One Riser Release on Cutaway Video

[c10edges 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFDCYv24wg

I was wondering what happened here? It looks like he did not short stroke the cutaway. 3-rings misrouted? It is not only a well done edit, but has really great camera angles.


Edited to add second link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJKcQDnKMEI

[riggerpaul 1]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFDCYv24wg

I was wondering what happened here? It looks like he did not short stroke the cutaway. 3-rings misrouted? It is not only a well done edit, but has really great camera angles.

There is something hanging off the right riser both before and after the cutaway. I cannot tell what it is. It looks like if could be part of the cutaway cable, but it seems rather long to be just the end of the yellow cable outside the hard housing. Since the cutaway seems to be a long enough stroke, I don't really think it is part of the cutaway cable at all.

Considering the great camera work, and that there seems to be something "extra" in the area of the right 3 ring, is there any chance that this was an intentional situation set up for the video?

[timmyfitz 0]

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Considering the great camera work, and that there seems to be something "extra" in the area of the left 3 ring, is there any chance that this was an intentional situation set up for the video?

That was my thought also.

[davelepka 4]

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Considering the great camera work, and that there seems to be something "extra" in the area of the left 3 ring, is there any chance that this was an intentional situation set up for the video?

This is a tricky one.

On the one hand, the guy is wearing two cameras, and at break off, some of the other guys are hanging out to film his deployment, like they know it's something to film. Also, one of the other guys appears to have pulled before, or at the same time, as the jumper with the mal, in order to be open on level with him, again in an attampt to film the mal.

It does appear that the right three ring is pinned with a long cable to prevent it from releasing. I'm not sure if it can be released independetnly or not, but it appears rigged to not release with the cutaway handle.

It also appears that the purpose of the jump was to see if it was possible to cut through a riser with a hook knife in the event of a hang up. If you look at the time line of the events, and the altitude at which everything happens, this was not a normal jump.

All of those factors point toward an intentional mal and a hook knife test. The big factor that would point away from that is that it's stupid to do with out a third canopy. This jumper essentailly left the AC with one (presumably) good canopy as the main was packed with a mal and hooked up to an in-op (possibly) three ring.

This jump would have been a great place to use a second harness with a direct-bag deployed main along with a standard, properly rigged skydiving rig.

[c10edges 0]

Now that you mentioned it, seems to be possible that they faked it. I was wondering why he did not fight the easy line twists harder...

If true, kind of a stupid and deceitful thing to do in my opinion.

[NovaTTT 1]

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Considering the great camera work, and that there seems to be something "extra" in the area of the left 3 ring, is there any chance that this was an intentional situation set up for the video?

It looks like it.

The abundance of camera work, the speed with which this guy whips out the hook-knife instead of trying to manually release the riser, the higher deployment altitude, the way he's hanging onto the left riser to control the cutaway.

Cool video but it seems scripted.

I wouldn't call it a good idea, though.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

I agree this all looks posed, nonetheless...a good reminder to carry a knife. Scary whether it was a stunt or not.

I'm curious though, at the end, it shows the cut riser...would a hook knife really cut through the kevlar reinforcement as well? Or am I missing something?

I'm guessing the possibility that the extra cable was a "backup plan" to get the riser released in the event that the knife wouldn't cut. Doesn't change the fact that he only had one canopy that he intended to use...

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[davelepka 4]

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I'm curious though, at the end, it shows the cut riser...would a hook knife really cut through the kevlar reinforcement as well? Or am I missing something?

The kevlar only goes so far up the riser, and it's mostly down in the ring area. Even if it didn't want to cut down there, you could scoot up to where it's just riser. You may have to make two passes if you don't hook both front and rear at the same time.

The other factor would be the cable housing used to protect the cutaway cables in the riser. No hook knife will cut through those, and denpending on the length of the risers, there might not be too much room between the top of those housings and the bottom of the toggles. The distance fom the top of the riser to the toggle is a constant on all risers, the length of the riser is determined between the steering line guide ring and the three ring. Short risers have very little room beteen the two and the toggle takes up the bulk of it.

[danielcroft 2]

Hook knife test video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRkmUvmurE

It does seem awfully convenient and the cut away riser looks odd to me too.

FAA pulls pilot's license & ramp checks the DZ into the ground in 3... 2... 1...

If you look at the video closely, at about 1:50, there's only one cutaway cable attached to the cutaway handle.

[NovaTTT 1]

You're right, there. He cut the short cable at the pud and left the excess outside the riser channel, presumably so he could pull that to effect a cutaway if the hook-knife didn't work.

See 2:37 to see the yellow cable extending from the housing. The excess cable is clearly visible throughout the "malfunction".

Again - this was not a good idea.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[fcajump 153]

Agree that it looks staged and as the cable was never cleared of the housing, I am guessing a very long right side cutaway cable... fits with the details seen in the vid.

Without a tersh of some king, that is concerning...

Good training vid as the end result though.

