Image by Max HaimThe Midwest Skydivers Reunion, a group of competitive teams from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin that were actively competing in the '70s and '80s will be held Labor Day Weekend, August 29 - September 1, at Midwest Freefall Skydiving in Ray, Michigan. All net proceeds from the event will be donated to the National Skydiving Museum to support its efforts to build a museum. The event is a unique opportunity for Midwest skydivers of the '70s RW scene (and beyond) to reconnect with teammates, club members, DZOs, pilots, riggers and anyone who shared in that magical time. The reunion was created as an opportunity for old friends to gather for a one-time event to remember those no longer with us, and celebrate and reconnect with those still here. The cost for the weekend is July 16 - August 15. After August 15, registration will be limited to on-site for $65. The cost of jump tickets will be $20 on Friday, August 29th and $26 through the long weekend. There will also be a dinner banquet on Saturday evening ($20 per person) and Sunday BBQ ($15 per person.) Spouses, significant others, family and friends are welcome to attend.
The leadership team of the Midwest Skydivers Reunion consists of Kim Barden, Texas Tom Weber, Lloyd Tosser III and Sandy Reid. Details, a schedule of events, and participation inquiry information is available through a link on the National Skydiving Museum website www.skydivingmuseum.org or http://www.midwestfreefall.com/about/events/midwest-skydivers-reunion/. The fundraiser will benefit the National Skydiving Museum's capital program that will raise the necessary funds to build the museum. When completed, the National Skydiving Museum will recognize and promote the sport of skydiving through public education and awareness; recognize the contribution to skydiving by its participants, suppliers and supporters; capture forever the history of the sport through is events, equipment and personalities; and enhance aviation safety as it pertains to skydiving. It is expected the museum will draw visitors from throughout the world to experience the thrill of skydiving through its history of people, equipment, and events. The National Skydiving Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation governed by a Board of Trustees. Record your history in Ray, Michigan The National Skydiving Museum wants your stories of the early days of our sport and industry. Video interviews are posted in the eMuseum and will be on display forever. Time is of the essence. We are losing early skydivers at an alarming rate. Help the eMuseum to capture your stories now. Michael Kearns will be continuing his video interviews during the Midwest event. To sign up for a time slot, contact him at [email protected], +1-678-796-8337 or see him at the event. The location will be announced.
See the eMuseum at http://skydivingmuseum.org/emuseum/
See examples of completed interviews on Youtube. --Dan Poynter, D-454.
Museum Trustee & Curator.
Twenty- three year old Michiko Kawaragi has made the trek from Japan to Skydive Arizona twice in the past six months. Her goal, to make as many skydives as she can afford. With 600 + jumps to her credit, this quiet yet friendly young woman has a dream, and that dream is centered on competing in the Open class division of freestyle skydiving.
To become skilled in any sport it requires, dedication, discipline, a great deal of practice and a first-rate coach. Michiko's limited funds would not afford her the opportunity to hire a coach let alone do the volume of jumps required to reach her objective. Sometimes however, good fortune smiles down upon us and we receive a gift when we least expect it. Such is the case for this aspiring young flyer.
At the behest of a close friend, Michiko was encouraged to enter an online essay contest sponsored by Snickers® candy bar entitled: "Dream Support." The criteria set forth was to write a 200 word essay detailing the dream and what it would take to make it come true. The winning entry would receive $10,000 U.S. and those funds would have to be spent within a 3 months period solely on the pursuit of that dream.
Michiko received a phone call at 3:00 am one morning while in Arizona informing her that she had won the essay contest!
Early the next morning, Michiko went in search of former World Freestyle Champion Omar Alhegelan. Michiko was in high hopes that Omar would have room in his busy schedule to coach her. She was thrilled to learn that he would indeed have time. Michiko was soon on her way to making a dream come true.
Michiko admits that there is a great deal work to do before she has honed her skills enough to compete as a guest at the U.S. Nationals. She does aspire at some point to be invited to a World Meet. For now she is eager to continue her tutelage under Omar, and feels honored and privileged for the opportunity. Michiko offers that with proper coaching she has been able to make some very noticeable progress, none of which would have been possible without a sweet dream or a sweet tooth.
