50212659 96312753 96612874 96612954 96613085 96613147 96613225
96613196 50212674 96312759 96612875 96612955 96613087 96613148 96613226
96613224 50212677 96312765 96612876 96612960 96613088 96613149 96613227
96613236 50212689 96312795 96612877 96612961 96613089 96613150 96613228
96613238 50212701 96312807 96612878 96612965 96613091 96613151 96613229
96613244 50212707 96312810 96612879 96612966 96613092 96613152 96613230
96613264 50212722 966112977 96612880 96612967 96613093 96613153 96613231
96613265 50312558 966123045 96612881 96612968 96613094 96613154 96613232
96613277 50312570 96612340 96612882 96612969 96613095 96613155 96613233
96613278 50312576 96612790 96612883 96612970 96613096 96613156 96613234
96613284 50312579 96612801 96612897 96612971 96613097 96613158 96613235
96613286 50312600 96612802 96612898 96612972 96613098 96613159 96613239
96613306 50312615 96612803 96612899 96612973 96613099 96613165 96613243
96613322 50312618 96612804 96612900 96612974 96613100 96613166 96613245
96613324 50312621 96612805 96612904 96612975 96613101 96613167 96613247
96613325 50312624 96612806 96612905 96612976 96613102 96613168 96613248
96613326 50312630 96612808 96612908 96612978 96613103 96613169 96613249
96613327 50312648 96612809 96612909 96612979 96613104 96613170 96613250
96613328 50312654 96612810 96612910 96612981 96613105 96613171 96613251
96613329 50312657 96612811 96612911 96612982 96613106 96613176 96613252
96613330 50312666 96612813 96612914 96612983 96613107 96613177 96613253
96613332 50312675 96612814 96612919 96612994 96613110 96613178 96613255
96613334 50312684 96612815 96612924 96612995 96613111

[Aviatrr 0]

Where exactly did you find this? I just went through the Icarus website, and found nothing of this sort.. Can you post a link?
Mike

[skymedic 0]

well Dave, thats one way to shoot down the nay sayers...
Marc
Because I fly, I envy no man on earth

[DBTECH 0]

Mike asked--
Where exactly did you find this? I just went through the Icarus website, and found nothing of this sort..Can you post a link?
DB> E-mails were sent to licensed riggers.

[cobaltdan 0]

the defect on the crossfires is not the trim. it has to do with the way the bottom skin on the nose is liped up on the non-loaded rib. look at the advertisments, you will see that the nose design is different on ads from last year. icarus was aware of crossfire design defects for at least 8-10 months. they slowly made modifications to solve the problem, all without a recall of previously sold canopies, without informing anyone of the potential dangers, and while continuing to sell the newly modified canopies.
it is completely unethical to commercially release untested designs. skydivers should be able to take for granted that when they buy a canopy is is not actually an experimental prototype.
i held back a huge amount of information on this thread (as did several other people on this list).
i did go on record with icarus explaining the data we had on a crossfire design flaw asking them to act immediately to ensure safety. could have just gone public and exploited icarus'mistake but this is not how we do business. because this is about peoples safety, we also went on record with skydiving mag to ensure the information would be made public only in the event that icarus continued to act unethically.

sincerely,
dan
atair
ps. please excuse my tone, but this is a subject that has upset me considerably.
plus i have been to too many funerals this week (we are in nyc).

[jaybird 0]

I have just gotten off the phone with Simon of Icarus canopies to find out the truth about the crossfire. To begin, this all came about because of the accident at the ranch pond swoop comp. When lisa's canopy collapsed, she was in a dive in full flight, no hands on the risers. The canopy collapsed due to rotars coming off of the pine trees. This accident was not due to a crossfire flaw, but mother nature herself.
As for the previous list of canopies, they have a possibility of having a flaw that would cause buffering when using the front risers, and Icarus is offering to remedy the situation.
I fly a crossfire, and my entire landing approach is done on front risers, and I have experienced NO problems, buffering or otherwise. In fact, i am preparing to buy another smaller crossfire here very shortly. Please listen to all the facts before we go around bashing companies because of speculation and rumors.
jaybird

[cobaltdan 0]

jaybird,
there is most definately a problem with many crossfires.
and many of us in the industry knew about it long before the ranch.
i am glad that you are happy with your crossfire and that it is apparantly a good one. but understand there is a wide tollerence in manufacturing ram air canopies. designs can and have been marketed that are on the edge where manufacturing tollerences can widely effect the canopy. just because you may have an early canopy that seems stable is not proof that the design is. you should be careful of blowing this off, as someone might listen to you disregard this and kill themselves under another crossfire.
the original crossfire uses a nose modification where area is closed off from the bottom spanwise half of the inlets. this causes boundary layer seperation on the top skin under some situations, the a-lines loose tension first and the canopy can roll under. taking out the a-b line cascades is a fudge. the main way to solve thisr problem is by modifying the inlet design.
i obtained a 1 year old crossfire, and wind tunnel smoked it last week. there is without a shadow of a doubt
a problem with this canopy. period, absolutely no speculation here.
i have not flown or tested their new ones, so no opinion here, except that i have viewed many pictures from the last 2 swoop competitions and the nose design is definately modified to a more stable design.
do not down play this, canopies were marketed with an apparant although overlooked design flaw and continued to be marketed while changes were being experimentally implemented, all without any notification to the unsuspecting costomer and industry. this was dangerous and very unethical.
sincerely,
dan
atair

[rogue108 0]