Interesting that for this jump, his left side RSL was disconnected...

Biggest tip off to me that it looks staged: If you just had to cutaway and the release did not work and the camera's were rolling, wouldn't you spend more time/video tape looking at the WHY it did not release...?

BTW - in other threads we've been discussing two hand pulls vs one-hand pulls. I don't remember anyone recommending a one-hand-on-handle, second hand on riser of main...???

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[davelepka 4]

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FAA pulls pilot's license & ramp checks the DZ into the ground in 3... 2... 1...

That's a negative ghostrisder, they don't give two shits until after something goes wrong. Looked like the guy got a good reserve out at a reasonable altitude, so no FAA.

Now if something had gone wrong, that's another story. How much of this 'plan' was shared with the DZO and pilot would also play a factor. If he acted independently, and his reserve was in date and the harness had a TSO, there's not much the FAA could really do.

Of course if this was 'public' knowledge at the DZ, and like many jumpers they filmed the pack job and gear up with all sorts of sarcastic remarks, and the pilot or DZO was present in that video, that's another barrel of monkeys. Monkeys wearing FAA credentials and crawling all over the DZ..

[Flyfast 0]

Looks like everyones suspicions are correct, video has already been removed by the user.

ZC OG

[danielcroft 2]

Glad I downloaded it then huh?

Thanks for the pointers on the FAA Dave. Seems like the USPA would be interested though? I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that planning a cutaway on a non tersh rig was bad juju, not sure how bad though.

[thomas_crowe 0]

Can you post it for those of us who missed it originally

Thomas Crowe, NRP
Nationally Registered Paramedic
Red Hat Linux Geek

[pchapman 261]

I missed seeing the video in the orig. post that got deleted.

But here's my own personal one sided cutaway video:
http://blip.tv/file/238113/

("Select a Format" to get Flash video if it comes up as the bigger WMV original.)

Low res only. Used to be on skydivingmovies.com.

It was a 3rd canopy where I pulled one cable out first. Even on a PD 190, the 1 rotation per second spin was pretty impressive.

[danielcroft 2]

I don't have a YouTube account but if someone has somewhere else for it to go, I can put it there. Unless someone gives me a good reason not to of course...

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Daniel, upload it to FB and I'll grab it from you...and post it on my Youtube..

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[c10edges 0]

The fact that they have ground video would not help their case that this was planned.

Here is the new link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJKcQDnKMEI

[blkhwk91b 0]

Body language alone makes it seems odd:

- appears to be a simple line twist but no effort to kick out of it. (cameras not shaking back and forth as you see in a lot of line twist vids. Especially considering one cam is on his foot/lower leg.)

- has his left hand on the left riser during cutaway. Forseeing a need for stabilization.

- instantly reaches for right riser after cutaway as if he knows it's not going anywhere.


Can't unring the bell now, guess it could make a training vid if nothing else.

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way." - Alan Watts

[freeflyit 0]

Regardless of all this s***...I'm getting a better hoock knife!!!

[dninness 4]

Did anybody else think "dude, be @!#$ careful with that hook knife around your @#$% reserve!"?

That would have been stupid:: "The deceased was part of a 4-way formation skydive in which he intended to cut away from a main that was packed with induced line twists as well as a three-ring mechanism malfunction engineered on the right riser. The three-ring malfunction was designed to require the use of a hook knife to clear prior to reserve deployment. Following a successful cut away of the left side riser, the skydiver successfully cut through the right side riser with his hook knife and successfully deployed his reserve parachute at a high altitude. However, during the ensuing reserve deployment, he accidentally hacked through the left reserve riser with the hook knife in his hand while reaching for the reserve canopy toggles resulting in a reserve streamer. He subsequently impacted the ground under a streamered reserve parachute."

Yeah, love accident reports in Parachutist.

NIN
D-19617, AFF-I '19

[NVizABull 0]

whether posed or not...this is a good reason to exercise your risers to keep from having one hang up. I've seen it for real and it's a very scary situation to see one of your friends fighting for their life because they were toooooo lazy to unhook their risers and exercise the set out of the webbing. If you're new and don't know how to, ask someone...I'm sure you can find someone that can and will help you.

Safety is no accident!

[thomas_crowe 0]

The youtube link is marked 'private' on their site.

Thomas Crowe, NRP
Nationally Registered Paramedic
Red Hat Linux Geek

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

You know...I've re-watched the video a few more times, and I think the scariest part isn't the fact that he did all that without a tertiary, but how carefree he was with the hook knife once the reserve was deployed. I'm not blaming him for that as any one of us would likely do the same, but holy jesus...note to self.

In the video, he released the brakes on his RESERVE, with hook knife still in hand, coming millimetres from the rear riser of the reserve.

If we only knew how close we were to the end....


*Clip is confirmed to be staged. Not sure if anyone else listened to the first few words while they're loading the plane, but the guy says:

"The only thing that can go bad about this, is if John blacks out"

"When once you have tasted flight..."