Due to unfavorable weather conditions Michel Fournier had no choice but to postpone his attempt to jump from the stratosphere till May 2003. This is the next possible meteorological window for the Big Jump. Two attempts to launch failed: the first because of the wind which got up prematurely and the second due to a technical hitch during the inflating of the envelope. The team of the Big Jump packed their bags, having waited up to the end for an opportunity to launch the balloon that would have raised the pressurized capsule with Michel Fournier to more than 40,000 meters from where he would have jumped. As expected, on 20 September the jet stream strengthened to 300 kph announcing the imminent arrival of the winter and closing until next May next year the meteorological window favorable to human flight in the stratosphere. On the plains of Saskatchewan, the first snow will soon be falling but Michel's jump is not cancelled, just delayed.
Somewhere high in the skies above Saskatchewan, Canada this week, a retired French army parachutist will jump from a height of 40,000 metres in a freefall he hopes will propel him faster than the speed of sound. If 58-year-old Michel Fournier is successful, his stunt will shatter four world records: the highest, fastest and longest freefall jump, and the highest balloon ascent. Mr. Fournier and his team, who have dubbed this death-defying exercise Le Grand Saut or The Big Jump, were planning to take off in a massive helium balloon yesterday, but called off the jump because of high winds. "The team is ready for this and will every day now be checking the weather until conditions are just right," said Diane de Robiano, spokeswoman for the project.
If the wind abates, the jump may take place in the next 24 hours, or possibly later in the week, she said. The exact location is being kept secret. This experiment into how the human body responds to breaking the sound barrier is to be conducted by freefalling from a height where the earth's atmosphere meets space, a distance the project's Web site depicts as 4 1/2 Mount Everests stacked on top of each other. The bizarre international venture has consumed the energies of more than two dozen scientists, physicians and technologists for more than a decade and has cost about US$3.4-million so far. For Mr. Fournier, who has embarked on a relentless personal training regime that has included more than 8,000 jumps and periods of meditation, the leap would be the realization of his life's ambition. He sold most of his personal assets and spent several years lining up international funding for the venture, which began as an unusual assignment when he was still a colonel in the French military. "What attracts me most is the extreme challenge," Mr. Fournier said in a press conference earlier this summer. The last attempt to break the highest freefall record proved to be fatal. In 1965, Nick Piantanida, a New Jersey truck driver, encountered equipment failure when his face mask blew out and the lack of oxygen caused such severe brain damage that he went into a four-month coma and died. The current record for longest freefall was set in 1960 by Joseph Kittinger, a U.S. army captain, who dropped 25,820 metres from a balloon and reached a maximum speed of 1,006 km/h, slightly faster than the speed of sound. He fell for four minutes and 37 seconds before his parachute opened. Mr. Fournier hopes to reach a maximum speed of 1,600 km/h, about 1 1/2 the speed of sound. His freefall is predicted to last about six minutes and 25 seconds. The team involved in Le Grand Saut is relying on a wide range of state-of-the-art technology: a specially manufactured, remote-controlled balloon; and an air-tight and ultra-low temperature space suit designed to withstand temperatures as low as minus 100C for as long as 10 minutes. The aim of the project, according to its Web site, is to simulate a full-scale rescue of a team of astronauts after reaching a critical high altitude. "Studies of the new questions posed by this world premiere event, such as the issue of how to protect the skydiver from the bang of breaking the sound barrier, have mobilized hitherto unknown scientific techniques," the organizers boast. What seems to be most worrisome for the team is the prospect of Mr. Fournier going into a spin at the beginning of his jump, which would make it virtually impossible to stop the rotation "because of the density of air at this altitude," said Henry Marotte, of the French Aerospace Medical Laboratory. "That is the most worrying scenario from the medical perspective," he added.
