AAD fire in a descending aircraft

[riggerrob 558]

About a decade ago, we tossed a dozen student rigs into a van and told the driver to deliver them from Calgary (3,000 feet above sea level) to Vancouver (sea level). The Vigil 1 AAD 1 remained on. As the van descended towards Revelstoke, the Vigils descended below their "zero" altitude and the driver heard "pop ... pop .... pop!"

[Titanman2789 0]

I have witnessed it.

[PixieUK 0]

Two student Cypresses fired on descent at one of my local DZ's a couple of weeks ago. No idea why the pilot decided to do his usual steep fast descent but the CI made him very aware of his error shortly after the landing

The only time I have come down in the plane I was a recently qualified A licence but was hiring student kit and I told the pilot myself that it was a student AAD as there was no instructor in the plane.

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

When I was in AFF we had to descend at 7000' due to visibility. My D1 got grounded and a tandem instructor yelled to the pilot that we had AADs on the plane and to go slow. It didn't occur to me that it might fire on the plane, and I had no idea until this thread that student AADs were more sensitive than non-student ones. My AFFI mentioned that when it happens, it sounds like a bomb going off. Didn't happen on that flight though.

Question: I am off AFF but still jumping rental rigs. I know this is a better question for my gear shop, but I'm curious: if I am on a flight that gets grounded due to wind or vis, should I tell the pilot I have an AAD even though it's not student gear? Presumably everyone on the plane will have one but I'm not sure if rental rigs are set differently than personal rigs. I guess it's always a good idea to tell the pilot if there's an AAD on board, but I'm just wondering if I should take the responsibility myself to do so.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[Di0 1]

Before you worry about what happens in a descending plane, you should, let me be clear: YOU FUCKING HAVE TO, know what type of AAD you have (basically, between expert/pro and student AAD), because some of them behave very differently, particularly between 1100 and 750 ft if they are cypres, and students' AADs are really easy to fire doing "stuff" under canopy (whether the canopy is a student canopy or not) in that range.
I assume that if the rental gear has non-student canopies, they will also have non-student AAD, but you really want to double check that, and if they are AAD with the capability to change mode (all Vigils and, now, some cypres) you HAVE TO to make sure it's in the appropriate setting when you turn it on in the morning.
Make sure you're familiar with the AADs your shop uses, please.

The possibility of having a two-out below 1000ft because your AAD was wrongly configured or you have the wrong AAD for the type of canopy is a much more serious, and probable, issue than the relatively rare, and arguably more controllable, occurrence of having a fire in an airplane.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

Excellent points--much more important to avoid a two-out than an AAD fire in an aircraft. Thank you.

Edit: although both are certainly important.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[gowlerk 1,903]

FlyLikeARaven

Excellent points--much more important to avoid a two-out than an AAD fire in an aircraft. Thank you.

Edit: although both are certainly important.

I would disagree. An AAD fire in an aircraft has the potential to bring the aircraft down, possibly killing several people. Two outs on the other hand are nearly always survivable, and very unlikely to harm others.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[piisfish 135]

And I think your AFFI never heard a bomb going off

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

gowlerk

***Excellent points--much more important to avoid a two-out than an AAD fire in an aircraft. Thank you.

Edit: although both are certainly important.

I would disagree. An AAD fire in an aircraft has the potential to bring the aircraft down, possibly killing several people. Two outs on the other hand are nearly always survivable, and very unlikely to harm others.

Forgive my ignorance, but I didn't know this. How would this happen? I'm not being sarcastic; I really do want to know.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[piisfish 135]

Imagine the pilot chute escaping through the door. What can that do?

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[gowlerk 1,903]

Yes, the classic way this can cause a disaster is for the spring loaded reserve pilot chute to escape the cabin taking the reserve parachute and then the jumper with it. Any or all of these objects could strike and damage, or entangle with the aircraft. We all need to do everything we can to make sure our gear does not deploy while still in the aircraft.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[pchapman 261]

FlyLikeARaven

Forgive my ignorance, but I didn't know this. How would this happen?

You might have been thinking of a specific situation. Like a C-182 with the door closed. Or another jump plane where the jumpers closed the door before the plane descended.

It's only particularly hazardous with an open door and jumpers nearby.

Whether it is dangerous or not depends completely on the situation.

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

piisfish

Imagine the pilot chute escaping through the door. What can that do?

That's what I was thinking--but I wondered if there was something else I was missing.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[piisfish 135]

FlyLikeARaven

***Imagine the pilot chute escaping through the door. What can that do?

That's what I was thinking--but I wondered if there was something else I was missing.knocking the pilot off with your reserve Pilot chute
or as our AFFI would suppose, kill everyone with the xplosion of the AAD Cutter

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[JohnMitchell 14]

skydiverek

Student AADs have much lower fire speed. Only like 29 mph for Student Cypres. Easily acheivable in descending airplane.

That's equivalent to about 2700 feet per minute, an easily exceeded rate of descent in a jump plane. Now, whether are not you want to be at that rate below 1000' AGL, I don't know.