The Turn Toast Won't Remember

Posted Sunday, April 7, 2002

By Adam Rosen

It was just another fall weekend at Skydive Cross Keys in Williamstown, New Jersey. Nothing special was going on at the DZ and the local jumpers enjoyed two days of blue skies. As the sunset load on Sunday September 21, 1997 headed to altitude the remaining jumpers made their way to the back deck. With the beer light turned on jumpers sat back, enjoyed the setting sun and reminisced about the weekends jumps.

Eddie Carrol and Adrian "Spotty" Bowles were two of the jumpers relaxing on the back deck when Eddie remarked that it had been another safe weekend. Unfortunately Eddie spoke too soon because the last load of the weekend had yet to land. Jumpers remember that the light had been fading as the crimson sky blended with the fall foliage and cool light winds drifted across the landing area.

Dennis "Toast" Quinn was 37 years old at the time and was an employee of the DZ. He had been jumping for three years and had 230 jumps in that time. The sunset load was his third jump of the day and he was doing a three way head down jump with two other local jumpers. The skydive and deployment were uneventful as Toast piloted his Cypres equipped Talon with a Sabre 170 toward the landing area.

Toast says he had always done a high ninety degree front riser turn and would pull on both front risers to keep the speed up before flaring. To this day Toast does not remember what happened before, during or after the jump. Toast last remembers hanging the "It's a girl" banner in the hanger for the birth of the drop zone owners first child. The next thing Toast remembers is waking up in a hospital bed while his roommate jumped up an down screaming for drugs.
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What actually happened

Spotty who had been sitting on the deck remembers seeing Toast do what appeared to be a low left toggle turn into the wind. Spotty said that Toast was in the dive when he hit the ground with an "almighty thump." Spotty and Eddie immediately sprinted out to the landing area to find Toast unconscious and tangled in a web of lines and wrapped by his deflated canopy. Eddie had done the most important things first, he made sure Toast was breathing and had a pulse (remember basic first aid and always-start with the ABCs-airway, breathing and circulation) and then stabilized his neck.

By this time someone had called 911 and Eddie stayed with Toast until the paramedics arrived at the scene. When the medics arrived Toast was coming in and out of consciousness and was getting agitated because he did not want his rig cut off (they were able to get the rig off as they moved him onto the backboard). Toast was then taken by helicopter to the area's local trauma hospital.

When Toast arrived at the trauma bay his heart was racing and his breathing was quick and shallow. He had a cut above his left eye and had a collar around his neck to protect his spine. His right ankle was grossly swollen and while examining him the doctors found that he has a large hematoma, a collection of blood and fluid under the skin, that was the size of a grapefruit.

In the trauma bay doctors had to put a tube put in Toasts' throat to control his breathing with a machine. Blood was drawn and tested and then multiple pictures were needed. X-rays of the chest, spine and foot were done that revealed a bad dislocation and break of his right foot. CAT scans were done of the head, spine and pelvis that revealed a break around his left eye and multiple breaks in his pelvis. There was also a study done of his aorta to make sure that it was not injured in the accident.

Toast was taken to the operating room right away for placement of external fixators on his pelvis and foot to hold the breaks in place(external fixators are the tinker toy looking apparatuses that are placed on bad fractures of the pelvis or extremities).

A few days later blood transfusions were needed due to the blood loss from the accident and the surgery. Due to his injuries Toasts' body was sending blood clots from his pelvis to his lungs and another trip to the operating room was needed. This time a filter was put in the vena cava, the large vessel that returns blood to the heart. The filter looks like a metal umbrella and it acts to stop clots from going to the lungs or brain that could cause a pulmonary embolus or a stroke.
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After a week on the breathing machine and multiple trips to the operating room a tube was put down his throat to his stomach and liquid food was used to provide some nutrition for healing. Seven days after the accident Toast was finally taken off the breathing machine and was breathing on his own. A few days later he was taken back to the operating room to take off his external fixator and put plates and screws inside his pelvis to hold the pieces of bone together.