Max Cohn is the chief instructor of Generation Freefly, a human flight school whose home base is The Ranch Parachute Club in Gardiner, New York. Max has over 5500 jumps and has been in the sport for more than 7 years. This year he is running as a write-in candidate for USPA national director. Dropzone.com spoke to him about where he came from and where he's headed. If you don’t mind, can I have your jump numbers, the gear you jump, and your canopy progression? I have over 5500 jumps. I did my first jump in 1995 (tandem). I began AFF in May 1996. I jump a Mirage G4 with a Precision Aerodynamics Mircroraven 135 reserve. I jump an Icarus Safire II 101. My first canopy (after student status) was a Paraflite Robo Z 205 (300 jumps). Then, while I was working at Action Air Parachutes in the summer of 1997, I had the opportunity to jump many sizes of Sabres, Monarchs, Spectres and Triathalons, sizes ranging from 190 to 135. I finally landed a good deal on a Sabre 135, which I used for about 400 jumps. After I lost my Sabre 135 on a baglock, I jumped a Chute Shop ZP 125 for a few hundred jumps. Then I settled into an Icarus Safire 108. I’ve been jumping Safires for 4000 jumps or so. Give me an intro on what Generation Freefly is, and what you’re trying to accomplish. Generation Freefly is a freefly school. We strive to teach students about human flight and safety. For four years, we’ve taught thousands of students at our home campus (The Ranch Parachute Club) and all over the world at various drop zones and events. We are here for the skydiving community and to promote human flight in all forms. What do you like best about working with students? My favorite thing when working with students is seeing them make personal improvement. Freeflying (and skydiving in general) is not easy to learn. It is very rewarding to be able to help people in their learning process. In addition, it is really great to be able to meet so many wonderful people from all over the world. If you could give one piece of advice to a beginning freeflyer, what would it be? Accept that learning to fly will take time. We only get so many seconds per jump and so many jumps per day. Try to learn something from each skydive and build upon it for your next skydive. In light of accidents involving inexperienced freeflyers, would you like to see a licensing system for freefly put in place? We have to stress safety in our sport constantly. That is the most important thing. It’s a good idea to have some sort of license systems, like the current 3-D award. It gives a structure for people to reference from. I am not sure how strict of a license system we need. That will be determined by communication of the skydiving community and the USPA. What would you like to see skydivers doing to improve safety? I would like to see skydivers continue to stress safety every chance possible. Programs such as [USPA] Safety Day are great ideas. In general, I think that if every skydiver takes the attitude to never get complacent, then we will be better off. Also, I think that every skydiver should be able to accept constructive criticism. It is all about safety. If you could change one thing about skydiving, what would it be? In a perfect world, I would change the fatality rate to 0%. What is competition’s place in this sport? Competition is very important. It helps give our sport a focus. It becomes a celebration of what we can achieve in the air. Competition helps us push the limits of what we can accomplish in the sky. Would you like to see any changes in the way competitions are conducted (for example, drug testing, scheduling, etc.)? I think the biggest thing that we need to improve competition is to listen to the competitors. If we always value the opinions of those participating in the events, then the glitches along the way will hopefully be worked out by communication between judges, officials and athletes. How often do you do dedicated belly jumps? When I fly, I utilize all of my body’s surface areas, including my belly. In many of my skydives, both with students and in my personal jumps, I implement belly flying in various ways. I participate in traditional RW jumps here and there. Usually, all of my skydives are not ‘one body position’ type skydives. I like to mix it up as often as possible; belly, back, head down, upright flying, tracking, etc. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now? My desire is to continue to grow as a skydiver and as a human being. Human flight will always have a place in my life and I plan to always be as active as possible. I also look forward to many new exciting experiences in life. Other than skydiving, what is the most important thing in your life? That’s an easy one, my family. Other than skydiving, what is your greatest accomplishment so far in life? My personal greatest accomplishment in life, other than skydiving, is graduating from Colgate University in 1998. Four years of education (in the blistering cold upstate NY weather) and I made it through with a degree in sociology. My marks were pretty good too. Max is running as a write-in candidate for USPA national director. “I think it is important that younger members of our association show an interest in our government,” he says on his reasons for entering the race. “If we want to keep the USPA strong, we all have to participate in some form of another, to keep in self-governed.” Ballots are due at USPA headquarters by Dec. 31. -- Jessica B.
