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TomAiello

Fatality: Twin Falls, Idaho, April 10, 2007

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all five Perrine Bridge fatalities, including this one, involved pilot chute problems.

And that has "trend" written all over it.

So the real question is why?



The other major factors in incidents (from my reading) are not problems at this site:
  • object strikes
  • poor landing area

    What else is left other than equipment malfunction and human error?
    Looking for newbie rig, all components...

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    I was not there. i wish i was.
    to determine the conditions at the time of the accident i looked at the record by the local weather station. the record could be wrong.

    Knowing the jumper leads me to believe that he is more likely to take a longer delay.

    to clarify: when the conditions are "perfectly jumpable" but not landable i would not jump.
    Please do not pull the words out of context

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    You get sensitive when you put a real face on the name in the accident report


    YOU?

    I believe what you meant to say was “I” or perhaps “Some of us”...
    Learn to speak for yourself...

    I personally, do not...

    If someone jumps toward certain death with only a piece of fabric to prevent their suicide dies in the process, how in the hell am I suppose to feel sorry for them?
    WTF??? Jeez people, take responsibility!

    Death is a certainty in life, and death from jumping from un-survivable altitudes is just downright irresponsible, to the "tree hugging save the planet libos" of this world, and to me - not a reason to feel sorry for someone, especially if they were jumping in poor weather conditions as I love to do (adds to the rush).

    A kid with Leukemia? Certainly, but not some dumbass (like me) in a parachuting (racing, climbing, - hell, fill in your fav extreme sport!) accident...

    Darwin award?
    Definitely...

    They have children? Send me an address to mail some money for the kids, as I have done for many fallen friends...

    I’m with Nick, better him than me…

    BSBD
    -
    Mykel AFF-I10
    Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

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    to clarify: when the conditions are "perfectly jumpable" but not landable i would not jump.
    Please do not pull the words out of context



    To me if somebody says "it's jumpeable", that includes all aspects of the jump. If I say it's jumpeable I mean all aspects of the jump. I don't think anything was being put out of context.
    The bums will never win Lebowski, the bums will never win!
    Enfin j'ai trouvé:
    Bieeeen

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    to clarify: when the conditions are "perfectly jumpable" but not landable i would not jump.
    Please do not pull the words out of context



    To me if somebody says "it's jumpeable", that includes all aspects of the jump. If I say it's jumpeable I mean all aspects of the jump. I don't think anything was being put out of context.



    you may not realize it, but there have been many many jumps at Perrine with squirrly winds and intended water landings. Every site is unique.

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    "Landable" and "jumpable" do have two different meanings in the content of the accident since its was not a landing issue.

    RIP

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    Well yes it is a landing issue if you land without a parachute above you.

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    >>"Landable" and "jumpable" do have two different meanings
    No freaking way, landable and jumpable means the same freaking thing . . .

    This ain't skydiving.

    NickD :)BASE 194

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    While the weather conditions obviously sucked for jumping, until the gear is inspected it seems all this speculation is premature. And unless something blaringly obvious is found, as in a pull up cord left in a closing loop, without a jumper to witness the event or a spectator with a video, we will never know the truth.

    Late pull? Hard/missed pull? Either/or combined with a hesitating pilot chute? Excessive closing loop tension? Forgetting to do the little velcro thingy on the bridle above the upper pin?

    Is anyone aware if this jumper used tools (a pull up cord more specifically) to prep/pack the PC? Wasn't this the "speculated" cause of the last fatality at Twin even though the PC was clear upon inspection after the incident?

    Condolences to the jumpers family and friends...and to the poor unsuspecting tourists who it sounds like witnessed the ordeal. I hope there weren't any kids there.

    Kurt
    Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

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    More Press.

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    11:23 a.m. -- BASE jumper dies after leaping from Perrine Bridge
    - The Associated Press
    Edition Date: 04/11/07

    TWIN FALLS — A 29-year-old man from Massachusetts died when his parachute failed to open after he jumped from a bridge spanning the Snake River Canyon in southern Idaho, authorities said.
    Yegor Drozdov of Revere, Mass., died Tuesday after jumping from Perrine Bridge, a popular area for BASE jumpers, who parachute from high, fixed objects, Twin Falls sheriff’s spokeswoman Nancy Howell said.

    BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span, earth, the four categories of objects from which one can jump in the extreme sport.

    Howell said Southern Idaho Regional Communications received a call at 4:26 p.m. Tuesday from someone reporting that a BASE jumper would be jumping off the bridge, standard procedure for BASE jumpers who are asked to check in before leaping.

    Twenty minutes later, the sheriff’s office received a call from a witness “saying they had seen someone jump off the bridge and their parachute didn’t open and they hit the land below,” Howell told The Associated Press today.

    Howell said Drozdov’s body was recovered by authorities who reached the area by boat.

    More than 5,000 jumps are made annually from the 486-foot-long bridge that spans the Snake River Gorge. The bridge is the world’s most-frequented BASE jumping location.

    Two people died BASE-jumping from the bridge last year. Tuesday’s death is the first BASE-jumping death reported this year, Howell said.

    Earlier this year a woman’s nude body was found under the bridge, and police determined she had been stabbed and then thrown off the bridge. Police said the main suspect in that case appeared to have committed suicide.




    Just FYI, I got a call from a local talk radio station that is discussing this on their program tomorrow. Their news director told me he was following this thread.
    -- Tom Aiello

    [email protected]
    SnakeRiverBASE.com

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    we will never know the truth.



    True ... we may never know why. But outside of the question of what went wrong, since when is it a good idea to be jumping a large canopy in high winds? It's not like we BASE jump with small canopies. We typically jump with very large beasts.

    RIP to the deceased jumper ... who's next?


    Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

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    Well CRAP!!! :( BSBD

    "No cookies for you"- GFD
    "I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
    Don't be a "Racer Hater"

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    Don't forget the problem of landing in water that is cold or fast moving. Too many people erroneously believe that landing in the river is an acceptable "out" during the winter. You wouldn't believe how many people I saw jumping over the middle of the river when the water temps were in the 30s! At least this guy was "smart" enough to jump over the land (the water is still fairly cold).

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    dude, on my first BASE jump at potato, i had a toggle tied in a knot around setting, so i couldnt unstow one side, i could have flown it into the water, but it was febuary, and the TF bank thing said it was 17 degrees F. i opted for crashing into the north side scree. im glad i did, even though it hurt and i still have scars on my hip.

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    If you dont land in the middle its fine. In december '05 I was jumping slightly over the water, near the shore. I took a waist-deep water landing on a solo (semi-low opening, offheading), and climbed out in 17 degree weather.. wasnt as bad as you might expect.

    I'd rather hit shallow water if something happened than hard ground... (a certain memorial-day weekend incident comes to mind)
    Web Design
    Cleveland Skydiving
    "Hey, these cookies don't taste anything like girl scouts..."

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    a certain memorial-day weekend incident comes to mind



    The water is much warmer by Memorial day and is therefore a different situation altogether. Lucky for you that you didn't have to swim since you landed in shallow water, as I can tell you it is extremely exhausting and hard to breath while swimming in frigid water (and potentially deadly).

    Edited to add: In the the winter many people jump with boots and layers of clothing that saturate with water and add to the difficulty of swimming. Just something to think about...

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    Knowing the jumper leads me to believe that he is more likely to take a longer delay.



    i'm curious, did you know him well enough to think he thought this jump was doable? would he take a longer delay because of experience or for the rush?

    i agree with nick that being jumpable and being landable are one and the same when making a BASE jump. if not landable being the more critical aspect. i won't jump my skydiving canopy in high winds let alone a lightly loaded BASE canopy. F111 or not.

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    I do think that the exit and deployment would have been quite doable if you did a full floater, but I don't think a forward facing exit in these conditions would be a very good idea.



    i don't mean to sound ignorant, but when you refer to a full floater exit (given the tailwind) are you talking about jumping off the other side and flying under the bridge or facing the bridge and turning around? i'm thinking the former would be more doable. whereas facing the bridge the winds could push you onto your back kinda like a prob blast would. not to mention a potential crosswind could put the pilot chute in position to wrap around your arm. sorry this does sound ignorant...