In total Toast was in the hospital for five weeks, made six trips to the operating room, required a breathing machine, blood transfusions and tube feedings. After being discharged from the hospital Toast went to a local rehabilitation hospital for almost two months. He remembers that one of his big Christmas presents was being able to take a few steps on his own two feet.

This story was not meant to be negative in any way or scare anyone. We all realize the risks we take to reap the benefits of flying through the air with some of our closest friends. This story, fortunately, turned out to have a good outcome.

Where he is today

In under two years Toast was back working at the DZ and made a few hop and pops under his Sabre 170. Since then he has turned 12 points on a two way and has done a handful of freefly jumps. When I asked Toast if he had anything else I should add he said that the things that got him through his injuries were his sense of humor and his friends. He specifically remembers when two local jumpers stopped in and changed his name on the door from Dennis Quinn to Toast and he had the whole hospital calling him by his nickname. Toast would like to thank everyone that was there and helped in throughout this ordeal, especially John Eddowes. If you stop by Cross Keys Toast can usually be found in the air during the week or behind the counter of the Long Delay Cafe located right on the DZ, so stop bye and say hello.

What you can take away from this

This and other accidents are more than a subtle reminder that our sport is dangerous. We all accept the risks of skydiving so that we may reap the benefits of flying through the air with some of our closest friends. When things unfortunately do go wrong, and after attending to one of our fallen friends, a discussion of what happened, what caused the accident and how to prevent similar situations in the future should be broached. This happens to be one of those situations.
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All skydivers progress at different speeds and levels of competency and skill. Most of us know the skydiver with one hundred jumps, under the heavily loaded high-performance canopy that continuously hooks it too low or keeps coming close to clipping the hanger simply because he does not have the experience and the understanding of the flying characteristics of his canopy. On the other end of the spectrum there are those jumpers with hundreds of jumps under large docile canopies that still take a straight in approach every jump but land competently and safely.

Each one of us has to ask ourselves what is our own ability, skill level and experience. We all progress at different speeds and this is determined by but not limited to innate ability, instruction from others, and how current we are. The fact that the other guy is jumping the newest, fastest and smallest canopy should not be the incentive to downsize before it is time.

We all have to recognize that the canopy we jump in perfect light, the one we land on the wide open landing area, and the one we pilot in light wind is the same canopy we have to land the rest of the time. It may be a late load and the sun is setting, possibly the winds picked up on the way to altitude, or the spot was bad and you are forced to land out in a tight back yard with power lines to one side and houses to the other. That fun, fast and small canopy may not seem like a good idea now.

Although you have not been an AFF student for years does not mean you are exempt from learning. With a new canopy take the time to learn the flying capabilities of the new parachute up high. Open at an altitude with enough time and space to see how it dives, turns and flares. If you are deciding to downsize or are approaching a new level of piloting your canopy do not be afraid to get input from others. Your old instructor or an experienced and competent jumper are good resources that should be utilized. They may believe it is too early to downsize or if it is time they may have some good information and instruction as you advance your canopy skills.

If you are executing hook turns, start and practice up high to learn the dive characteristic of your canopy. It is much safer to plane out high and need some added input on both front risers then to have to stab your brakes before slamming your legs into the ground. Realize that sometimes more is not better; a well executed ninety degree hook turn at the right altitude will give you a safer, better, flatter and faster surf than a forced 180 or 360 degree hook turn that you may need to stab out of to prevent slamming into the tarmac.

Keep all of this in mind the next time you see that new pilot under a high-performance canopy make a bad decision. Even though the scare may humble him, find him and let him know what you saw and how to prevent it from happening again. Your input will hopefully help him learn from his mistake and make him think twice before poorly executing a low turn again. Some good judgement and possibly a constructive conversation may help prevent a future accident, thereby allowing everyone to enjoy the sunset and look forward to another day of fun and safe jumps with our friends.

I would like to thank Spotty for providing me with what he remembers from the accident and I would like to thank Toast for all of his information and allowing me to tell his story. I would also like to thank University Orthopedics for providing me with all of the necessary records and films.

The Turn Toast Won't Remember

What actually happened

Where he is today

What you can take away from this

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