As many as 100 skydivers from across the country will gather in Longmont on Saturday for a commemorative jump and memorial service to honor a colleague who died in a plane crash over the weekend. "It's a special kind of memorial that skydivers do for one of their own," said Gary Sands, brother of Jeffrey Sands. Jeffrey Sands, president of the Mile-Hi Skydiving Center in Longmont, was a passenger in a Pitts S-2B stunt plane that went down in a hayfield northwest of the city on Saturday. The pilot, 57- year-old Thomas Bullington of Boulder, also was killed. Gary Sands of Golden said Monday that his brother was an adventurous free spirit who logged more than 4,000 jumps since 1984. He was one of 300 skydivers to set a world record with a simultaneous formation jump in December. "Jeff was a thrill-seeker," Gary Sands said. "He lived life at full throttle. He loved the adrenaline rush, but in spite of that he was known as the consummate perfectionist." Sands, 49, had to work hard to get his skydiving school off the ground, but his perseverance built it into one of the best, his brother said. He was a safe, able instructor who introduced many to the sport. Jeff Sands also was known for his annual landing at Folsom Field during the Bolder Boulder race. After much practice with weights and tests, he perfected a method of carrying a giant American flag in by parachute, his brother said. Sands is survived by his mother, two older brothers and a sister. He was not married and had no children. "He was married to skydiving and flying," Gary Sands said. "He went the way he would have wanted to go, doing something that he loved." ~ Special to The Denver Post
A skydiving instructor who died in July while attempting to land on a pond at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa was seriously impaired by smoking marijuana within two hours of his death, according to a toxicology report released Wednesday. The report was made public an at inquest conducted by LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard into the death of Ronald Passmore Jr., 33, who died July 14 when he slammed chest first into the pond at the jump zone and died of a severed aorta. A coroner's jury declared the death accidental. Passmore's death was the sixth in a year at Skydive Chicago, a fatality rate eight times higher than the national average. He was the second instructor to die there this year and the second fatality since July 2001 in which drugs were found in the victim's system. The toxicology report, prepared by St. Louis University Hospital laboratory officials, showed Passmore's blood had a cannabis level about double that at which a person is considered impaired, according to laboratory director Dr. Christopher Long. "This (level in Passmore's blood) demonstrates relatively acute smoking within the last couple of hours before his death," said Long. This is serious impairment due to marijuana--cannabis--that would affect everything you could possibly use to skydive, particularly reaction time and depth perception." Efforts to reach Roger Nelson, operator of the Skydive Chicago, and Chris Needels, head of the U.S. Parachute Association, were unsuccessful. Needels was present at the jump zone for a USPA board of directors meeting on the day that Passmore and two other skydivers jumped from a plane with high-performance parachutes to perform a landing known as "pond swooping." The landing is a difficult maneuver in which a skydiver skims across the water, much like a water-skier, and then walks ashore. On that day, word had been passed that the three planned to swoop the tiny swimming pond at the dive zone and a small crowd had gathered. According to one observer, the first skydiver managed the maneuver successfully, but the second stalled into the water. Passmore was the final diver and as he came in, he made a sharp hook turn and pancaked onto the water, severing his aorta and causing numerous other internal injuries, according to the autopsy report. After Passmore's death, Nelson said he banned pond swooping at the jump zone. Passmore, a veteran of more than 1,300 jumps, had been living at the campground that is part of the Skydive Chicago compound and was working as an instructor for Nelson. Instructors are paid a fee, usually about $25, to accompany students who are taking up the sport. Skydive Chicago is one of the busiest drop zones in the Midwest with about 75,000 jumps a year. On May 18, John Faulkner, 28, also an instructor at the jump zone who was living at the campground, collided in the air with another jumper, rendering him unconscious. His backup chute failed despite being equipped with a device to open it automatically. No drugs or alcohol were detected in his system. On Oct. 18, 2001, Bruce Greig, of Jacksonville, Ill., died when his chute became entangled and he went into a spin. His emergency chute deployed too close to the ground and he died of chest injuries. A toxicology report was positive for cocaine, marijuana and Ecstasy.
A Mandatory Service Bulletin, SB-1221, has been issued and posted on the Precision Aerodynamics website. SB-1221 affects original configuration Raven Dash-M reserve canopies and P-124 Emergency parachute canopies that were produced before April 12, 1999.
SB-1221 does not affect any canopies in the original Raven series, Super Raven series, Micro Raven series, or Raven Dash-M canopies produced after April 12, 1999.
SB-1221 requires installation of one additional bartack at each of the 'A line' and 'B line' attachment points, for a total of 16 additional bartacks on the line attachment loops.
The Raven Dash-M and P-124 series of reserve parachutes were tested within a range of 300-360 lbs at 180 knots and developed opening forces in the range of 2168 to 3660 lbs as measured in accordance with Aerospace Standard 8015A, the drop test standard for parachutes certified under FAA TSO C-23d.
