incident at perris?

[AndyMan 7]

I heard there was a wingsuit / otter colision at perris on the weekend. I heard that the jumper colided with the horizontal stableizer of a descending otter. The jumper was unhurt but the otter took some significant damange.
Anyone got any info?
_Am
ICQ: 5578907
MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com
AIM: andrewdmetcalfe
Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

[skybytch 273]

That's about all the info that's available. Happened on the last Super Otter load Sunday evening. The jumper is okay, was walking and talking last night but doesn't remember any of it.
The airplane has some major wrinkling in the tail section. Looks to be an expensive fix.
pull & flare,
lisa
---
On the other hand...you have different fingers

[diverdriver 5]

Funny. I haven't seen an FAA report on it. Major wrinkled skin? Are you sure about that? Maybe it'll come out today since it happened so late on Sunday.
Chris Schindler
ATP
www.DiverDriver.com

[dumbkoff 0]

i heard the pilot did a quick wing over into the jumper.

[diverdriver 5]

Nice annonymous post. Post something like that you should have the guts to sign your name. You may be correct but you lose all credibility by having an annonymous profile.
Chris Schindler

[CuriousGeorge 0]

Dumbkoff: You heard wrong.

[SBS 0]

I don't feel like I am in a position to explain the whole event, as the information I have, or much of it, is second, third, fourth hand.
What I will say, though, is that the collision was said to have occured about 15 seconds after exit, and the plane had followed its standard procedure. Wingovers are not normally done in Perris. Also worthy of note is the fact that the pilot is generally conservative.
Yes, it is confirmed that there was significant wrinkling on the tail of the plane, from the base of the tail up past the horizontal stabilizer. It was dark, so we couldn't really see too much more, but the damage was quite obvious.
We're all just happy that everyone is ok. It's really unbelievable when you think about it.
Steve

[diverdriver 5]

As cliche as it sounds this is a wake up call for pilots and birdmen alike. I'm glad we have both people involved alive to give accounts (however much is possible) so that procedures and advice can be given through the community. This is something that needs very wide dissemination around the world. The popularity of Birdman suits is growing and all info would help greatly. I just recently got corrected on the descent rates possible with these suits. I thought the slowest speeds were about 60 mph vertical but I was told it's down to 35 mph. With that huge decrease from normal BTE freefall that energy has to be translated somehow and horizontal speed and glide ratio is where it's going. As a pilot, I've been pretty far behind what these suits are capable of these days. Who knows what they'll be able to do tomorrow. Let's make sure we educate pilots and birdmen on how to handle these issues.
Chris Schindler
ATP
D-19012
www.DiverDriver.com

[skymedic 0]

I wonder if this incident will get reported to the FAA or if it will be like so many other skydiving/airplane incidents that just kinda disappear....
Cheers
marc
Eat my altimeter Bitch!!!!

[AndyMan 7]

Quote

I wonder if this incident will get reported to the FAA or if it will be like so many other skydiving/airplane incidents that just kinda disappear....

It seems like that's the case....
_Am
ICQ: 5578907
MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com
AIM: andrewdmetcalfe
Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

[VivaHeadDown 0]

Keep an eye out for it in a publication near you. This was a standard wingsuit jump, done the same conservative way it's been done since the first suit, and yet it finally happened. This does need to be passed on to other DZ's. Procedures need to be changed so that this one in a million collision does not happen again. Everyone involved was lucky.

[JakGramley 2]

My apologies for taking so long to reply to this post. I was out of town and just got back late last night (Thursday 5/9). Yes, we did have contact between a wing suit jumper and one of our Super Otters. It was the last load of the day on Sunday, 5/5. The wing suit jumper is highly experienced and had normally been making contact with the pilot to let him know that he was on the load. Our standard procedure is to have the pilot continue on an extra mile after a wing suit exit and then to do a long, sweeping turn to the west before descending. This time the communication was not complete. The pilot flew on for a few seconds, turned to the west and began a slow descent. About 15 to 20 seconds after the exit the pilot heard and felt a minor impact. He immediately radioed us and we began emergency procedures to determine if the impact had been with a jumper, if so to identify the jumper and then to prepare for any necessary medical attention. We also launched a second Super Otter to fly chase with the aircraft that had experienced the problem to determine any damage to the aircraft. From the ground we noticed a cutaway main and what appeared to be a fully inflated reserve canopy about 1 mile to the north of the DZ and arrived at that area shortly after the jumper did a standup landing. He was dazed and could not tell us what had happened. We did a visual inspection and found carbon residue on the left wing of the wing suit as well as some minor damage to the suit. At about the same time manifest was able to confirm that all other jumpers on that load were accounted for. We relayed the information to the pilots in the air that the jumper was okay. The aircraft then landed without incident. Ground inspection of the aircraft showed some sheet metal damage and the decision was made to replace the entire tail section. During the disassembly process no structural damage was noted.
The second question posed was the notification of the FAA. While I am not the one handling the communication on this one, we had another recent incident at Perris Valley Airport that did NOT involve our aircraft. In that case a twin engine general aviation aircraft had minimal contact with an ultralight aircraft. Both landed safely. When the local FAA FSDO office was contacted they said that a report was NOT necessary unless there was personal injury or major aircraft damage. While the circumstances of this incident are different, the same standard may apply. Once the communication with the FAA is complete I will try to post it on this forum.
Now the question of what we are doing about this situation. First off I can tell you that the jumper refused medical attention and has not seen a Dr. since then, despite our recommendation that he do so. Second, we have begun a re-evaluation of our operation as it pertains to wing suit jumps. No, we are not going to discourage wing suit jumps. However we will be imposing new guidelines for line of flight for both the aircraft and the jumpers to insure that nothing like this can happen again. Our goal is to keep up with the sport as it develops.
Last, anytime you have questions regarding Perris Valley Skydiving please feel free to contact me directly by email at PerrisCam@aol.com or by phone at the manifest office at (909) 657-3904. We try to be open and honest about everything we do here. I also try to respond to any postings on DropZone.com or rec.skydiving daily.
Jack Gramley
General Manager
Perris Valley Skydiving

[ltdiver 3]

Thanks, Jack!
ltdiver
____________________________________________
LightDiverCam

[quade 4]

Nice post Jack.
Thanks,
quade
http://futurecam.com