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    I'm talking about facing into the wind. My reasoning is that a strong tailwind can blow the PC under your arm after you pitch (I've seen this happen on several occasions, once from the first person point of view). Turning the tailwind into a headwind blows the PC back away from you (and away from any potential entanglement with you).

    The same reasoning applies to a right-to-left crosswind (assuming standard right handed BOC) versus a left-to-right crosswind.
    -- Tom Aiello

    [email protected]
    SnakeRiverBASE.com

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    Another article has come out:

    http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/04/12/news/local_state/109983.txt

    Quote

    Parachute problem may have doomed BASE jumper
    Mass. man was an extreme sports fanatic
    By Cassidy Friedman
    Times-News writer
    TWIN FALLS - A BASE jumper who died Tuesday jumping from the Perrine Bridge may have entangled his hand while attempting to release his parachute.

    Yegor Drozdov, 29, of Revere, Mass., landed on the southeast bank beneath the bridge shortly before 5 p.m. West winds were blowing at sustained speeds of 24 mph with 30 mph gusts.

    An extreme sports buff, Drozdov raced cars, skied and had logged more than 200 sky dives and 50 BASE jumps, his wife, Katerina, said Wednesday.

    Twin Falls County Sheriff's deputies called Katerina at the couple's home in Revere, a suburban beach town north of Boston.

    They described their investigation to her, which she recounted in a phone interview with the Times-News.

    "His hand got tangled in the bridle of the pilot chute," deputies had said, according to the widow. "When they found him it was still tangled around his hand. They said it was very windy and must have got tangled while he was falling because it's about five seconds that you have to open."

    The "bridle" is a pilot chute linked to the rig that BASE jumpers hold as they jump and throw outwards to deploy their chute.

    Drozdov was the owner of Alliance Motor Group, a car dealership with branches in Longmont, Colo. and Revere. Less than one year ago, Drozdov rented a second home in Longmont.

    In Colorado, he began jumping at Mile-Hi Skydiving near Denver. At least once, he and a friend traveled to Twin Falls to BASE jump from the Perrine Bridge, Katerina said.

    But on his last visit Drozdov told no one, she explained.

    After staying with some friends in Sacramento, Katerina flew home Sunday. Her husband was scheduled to drive to Colorado either Monday or Tuesday.

    "I guess he decided to stop on the way back," Katerina said. "He didn't tell anyone that he was going there."

    It appears Drozdov was jumping alone, according to Nancy Howell, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office.

    At 4:46 p.m., an observer called dispatchers, reporting a BASE jumper's parachute had not opened.

    Drozdov had made a courtesy call, according to protocol, alerting dispatchers he was planning to jump.

    "He was very adventurous," Katerina said. "He like the extreme stuff."

    The couple, who married five years ago, have no children.

    Drozdov is a naturalized citizen who moved 15 years ago with his family from Moscow, Russia. His family lives in Kennebunkport, Maine.

    His funeral will be held Monday in Salem, Mass.

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    "His hand got tangled in the bridle of the pilot chute," deputies had said, according to the widow. "When they found him it was still tangled around his hand. They said it was very windy and must have got tangled while he was falling because it's about five seconds that you have to open."



    Thats new and interesting.

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    The "bridle" is a pilot chute linked to the rig that BASE jumpers hold as they jump and throw outwards to deploy their chute.



    Nice explanation... :|
    Michi (#1068)
    hsbc/gba/sba
    www.swissbaseassociation.ch
    www.michibase.ch

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    Don't forget the problem of landing in water that is cold or fast moving. Too many people erroneously believe that landing in the river is an acceptable "out" during the winter. You wouldn't believe how many people I saw jumping over the middle of the river when the water temps were in the 30s! At least this guy was "smart" enough to jump over the land (the water is still fairly cold).



    I was up there a few weeks ago and one of the boys jumped a round into the middle of the river. It was planned, I'm sure it was cold but he pulled himself and gear out with out too much problem.


    Greeny

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    yeah, a friend of mine pounded in memorial day 04, that was the end of his jumping career...the only reason i wasn't there was because i pounded on a skydive 6 weeks or so earlier.

    condolences to the family and friends of this young man.

    k

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