Since the introduction of the Dash-M Series in 1996, we have seen hundreds of documented saves throughout a wide variety of emergency situations. Reserve parachutes are generally designed, rigged, and packed to open more quickly than main parachutes, but until recently we had never seen canopy damage when used within the Maximum Operating Limitations of Weight and Speed.
Within the past 30 days, we have witnessed 2 separate occasions wherein the integrity of the line attachment system of 2 different Dash-M canopies has been compromised during normal use by persons who are documented as having been within the Maximum Operating Limitations of Weight and Speed. In both cases, the jumpers reported exceptionally hard opening shocks resulting in canopy damage and hard landings.
Damage to the referenced canopies was consistent with canopies having been tested to destruction when dropped beyond the limits of Maximum Operating Limitations of both Weight and Speed, while at the same time tumbling or otherwise presenting a non-symmetrical loading scenario to the deployment sequence.
Exceptionally hard opening shocks generated by the subject canopies have prompted this Service Bulletin. Forces generated during opening shock resulted in a cataclysmic compromise of the line attachment system, with collateral damage extending upward generating torn canopy fabric and downward generating broken lines. The initial point of failure appeared to be similar in both cases, beginning in the region of the off-center A line attachment point. Subsequently, transient loading migrated outward and rearward affecting the integrity of some of the adjacent line attachment loops.
The failure mode was in the destruction of the .75 x T-III MIL T-5038 line attachment loop tape, manifested by pulling the attachment loop tape away from the canopy but leaving the associated stitching intact (image 2).
Compliance with this Service Bulletin enhances the line attachment structure of the original Dash-M and P-124 configuration and subsequent test data indicate that it increases the line attachment integrity by more than 100%.
For compliance details, please download a copy of SB-1221 from the Precision Aerodynamics website at http://www.aerodynamics.com
Precision Aerodynamics
Download SB-1221 from Dropzone.com
Managing Media on the Dropzone Whether for positive or negative reasons, every dropzone in the world should expect a visit from local news media at some point in time or another. This is a short guide to help you best understand how to manage modern media on the dropzone. For starters, understand that the media generally considers skydiving as an "extreme sport" so they're often willing to portray it from a perspective using terms like "dare-devils," "Adrenaline junkies," "thrill-seekers," and so forth. It's not necessary to encourage these labels; they'll exist anyway. Remember always, that any press is good press, but well-managed press is GREAT for the DZ and the sport. INVITING THE MEDIA TO AN EVENT AT THE DROPZONE If you've got an event at the dropzone, such as a celebrity jump, someone's Xthousandth, a war hero, multiple generations of a family, competitions, special guests, etc, you'll likely want to invite the media. It's not quite as easy as it may seem. Here are some rules and practices of etiquette that will enhance your chances of succeeding in bringing the media to the dropzone. -Send a short press release no further than four weeks out. Follow up two weeks out. Follow up one week out, and send a final release the day before the event. Press releases should NEVER be longer than one page. -Make sure the press release contains at least two contact phone numbers. At least one of those numbers should be an after-hours number. It should also CLEARLY state the date and time the event is taking place. -Include some action statements and if you're creative, you might consider generating one or two subtle headlines. "The Family that Jumps Together, Lands Together," "World-Record Skydiver Visits XXXX Dropzone," "Human Birdmen Flock to XXX Dropzone," etc. These headlines will almost assuredly not be used, but will spark the creativity of the reporter or editing staff, and most importantly, the assignments desk. -Have a place for the media at your dropzone. Assign a dropzone liason to stay with the media during the entire event. This person is not only there to answer any questions, but to also guide the media to safe areas during landings, help them to find the best angle with safety in mind (they'll almost always want the sun at the back of the camera operator), and more importantly, act as their friend during what is likely an unusual experience. It's a good idea to have cold bottled water on hand if it's a hot day. They're your guests, treat them as such. The person assigned to act as a media liason should be well-spoken and well-groomed. Articulation is very important. Remember, this person is representing YOUR dropzone and our sport to the masses. He/she may not appear on camera, but if he/she will appear on camera, be sure they're wearing clean, non-wrinkled clothing with neatly groomed hair. They should be able to start and complete a sentence without "ummmmm," or showing a lack of confidence. They should be able to smile and speak with a slowed cadence. If it's an exciting event, great. But fast speech is slurred in most instances, unless they're a trained speaker. They should know the language of "sound bites." Like it or not, the MOST airtime your event will receive is 2.5 minutes and that length