douggs view on incident in mexico

[douggs 0]

Mexico incident 13/9/2006

Hello everyone,
As most of you know, there was an incident in southern Mexico recently that ended in the fatality of Adam Gibson of Australia who had approx 600 base-jumps and was a very skilled jumper.

Here is my view on what actually happened that day and how we can hopefully stop reinventing the wheel and make our sport safer.

The cliff was approx 3000 ft a new big wall in Mexico. The calibre of jumpers that were there to jump it was for the most part very high. There were to be a few exit points but not all of them were opened yet, it was a pioneering mission that was combined to form the first Mexican go fast event, it was very well organized and perfectly legal with all the requirements being met in the form of permits waivers etc.
On the day of the jump we went to the base of the cliff and cleared a landing area that was quite tight but easily doable with the water being an option also. We also studied the cliff itself and found that this was a serious technical big wall that was for tracking and wing suit flying only. There were 2 other exit points that were ok for aerials but this was not one of them. This was mentioned in the safety briefing the night before.
We then went to the lookout to view the exit point and the ledges below, it was a serious jump but way doable if you track and it had been done before by a couple of local jumpers.
Here is where it went wrong. Unfortunately in my view many of the events that I have been to around the world end in some sort of accident or worse because people don’t treat them with the respect they deserve and everyone gets a little exited because of the added things like the print media, TV cameras, interviews, crowds of onlookers and the chance to show off to your mates even if you say your not like that.
The first jumper to exit was in a wing suit and did a perfect jump like he said he would. The second jumper to every ones surprise and without warning executed a very fast front loop in a prodigy suit with some loud cheer full banter as he exited. We were very surprised at the speed of his front loop and it ended up in an uncontrolled double front that was very messy and could have easily resulted in that jumpers death had he have not got the suit flying at the last possible second.
I had still not seen over the edge at this point and was waiting for my turn to jump to study the exit and ledges below for my jump. The next 2 jumpers, which include the deceased, decided last minute to do a 2 way. Which would not be a problem as I was going to do a 2 way also. With the excitement of the jumper before them and no planning what so ever the 2 jumpers decided to do aerobatics one being a gainer which the jumper had decided to do all along and the other being a flying front loop.
Another main thing for this jump is you needed to exit precisely a certain way to have the best line and the smallest ledges, all jumpers knew this 100%.
The deceased to my surprise did not even look over the edge before the jump and as the 2 way left, although he was on the right side of the exit point, exited to the left into a quite quick flying front loop. That was the last I saw as he disappeared until 8 seconds later when we all heard a large impact sound and immediately knew what had happened. The other jumper managed to out track the talis after the gainer but only just and was unable to pull for a lot of the jump, as they were only feet from the talis.
Instantly jumping was stopped and a lengthy rescue mission began to see if he was still alive until our worst fears were realized. He had impacted the ledge at almost terminal speed.
After talking to experienced jumpers from the look out and watching a side video of the jump it was apparent that he had over rotated the front loop and went fully head down for almost the entire freefall trying to correct it. At the last second he obviously realized he couldn’t make it and threw his pilot chute but did not have time to extract anything else as he hit the ledge.
He died instantly as was confirmed by the ortopsy report.
I’m almost certain that the over rotation was caused by the excitement of the event as I have seen him do so many perfect ones in the months leading up to this. He had done over 200 jumps in the last 4 months.
It resulted in a lengthy and very difficult rescue mission that put other people in danger.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but at the end of the day respect for the sport, the event, and for the dangers of jumping from a cliff were not taken seriously enough even if it was for only a moment.
I know Adam went hard but he was also highly skilled and did have a great respect for his fellow jumpers and the sport and he would have been very disappointed for causing any negativity in the sport.
The event organizers and the Mexican authorities treated this accident very well and kept positive throughout which led us to be able to do another smaller display jump from the same cliff to show the media and the public that this was only an accident and that base jumping can be done safely. The display went off perfectly.
I haven’t been around this sport for ever but I have been around it long enough to know that it deserves a lot more respect than it is given by new jumpers joining the sport over the last few years, especially by the legal eagle jumpers that just jump the prienne and bridge day and heli boogie etc. I am not saying this is everyone but I am mealy saying that the wheel seems to be continually being re invented when it doesn’t need to be.
I’m no saint in this sport and have fucked up many a time also.
We all need to take a step back from what we think we are capable of in this sport and start enjoying the basics of base-jumping instead of always trying to push it and look cool and do better than the other guy.
The sport is moving forward but it is continually getting pushed back also because of unnecessary injuries and deaths.
Please everyone look after yourselves and each other and don’t be afraid to tell someone if you think they are pushing things too far. You never know, you just might be saving their lives.

Adams wife and family would like to thank everyone that got to spend time with Adam over the last couple of years and are truly sorry that this may have hurt the sport of base in any way.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to go fast, the Mexican crew of Gabriel, Nacho, Tacho, Laura, Jamile, and Tarzan for the amazing effort they put in throughout this time, and also to all the jumpers for their help and support of Adams wife and their professionalism towards this tragic situation.

Please everyone be as safe as you can in this sport, as you cannot have fun when you are dead.

