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skysurfNJ

Bridge Day 2006 Fatality

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I spoke with an old time jumper and he said there was something distinct in the jumping from many years ago. They would emphasise getting stable much more than now before pulling due to potentially catastrophic malfunctions that could occur with such inferior gear compared to todays standards. i don't think any modern instructor would have even realized this.



THAT is a very good point. The NPR report also said he was "resistant to training" and "stubborn", I've been thinking the "reversion to ripcord training" was as possible as anything else, but now think it to be more of a combination of all three.

Brian was an adult, he met the current requirements, and he made his choice, same as we all do. I certainly don't condemn him or anyone else for that. It will probably has some negative impact on BD, but you can't take the sensationalism out of the media no matter what you do. I haven't seen anyone report that there have been XX,XXX Bridge Day jumps over the last 20 years, with only one mortal accident.

I feel terrible for his family.


Don
"When in doubt I whip it out,
I got me a rock-and-roll band.
It's a free-for-all."

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Given that Pelkey jumped in 2005 without incident, even though he was no more current or experienced and arguably *less* trained than Brian was this year, the reasonable assumption would have been to expect no problems with Brian's jump.



I was in Johnny Utah's BASE FJC at Bridge Day last year with Mike Pelkey. I think his training was adequate for the BD jump. There's been 135-150 first time BASE jumpers at BD the last couple of years, and only 10-20 of them take a detailed BASE FJC or get any sort of training besides the 1 hour, "how not to die at BD" seminar.

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I was in Johnny Utah's BASE FJC at Bridge Day last year with Mike Pelkey. I think his training was adequate for the BD jump. There's been 135-150 first time BASE jumpers at BD the last couple of years, and only 10-20 of them take a detailed BASE FJC or get any sort of training besides the 1 hour, "how not to die at BD" seminar.
__________________________________________________

Most of them are, if low experienced, fairly current and aware, without bad habits or ingrained thought processes about what they are going to do.

If you go there thinking you know what you're doing, you're already behind the eight-ball.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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Mike, you have given us your thoughts, thanks, if there is anything we can do for you please feel free to contact us @ anytime my friend, my deepest regrets go out to you for the loss of your dear friend and brother.
Bill Bird
trapped in a portal in time, surrounded by evil, runnin out of gas!!! destination unknown

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No one but him can be blamed for his going all the way in with PC in hand.



Thank You Mike. Your honesty shows how true your friendship with Brian was. I hope those in my life will always call me on my shit and not try explaning away,excusing or blaming my actions on anything or anyone other then myself.

My Prayers are with you Sir.

BSBD

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

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_____________________________________________

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Brian's death is not the appropriate occasion for the disgruntled to have their petty revenge against those they believe to have slighted them.
_____________________________________________

I love you Rhonda. Thanks for being you.


.
In theory, there is no difference bretween theory and practice. In practice, however, there is. -

"RIP Forever Brian Schubert. Always remembered, Never forgotten" - Leroy DB
http://www.johnny

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This almost happened to me! All the 14 base jumps I had where from BD. Then I took maybe a year or more off and got back into jumping but this time from a 500 foot antenna at night for a 3sec count! Sure I knew what base feels like! So I jumped! Well my soul left first with my body flailing 3’ behind. When my body finally caught up with my mind the two concluded that in fact you are going head low and that’s not good. Send out emergency signals to arms to start circling in the thin air! THIN AIR! That light soft feeling of the air then triggered a rush of memories from all my bridge day jumps! What a happy secure feeling to have come to your rescue. I felt like I was back at BD. The feeling and sound of the air increased in strength and I knew I was like around 3 sec. so I still had some time to level off. Well passing thru 4 sec still not flat and stable I realized I needed to dump regardless of this awful head down body position I’m in! So at 5 sec dump, sweet on heading opening, real short canopy flight and landed safely! By my short canopy time I realized well that’s about as low as you want to go! That was fun as chit! I didn’t die! I phunked up my exit but got my PC out! My experienced base buds said to me….. “you hummed that one down”. Like I knew what I was doing! I got lucky that my gut sense about time was working 100% and that I wasn’t jumping a 400’ tower! I really got mesmerized by the time frame that I developed from BD jumps! This is what could have happened to Brain! He got mesmerized by the rush of excellent past feelings/memories and the El Cap time frame that came with them! Doing something you love! Blue Skies Brain and cheers 2 ya 4 making that 1st leap!

jimo

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Peace and love brother. My sincerest condolances Mike and to his family and other friends.

Chris
Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

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Thanks, Yoda! :)
Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

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On a practical note, one thing has always been Bridge Day's time limit.

Jason must shoehorn the various needs of 400 jumpers into a small six-hour window. Every organizer before him has had to do the same, but there is much more going on these days and it's all being stuffed into the same size bag. The easiest to implement change would be to allow jumping from the catwalk for several days prior to and ending with Bridge Day itself.

I hear some describing Bridge Day as a zoo, a nylon miracle, or something that's not really BASE jumping. And they're right, but for another reason. To me, Bridge Day has always been a demo jump. And what other "show" goes on in front of 150,000 people without some sort of preparation and rehearsal?

The WX and the LZ are sometimes significantly different from year to year and we all get one or two shots at it with the added pressure of not being able to say, "Gee, well, maybe tomorrow." That's a risky lack of choice when spread out over 400 jumpers of various experience levels.

On the other hand, we want Bridge Day to remain a place people can come and fulfill a dream. So I'm not talking about making the two days prior to Bridge Day try outs for the real "show" but more time gives us more choices, more options, and more control.

Sure, I know that won't solve everything, and it will probably raise new issues – but at least we are going forward. And some new things aren't always better. I was the guy arguing against a fixed launch point on the bridge, because the conditions sometimes made somewhere else better . . .

And the "security" thing is really getting out of hand. I've been to Bridge Days in the past with 400 other BASE jumpers, perfect WX, 250,000 (that's a quarter of a million) spectators, and no National Guard, no Park Rangers. Just a few policeman and EMTs, and it went fine. These guys are just feeding at the public security trough. Besides, if Al Qaeda attacked Bridge Day four hundred pissed off BASE jumpers would decide the battle of Fayetteville, West Virginia in a hurry.

NickD :)BASE 194

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Al Qaeda would live the regret the wrath of a large group of angry base jumpers. As controversial as this sounds, imagine the eye for eye philosophy of flying an aircraft into some **** ****, like M****.
Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

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And the "security" thing is really getting out of hand. I've been to Bridge Days in the past with 400 other BASE jumpers, perfect WX, 250,000 (that's a quarter of a million) spectators, and no National Guard, no Park Rangers. Just a few policeman and EMTs, and it went fine. These guys are just feeding at the public security trough. Besides, if Al Qaeda attacked Bridge Day four hundred pissed off BASE jumpers would decide the battle of Fayetteville, West Virginia in a hurry.



I know many jumpers who refuse to participte due to handing over private information for 'background' checks. As well as the Orwellian feeling of being watched.

-=Raistlin
find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;



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the problem therein lies that you can be watched and known wether or not you agree to releasing your info...
Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

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transfered pilot chute to left hand would only mean one thing, that he had his bridle wrapped around his arm and was trying to get it cleared!

jimo

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http://www.vertical-visions.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BDJP

JUMPER REQUIREMENTS

Jumpers must have made at least (TBD) skydives or BASE jumps by October 2007.
Jump currency, your age, gear, clothing, helmet, jump style, bridle length, pilot chute size, and numerous other factors will be evaluated in 2007 in order to update our requirements. While current requirements have worked well for the last 19 years, we will update the requirements for Bridge Day 2007.

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