of time is fairly rare. Being able to speak in concise, clear sentences will assure that you'll get maximum airtime, and likely increase the chances of the media wanting to return for future events. RULES OF ETIQUETTE -Don't send photos or video via email before the event. Send links to downloadables, links to photos, or make it clear that photos and video will be made available on the day of the event. -Don't ask a reporter if they received your email. -Don't ask for a copy of the story. If you want it badly enough, go get a copy for yourself. The reporter has other things to do. Your event is a big deal to you; to them...it's just another story. -Never provide gifts of any kind to reporters. It's bad form, and could be misconstrued. -Don't expect reporters to do tandems. If they ask, great. If not, don't push. Some reporters have clauses in their contracts that prevent them from doing anything considered to be a "high risk." You don't want to be known as the dropzone that broke the reporters leg or tailbone. -Don't call reporters during deadline hours. It's a good idea to ask a reporter when the best time to reach them might be. Don't repeatedly call; it may be seen as harassment. Don't be "that guy." -Don't spam every reporter at the media source. If you don't have a cultivated contact, send email to the City Desk or assignments editor. DEALING WITH THE MEDIA IN TIMES OF AN INCIDENT "If it bleeds, it leads." Period. That's ALWAYS the axiom of the news media. Deal with it. Death, mayhem, corruption make for more interesting stories that up ratings. Depending on the story, it can quickly go huge. Cases in point, my own incident went nationwide due to my small celebrity stature. Another case in point, the guy that dropped his paraplane into a crowd and injured six people, including small children. Both generally small stories, but mine occurred on a slow news day, and the paraplane story had great footage from an amatuer camera. Understand you can't stop this from occurring, and trying to keep the media away from injuries or fatalities only piques the interest and will make your dropzone look as though you've something to hide. You cannot win against the Fourth Estate. Deal with it. If you have a fatality or unusual incident, you should;
-have someone pre-designated to speak to the press. This is critical, and this person hopefully has already rehearsed or has spoken to the press before. As previously mentioned, this person should be capable of articulate, intelligent speech. -NEVER speak off the record. Ever. There is no "Just between you and me" with reporters. Ever. Gossip is the fodder on which they eat. Shut your mouth. -Do not provide details about an incident; it's usually too early to provide details anyway, depending on how quickly the press arrives at your dropzone. This is not the time for some arrogant, ego-driven jackass to be promoting his authority on the subject of skydiving. Merely by appearing on camera will give an air of authority, and a brief sound bite is all that is needed. Later, we'll look at some general methods of speaking. -Do not allow the press to shoot images of any aftermath if possible. There are alternatives to managing this better, such as a Crisis Kit or EPK (Electronic Press Kit). Every dropzone should have one of these. -If you have footage of the incident occurring, the DZO, DZM, or S&TA; should be given a copy, and its usually a good idea to have the videographer turn over the original work so it doesn't show up on YouTube or similar. Bear in mind that any video may be retained by the police or investigators as evidence. Fatalities are treated as a crime scene in most areas. Help, don't hinder.Skydivers are our own worst enemies. Case in point, at the USPA Board of Directors meeting, I was informed that the FAA has watched several wingsuits buzzing tandems. They're watching. They've also watched videos of DZ's busting clouds and I'm aware of at least one DZ that was visited and ramped, simply due to a video of skydivers busting clouds. Keep a tight lid on footage of incidents and have someone worthy of responsibility and sound judgement decide what to do with the footage. This is why one reason I've encouraged my home DZ to institute a "Work for Hire." Tandem footage or hired aerial camera footage belongs to the DZ, not the camera flyer. -Keep statements short and as glib as possible. Here is an actual (shortened) transcript of a Dropzone Operator speaking to the press;
"The guy was doing a low turn, he turned low with his toggles, turning too close to the ground. When the parachute turns close to the ground, it loses altitude and his body slammed into the ground. He made a mistake and he's now badly hurt. We'd talked to him about low turns before but he just kept doing them...." The DZ rep was still talking as the press cut back to the news room. In other words, he desperately needed to show his superior intelligence about the sport of skydiving and was reveling in his 15 minutes of fame. And wouldn't shut up. Not good. For anyone involved. Additionally, the end result of this poor presentation is that the skydiver ended up having his insurance company challenge various aspects of their payments, citing that he willfully put himself in a bad situation by turning low, and that he was negligent. Do you really want to put one of your buddies in that situation regardless of what may have occurred? Finally, if you're hot-headed, avoid being near the press. Incidents are emotional, and hot-heads and high emotions don't mix with the media.
