ZigZag

This brings back some bad memories. I was working as a packer at Crosskeyes part of the 97' season. As all of us often do during spare moments, I was watching some jumpers doing crew with high performance canopies. Mike Chalick was doing the video and we observed how he got very close to the 2-stack, like an end-cell dock on the bottom man. He was flying a Jedei. Within a split second half of his canopy folded under and he went into a violent spin. All of us uttered the word "cutaway". I thought I saw just that, the risers releasing, but he never fell away from the system. Eventually the reserve pilot chute launched off of his rig, but with no effect and we continued to watch him spiral(plummet) towards the horizon until he disappeared behind the tree line. In the final analysis, Mike did cutaway, but the slider got trapped in the gap of his clam-shell style camera helmet, leaving him suspended by the neck. Mike succumbed to a torn aorta the following day. I'll leave you guys to give this some thought. Edit: And yes, he also had a velcro type slider keeper.

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ANDREW...I don't know you personally, as many on this forum, but you have the right to ask the moderator to lock this thread. I believe, that you got 2 to 3 good answers to your question, that should satisfy. Apart from that, this thread turned into a feeding frenzy, alltough many people have tuned in and maybe learned a lot about crossports. There are easier ways to get info, like your local rigger and fellow jumpers, your instructor and DZ owner. This is a worldwide forum, and it doesn't feel right that you should feel hurt and discouraged from posting here. I hope you carry on and post new questions, because if you don't, what do I or others have to say? Often the questions that get asked on a venue such as this, help in improving the overall safety of the sport.