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irishrigger

interesting hand tacking

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a couple brought in a rig for a repack and i asked them to put on the rig and practise there emergency procedures.
well lets just say there was a very nasty surprise inside.
it is unclear who did the retacking but the last person to repack the reserve was a rigger in the UK.i would like to find out what other riggers would do with this and would they report it?
i managed to test pull the pilotchute to 75lbs only and the bridle or tack cord did not give way.what would be the chances of the bridle itself,pulling the freebag out??? i know i sure as hell would not like to bet on those odds.also i have my doubts if the reserve container was closed while this was done.i tried to do the retacking with container closed but was unable to get the tack cord nice and neat around the reserve housing,so i am thinking that the last flap was open!?!? and its a javelin rig
all comments welcome
cherrio
irish rigger

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a couple brought in a rig for a repack and i asked them to put on the rig and practise there emergency procedures.
well lets just say there was a very nasty surprise inside.
it is unclear who did the retacking but the last person to repack the reserve was a rigger in the UK.i would like to find out what other riggers would do with this and would they report it?
i managed to test pull the pilotchute to 75lbs only and the bridle or tack cord did not give way.what would be the chances of the bridle itself,pulling the freebag out??? i know i sure as hell would not like to bet on those odds.also i have my doubts if the reserve container was closed while this was done.i tried to do the retacking with container closed but was unable to get the tack cord nice and neat around the reserve housing,so i am thinking that the last flap was open!?!? and its a javelin rig
all comments welcome
cherrio
irish rigger



Nothing like a little black stinky death to start off the day. I certianly hope that you get a hold of the rigger that did it. This is one fuck up that should not be swept under the rug.

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Ouch!

Getto rigging at its best!

Everyone fucks up but it'd be nice if you could get in touch with the "rigger" responsible for that so he/she won't make the sme mistake again and possibly kill someone.
You know you have a problem when maggot is the voice of reason at the exit points

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Yikes!

That's reminisent of Patrick de Gayardon incident, in a way.

Hope you can locate the rigger that F'ed that up.

I'm guessing it was as a result of trying to do the hand-tack with the reserve packed / container closed. What would possess someone to do something so stupid? ... unless... err... I hate to speculate... but... did you ask the folks that brought you the rig if it were possible the hand-tack was done by someone other then the rigger that packed it last?

Anyway, glad the owner didn't have to use their reserve during the last repack cycle!

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"what would be the chances of the bridle pulling out the d bag?"
ask riggermick. he knows.
when para flite invented the square reserve in 1977-78,the containers were made so that the d bag would fall out if turned upside down (i.e. the container did not restrict the d bag in any way.).what held the bag in was a bite of bridle (folded into what para flite dubbed "a needlefold")stowed in a loop of elastic shock cord passed thru 2 opposing container flaps.as rig built today is SO restrictive that it does not need the bridle stow. BUT they are so restrictive that the bridle alone really cant pull out the d bag.

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If I as the owner of the rig knew what you had found, you wouldn't have to report it, I would take care of the notifying of the previous rigger and appropriate authorities that grant their license. >:(


I understand that is interesting to know how much force it might take to break free, but aren't you damaging (even if just slightly) the bridle by pulling on it so hard. I would think that some riggers would not accept a defect on the bridle caused by such pulling, they will say it is weakened and must be replaced. Isn't that kinda like checking for damage along the sides of harness webbing?
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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Lack of understanding packing instructions, variations in technique, messy packing, and a lot of even more serious things rate a talk with the rigger. Often just opening the rig destroys the evidence of error.

Not in this case. This very likely would have been a fatality. This should be reported to the BPA with all the information available to identify the rigger.

Even though the BPA has a procedure to tack a seal onto a closed rig (WHICH IS NOT THIS) tacking on a closed rig is something ususally drilled into riggers to never do. This is why.

This could have been done with the rig closed using a curved needle. I expect that it was after it was closed that the rigger noticed the loose tacking.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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Mongo,

Have you been in contact with the rigger in the UK?

If you haven't done so already, you might like to fill in a BPA Packing/Rigging Confidential Report

Quote

The object of this form is to encourage Packers and Riggers to share information, following a packing or rigging incident on the ground. Identities will only be revealed with the informant’s permission. Please fill in each section with as much detail as possible. If you do not wish to fill in a section, for the purpose of staying anonymous, strike a line through the section with a pen.


Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

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Keep in mind that it may have been someone other than the rigger. I recall one jumper who picked off the stitching that was holding his ROL velcro on the lateral strap of his rig so he could remove it. Unfortunately, some of it was harness stitching. Another jumper overheard someone suggesting they use 5lb breakcord to tack their reserve handle in; it was always falling out. He did so - but didn't know much about thread, so he used department store polyester thread instead.

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Yikes!

That's reminisent of Patrick de Gayardon incident, in a way.



Like in an almost exact way. :o
It's creepy to see a rig set up for certain death. It's amazing how unconscious some people can be of the work they do.
Thanks for sharing. I hope the rigger who did that can be made aware of it.

Kevin
_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

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"what would be the chances of the bridle pulling out the d bag?"
ask riggermick. he knows.




Approaching zero (chances of successful deployment that is). Very Patric De Garion (sp?) like. good rule of thumb: Don't do any container tacking while canopies are packed inside!!


why do we continue to try to re-invent the three sided wheel? Circular ones work just fine.

mick.

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About four years back I got a couple of pilot rigs in for repack. They were from the "dark ages" when alot of non tso'ed gear was out there, never mind that, one was set up for a crater by the previous rigger. It was a 3 pin rig and the (900lb dacron) top closing loop was too long, it came from the packtray through the topflap and both sideflaps. The rigger shortened it by pinching and tacking a bight of loop ABOVE THE TOPFLAP GROMMET! About 4 feet of canopy could be pulled out before binding under the flap.The FAA guy I talked to said if the packjob was 6 months old the rigger would be toast. 1 year and he would have a sore backside and after 18 months there was pretty much nothing they could do about it. The packjob was 12 years old and the rigger was still in the area, not doing much anymore, so nothing happened except I kept the the non tso'ed rig to show other riggers a deadly f-up!

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