A recent incident had a skydiver become aggressive with a news camera. The news station gathered unflattering footage that may be trotted out whenever there is a skydiving incident, and the station has a prejudiced view of skydiving in general, simply because of an immature, emotional person that felt they needed to keep the media off the DZ. In the future, do you think the media will present pleasant, happy stories about skydiving?
Keep these sorts of people away from the media. A better example (and a paraphrased version of another incident report);
"We're not yet exactly certain what happened. All we know at this time is that unfortunately, one of our friends has been injured, and we won't know the cause until we talk to everyone who actually observed what occurred. We will be providing a full report of the incident to the USPA, and that report will be available to you as soon as we have it." Simple, short, and sweet. It doesn't degrade the skydiver, doesn't give the news a "push" to assure it meets the "bleed." And it's all true. Be brief and stay on point. You'll also get more questions. Answer them confidently, briefly, articulately. Don't be afraid to say "It's too early to know that," or "That's a great question, and we hope to have an answer very soon." Additionally, don't be afraid to say that "Skydiving is a high-risk activity, and sometimes accidents occur." If you do want or feel a need to provide details, keep them as factual and simple as possible, and explain that we train for these scenarios, etc. Remember, your dialog with a visual media reporter is a 'performance' as much as it is a dialog. Stay confident, look in one direction, avoid moving your eyes around. Try to avoid "uuhhh,,,, mmmmm,... weeeeellll,...and other verbal distractions. Just because you're the DZO or DZM doesn't mean you're the right person to speak to the media. Find that nice-looking, articulate guy or gal on the dropzone and have them represent you and your DZ. The media serves one purpose and one purpose only. They need to bring a story back to the station. DZO's, S&TA;'s, or media personnel at the DZ can shape the voice of the story, and help direct the flow of the story by being courteous, professional, and helpful. Or, they can create a bad image for the DZ and the sport by reacting badly. Just as you have a job on the DZ, the press has a job too. One way or another, they're going home with a story. Wouldn't you rather have a say in how that story is presented? BUILDING A CRISIS KIT/EPK A Crisis Kit or Electronic Press kit is a great tool for DZ's whether it's used for crisis management or event promotion. This kit is a DVD that contains: -Contact information and a headshot of the DZO, DZM, or other authorities for the DZ that are permitted to speak to the media. -A "fact" sheet of statistics related to skydiving. This is available from the USPA website. -Random video clips, well labeled, that show happy times in skydiving. Hoop jumps, tandems, RW, VRW, wingsuiting, etc are all good to include. These clips should not be more than :30 in length. These provide the media with cutaway shots, and will quell their desire to create more than the "real" story in the event of an incident. It also will help promote your DZ in a positive manner, regardless of what has brought the media to the dropzone. I recommend delivering in a .mxf format, high definition is preferable today. Any news station can open a Material eXchange Format file. DV is next best, preferably widescreen. -Contact information for the USPA, assuming you're a USPA dropzone. The USPA has a PR team there to support and help you. Provide them as a resource. Most savvy DZO's know that any press, good or bad, is good for business. However, if you can work with the media, provide them tools and assistance, make them feel welcome and appreciated regardless of their role on the DZ, they can become a weighty ally for your dropzone whether you're promoting a competition or just sponsoring an Easter Egg hunt. The media can be free advertising and provide a draw to your location. Used wisely, you can dramatically increase traffic around your dropzone. Blue skies and puffies, ~douglas
PARIS –– A French parachutist was detained after he jumped from the top of the Eiffel Tower to win a bet, police said Monday. The 38-year-old Paris man was arrested early Sunday. He had jumped from the third and uppermost floor around 1 a.m., sailing down to land smoothly near the foot of the tower. He was immediately detained by police. The parachutist, whose identity was not revealed, entered the tower while it was open to the public and hid after closing time. Police had not decided whether to press charges. The third floor of the Eiffel Tower is 940 feet above the ground. The total height of Paris' best-known landmark is 1,056 feet.