Shine on
Douggs

www.basedreams.com

[MB38 0]

Thanks for that, Douggs.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[hannes1 0]

respect !

take care
hannes

[audacium 0]

Thank you Douggs.

--
Eduard

[726 0]

I'm agree !|
Thank you Douggs !
Maury

[Gabo 0]

Hello all

I agree 100% with Douggs, I was at the bottom of the cliff when this happened.

My opinion is that this was an accident, I knew Adam as well and he was in my opinion very experienced as well, actually everyone in the group had a lot of experience. There were some details which led to the accident and which could have been prevented.

1. It was a new object and I think that when you jump a new object you should take it easy and not add aerials, big ways , or other things which might complicate the jump , once you familiarize with the site you can do variations, big ways , etc accordingly to the site.

2. I know this wall very well I have jumped it 4 times and I tried to enphazize on two aspects the tracking part and the direction of the track. It is not an easy wall since it has ledges but as Douggs said it is doable, and everyone that jumped on Sunday proved that. Adam lost a lot of altitude doing his aerial, maybe if he tracked even in the direction he jumped he could have outtracked the ledge but I am just assuming this.

I think things escalated too quiclky on the first day of jumping, we were going to have 5 days of jumping so I think things got out of control too soon and there was nothing we could do to prevent them once they started. The incident happened on the 3rd jump and I was barely putting my stuff in the stashbag when it happened.

I am terribly sorry for what happened Adam will be missed by many and myself. I wish with all my heart that Tracy has a fast recovery from this situation and the only thing we can do now is learn from Adam's jump.

I think we all learned a lesson and things have to change.

As an organizer and a jumper I will be more careful in the future with events. Some rules will have to apply and I know we hate rules but when we have an event it is going to be necessary to have some to prevent more accidents.

Thanks to all the jumpers and staff that helped in this event , and I hope in the near future that this 3000 wall becomes a popular base spot but while we continue discovering it we have to be extra careful.

Adam´s was the first México fatality , I really wish it could be the last one.

Saludos a todos mis amigos
Gabo

[morri 0]

So sad...

_________________________________________

Mörri #825
http://spaces.msn.com/nomercy825/

[jayfreefly 0]

Bro, sorry to hear about Adam...


I saw something about a BASE accident on the news here in Brazil but it was in Portuguese so I temporarily dismissed it... until I got your email. Then I did some quick research and found what you (Douggs) wrote about Adams accident on dropzone.com! (respect)


First, I must say I am dissapointed to have lost another friend and someone I was lucky enough to meet and jumped with and witnessed to live his life without or (with-less) fear. (respect)

Second, I have to say I am sadly not surprised...

I hope the things you had to say get through to your fellow Aussie's and newer jumpers in general as well as our friends, colleeges and students alike,
and people start paying a little more respect for the rules... (I didn't write them... they are just there!)

I don't imply to poke a the attitudies or styles of Adam or Comsbey or Slim or Dwane or Jason or Darcy or... (please don't join this seemingly popular list!).

But more-so the whole "Aussie" BASE mentality. And maybe its the becoming the whole "NEW SCHOOL" BASE attitude in general!

It's hard for me to use this quote, as at times I may have been considered to be one... but even if it is just to remind myself.

"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are NO old bold pilots"

Some of us (many times myself) have been lucky enough to get away with our lives, on many number of occasions... some us have not been so lucky.

Leading others to your death and eventually their own is not necessarily leading.... its more of a lemming effect!!!

I don't want to come across as wanting to hold back the development of this or any sport, I just want people to realize that sometimes things need to move forward with more thoughts than guts, and more caution than raw fearlessness.

It is the responsibility of every jumper to instill good habits and good ethics on themselves and thereby set the model for others.

I'm upset with the mounting numbers of apparently needless deaths... there is a time and a place for everything and with some good common sense it is not hard to recognize when it is time and when it is not...

every BASE jumper needs to read this and sometimes on a regular basis,

http://hometown.aol.com/base194/myhomepage/base_fatality_list

you will probably learn something that could save your life.

I love this crazy sport and I want others to be able to experience it too. It is our (everyone's) responsibility to teach the way to live through it first!

And the way to look cool doing it second. And keep it that way!

Please do your best to be safe while having fun out there in the big bad world. Being a little scarred and taking the time to separate your self from your ego is what will most likely keep you alive.

As I started to write this it was a simple few words to a friend with a mutual loss, but as I finish it I realize it has become words to a whole community and maybe just my way to vent.


Peace and light to all... fly-free!


Pass this on how ever or to whom ever you think may benefit from it, if you wish.

"officially" vented.... thanks for being you!

J

Fly-Free...

[Ferry 0]

The whole thing was a expedition but people took it like a boogie. I had seen the wall from the bottom and from the look out close to the exitpoint, and hoped it would look better once on the exitpoint looking over the edge. Only a couple of wingsuit and one tracking jump was done before, it still needed to be explored!

For the future, this place is NOT a new Norway..

Ferry

[Johnnyb 0]

Quote

For the future, this place is NOT a new Norway..

Greetings from "old" Norway, and Respect for getting the point of a needless accident written down like this...
/Johnnyb