I am not going to speculate whether Lisa's accident was canopy related or an act of mother nature. It was a tragic accident and I will leave it at that.
However to need an incident of that magnatude to occur before a safety bulletin is issued or a full scale investigation is launched is perplexing. I would hope that Icarus would solidify all designs and test jump the canopies throughly before releasing them to the skydiving public. I understand that testing is static and you can't simluate every situation.
However, from what I have read in the bulletin, (changes in trim and modifications will correct the problem of buffeting) these errors could have been prevented by better testing (getting it right the first time, especially with something as severe as buffeting ) and quality control (canopies not being made out of trim).
Another issue I find odd is that they say its not isolated to a particular plant, size or wing loading, but it is isolated to a particular group of serial numbers. What do they do? Do they make them at various plants and place the serial numbers on at later date, at a different location? I would assume they make the canopy and place the serial number on at the same time to make it easier for size identifcation, tracking, invoicing, etc. So how does random become one group of canopies? What is different about that group? I figure something had to be the same. I just find the whole bulletin hokey and vague at best.
As well I know of two friends who own Safires in different sizes that have had similar line trim problems. The line trim problem affected the flare of their canopies. Another individual I know has a Safire with a built in left hand turn in the canopy. Those experiences, along with this safety bulletin right after a terrible accident has killed my faith in Icarus Canopies. I will admit Icurus has been excellent in getting those problems resolved, but I believe those problems should have never existed. Will I ever buy and Icarus, probably not.

[Haggis 0]

Dan, thank you for investigating the Crossfire problem and (in the absence of any information from Icarus) making your findings known. I have a hundred plus jumps on a Crossfire 110 and I love it. I've had no problems whatsoever (I front riser all the time) but I'm obviously a bit concerned now.
Do you have any pictures of the old and new nose design you could post so Crossfire owners can check their canopies ?
Blue skies

[cobaltdan 0]

just look at the icarus advertisments in parachutist.
last year the nose is distintly heart shaped when flown.
just viewing the icarus ads you can see a progression to recently
what is not more distintly fish mouth shaped.
there are also pictures posted online from the ranch (i think someone posted the url previously)
with some very good pics head on showing the nose of the new crossfires.
sincerely,
dan

[jmick 0]

Hi guys
My name is Jason Micallef i'm from australia and am wanting you guys to know of my experience with the crossfire. i hve a crossfire 104 and while on my honeymoon in Taupo New Zealand my crossfire shut down during a front riser much like the inccident at the ranch(i've seen the footage) resulting in two broken femurs braking every bone in my face, fractured skull, broken arm and bruised liver .
this happened 12 weeks ago about 2 and a half months before the inccident at the ranch.
i really think that there is a problem with crossfire in front risers turns and needs to be looked at
I'M LUCKY TO BE ALIVE.
Jason Micallef

[Geoff 0]

Quote

there is most definately a problem with many crossfires.
and many of us in the industry knew about it long before the ranch.

Are you suggesting that there's some connection between the design problem and the incident at the Ranch?
All informed opinions (i.e. from people who were there or have seen the video) posted in the various fora so far indicate that in this case the canopy collapse was caused purely by turbulence, which could have had the same effect on any other type of canopy.
Thanks if you can clarify what you mean.
Geoff

[ramon 0]

Thanks for the data although your first post about the matter was not received well in light of the incident.
Nothing else to say except I'm glad I have a PD canopy.
ramon

[Aviatrr 0]

Quote

Nothing else to say except I'm glad I have a PD canopy.

I guess that means you'll be getting rid of the FX sitting in your closet, eh?
Mike

[prost 0]

I guess you want to sell that fx now?

[ramon 0]

HA HA HA!!!! maybe I should have said, glad I didnt get a crossfire.
No I will keep it.....it was made this January so maybe it is an FX version 2.17
But is it staying in the closet for now. My friend Jesse (sold me the 109) has one maybe two 104s for sale
BTW, It did have stitching coming off some of the cells where the cross bracing was attached and it only has 150 jumps on it. A master rigger sewed it back and I have heard of quality problems with Precision's role in the Icarus products...but.........oh well.
bloo skies no planes
ramon

[prost 0]

Who is that? I am actually considering an FX104. I should have a 109 to demo soon.

[ramon 0]

Jesse is a person at Spaceland, Texas. He has a yellow 104 with pink or magenta cross bracing (it does look nice) and I beleive another one that might be grey/silver with blue or something.
He made me a really good deal on the 109. I don't think he is out to make money, he buys a lot of canopies and unloads them when he gets sick of them. Send me a private message with your e-mail and if I see him this weekend maybe I can get him in touch with you.
ramon

[alan 1]

Quote

i have not flown or tested their new ones, so no opinion here, except that i have viewed many pictures from the last 2 swoop competitions and the nose design is definately modified to a more stable design.

and

Quote

just look at the icarus advertisments in parachutist.
last year the nose is distintly heart shaped when flown.
just viewing the icarus ads you can see a progression to recently
what is not more distintly fish mouth shaped.
there are also pictures posted online from the ranch (i think someone posted the url previously)
with some very good pics head on showing the nose of the new crossfires.

To lend a little balance to these comments:
"During the canopy’s testing program and subsequent release there were no
anomalies apparent with the design. When we learned that some canopies in the
field started to experience buffeting we implemented a minor change to the
canopy’s trim in January 2001 and production continued."
"Contrary to some statements made in various public forums there have been no
changes made to the canopy’s nose design or the planform shape."
quote from Simon Mundel, Icarus Canopies
alan