Aug 24, 2011, 4:06 PM
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Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure?
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I saw this video and was wondering what the general consensus is on a) how the jumpers and pilots in this video handled the situation and b) what are the best procedures to follow if you find yourself in an aircraft on jump run that stalls:
I don't know any details about this incident--I don't know when it happened, but from the intro, it appears to have been at angel skydive in south africa. I did a search on dz.com and didn't see anything in the incidents forum, however if I'm search challenged and this already has a thread, feel free to point to it.
I am looking through the SIM for more details about what the emergency procedures for this situation should be, and I see in Category 4 Section A Part D II it basically says to follow the jump master's instructions, but that is geared towards students.
Section 5:1:D which says
Quote:
1. Each skydiving center should establish and review procedures for all possible aircraft emergencies.
2. Every pilot and non-student jumper should thoroughly understand these procedures.
3. All students should take direction from their instructor(s).
Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't seem to get more specific than that, and is up to each DZ.
If it is that non-specific, I'm curious what some of you think. I'm going to talk to our pilots next time I'm at the DZ to learn as much as I can about our aircraft and what they think, so I'll post their responses later if anyone is interested.
Edited to link directly to relevant portion of video.
(This post was edited by 3mpire on Aug 24, 2011, 4:07 PM)
billvon (D 16479)
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Aug 24, 2011, 4:22 PM
Post #2 of 15
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Re: [3mpire] Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure?
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In GENERAL:
If the stall happens before the door is open, then remain seated and try to remain where you are! Shifting loads often make such problems worse.
If the door is open and/or green light is on, then anyone in the door should exit immediately, for two reasons:
1) Often people preparing for exit are out of position and this results in an altered aircraft balance; exiting removes this imbalance. Classic case here is 16 people on the tailgate of a Skyvan.
2) If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.
If the exit has not begun or you are not near the door when the stall starts it's a judgment call. If you can communicate with the pilot he always has the final word. If you can't, then you have to make a judgment call as to whether exiting will help things or not, and whether the aircraft is recoverable or not.
Aug 31, 2011, 2:23 PM
Post #13 of 15
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Re: [3mpire] Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure?
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It does look scary! But I have the impression that the guy with the stripes on his shoulder is doing it on purpose!! If you look at the video, you can see the elevators of the aircraft in a aircraft nose up position. As the aircraft is in a fully developed spin this would NOT be the thing to do if you have any intentions of recovering. In any current general aviation aircraft a incipient spin is easily corrected by opposite rudder and stick back pressure release. If that doesn't help, there would be a major loading problem with a way aft centre of gravity. In which case you would slam the control wheel to the forward stop and gun the engine. But quite honestly, if I look at the video,I think the guy is a freakin' nutcase and doesn't belong in the air other than as a paying passenger. The jumpers still in the aircraft did the right thing; they stayed where they were and asked the pilot and eventually as they approached hard deck exited anyway. I'm sure they sorted they guy out afterwards.
