Skydiving promo on GMA

[Rebecca 0]

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sounds like she's being judged for money-grubbing, when, in her position, I can hardly blame her. Am I missing something deliberate or harmful?

I think what everyone is upset about is the fact that 1. She's sensationalised her story in order for it to generate more press and 2. She's willing to harm others. Not just the sport in general, but also a particular DZ in order to to generate income. She was not a student were the accident occured. Our DZO had reservations about allowing student jumps outside of our program but graciously sold them two lift tickets anyway. Now his business(and his livelihood) is getting dragged through the mud even though all he did was provide two slots on an airplane.

-Blind

What a crappy situation for everyone involved.

I guess I was trying to see it from her point of view, trusting her bf instructor, ending up under a "mal" she didn't know how to deal with, waking up pregnant and smashed to bits under a mountain of debt.

Then the TV crews show up, ask leading questions, offer money... money runs out, she sees an opportunity, assesses her own needs as greater than the DZ's, and goes for it.

She sounds like someone young and dumb who trusted the wrong guy and got in over her head, but she didn't start out intending to cause harm. She started out just trying to learn to jump.

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[Dougjumper 0]

You know WTF!! This kinda stuff kinda burns me a bit. First of all why doest GMA or local News get the facts straight before reporting incidents like this. It puts a bad rap on the community in my area because they know im a skydiver and think that its fuc**in nutts to skydive because of this kinda stuff.

I just wish things to be reported correctly in our Sport. Im sorry about the lady getting hurt and all but set the record straight please.

[yardhippie 0]

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You know WTF!! This kinda stuff kinda burns me a bit. First of all why doest GMA or local News get the facts straight before reporting incidents like this. It puts a bad rap on the community in my area because they know im a skydiver and think that its fuc**in nutts to skydive because of this kinda stuff.

I just wish things to be reported correctly in our Sport. Im sorry about the lady getting hurt and all but set the record straight please.

Most likely because the "real" news doesnt "sell" that well.

Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

[DeepThought 0]

I have just watched this story on the National News in the UK.

This has now turned into an International story.

I am sure that they showed exactly the same interview that has been showed everywhere else.

The media obviously trusts each other and do not check up on stories that they buy.

It also shows how carefull anyone needs to be before speaking to the press.

Remember anything that you say to a camera could very quickly be seen all over the world.

--------------------------------------------------
You only have one life, make the most of it.

[Greaseball 0]

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You know WTF!! This kinda stuff kinda burns me a bit. First of all why doest GMA or local News get the facts straight before reporting incidents like this. It puts a bad rap on the community in my area because they know im a skydiver and think that its fuc**in nutts to skydive because of this kinda stuff.

I just wish things to be reported correctly in our Sport. Im sorry about the lady getting hurt and all but set the record straight please.

Most likely because the "real" news doesnt "sell" that well.

My thoughts exactly.

Im stating the obvious but the issue here is the US media, not necessarily the individuals involved who are labeled as "skydivers", and how desperate and imbalanced traditional media outlets (all the ones cashing in on this story) have become as the result of ever increasing competition from gloabblization (blogs).

Katherine Grahmm (sp?) eluded to it best in one of her books- Americans love reading garbage like this (I stopped reading the story halfway thru as its so predictable) for whatever reason.....stories like these $ell.

[freethefly 6]

KOAM 7 TV in Joplin, Mo. just had them on for the umpteenth time today. Again, with the "both parachutes failed to open" crap. They are now on their way to NY,NY to be on the morning shows. Obvious they are going to do the talk show curcuit to garner sympathy for money. They are milking this for every dime they can get. Word is that her boyfriend/instructor just bought her an engagement ring. Seeing that he is on disability and they have funds set up to cover their expense, not to mention that the majority of the medical expense has already been paid, I see this as a milking con job and they should be ashamed of theirselves for taking advantage of this to make money.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[BlindBrick 0]

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Word is that her boyfriend/instructor just bought her an engagement ring.

Not rumor, fact. It was purchased from a jumper's store and sold to them by a sales associate who is also a jumper. I heard it directly from the associate. Interestingly, what I would put in the unverified category is the fact that she got her dental at least partly done by a jumper and that he wrote off a significant chunk of the bill.

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[BlindBrick 0]

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What a crappy situation for everyone involved.

I guess I was trying to see it from her point of view, trusting her bf instructor, ending up under a "mal" she didn't know how to deal with, waking up pregnant and smashed to bits under a mountain of debt.

The pregnancy wasn't a surprise. She strongly suspected she was pregnant, the lab work the hospital ran just confirmed it.

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[MC208B 0]

Looked like she maybe just released one brake on that reserve???

What's wrong with that gal jumping a 190 main?!? What does she weigh?

As for giving the sport a black eye, that craps sells. Always has, always will.

[Rebecca 0]

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What a crappy situation for everyone involved.

I guess I was trying to see it from her point of view, trusting her bf instructor, ending up under a "mal" she didn't know how to deal with, waking up pregnant and smashed to bits under a mountain of debt.

The pregnancy wasn't a surprise. She strongly suspected she was pregnant, the lab work the hospital ran just confirmed it.

-Blind

Huh. I thought she was quoted saying she didn't know and wouldn't have jumped if she did. Not that her pregnancy had anything to do with the incident itself - it's just a factor now that there's a story involved, and a reason for her to care a whole lot more about money...

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[jdthomas 0]

"Huh. I thought she was quoted saying she didn't know and wouldn't have jumped if she did."

One of the many reasons we are all getting a little pissy over this story!
She never aired this in her first story because she did not know how to play the hand yet.. now she see's that baby's mean money she is all about it.

She knew before she made that jump.. it's a couch freaks boogie baby!

Joe

www.greenboxphotography.com

[sitflybaseboy 0]

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I saw the whole thing happen, and no it wasn't her first jump

Hey Magellan,
What direction was she from the DZ? You are quite the post girl on DZ .com. You like them better than IH?
321CYA
Sitflybaseboy

BASE 1043 Night BASE 160
BASE is to skydivers as skydiving is to whuffos

[windcatcher 0]

Okay everyone, obviously this story has gotten way out of hand, but can't something be done to prevent further damage???
For instance, I believe she is going to be on Oprah--can't we all do something like write to Oprah and news stations to tell the TRUTH??????????????
Her main did open, and newsstories are saying it didn't....shouldn't we somehow send someone the facts?

I feel sorry for Shayna and Rick, I watched the whole thing happen...but they are leaving parts of the story out

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[squirrel 0]

is this a stupid question? "why dont we notify the disablity department?" i mean, did he jump too, or is he currently jjumping? i think the disablity department would have some quesitons for him.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[sitflybaseboy 0]

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Word is that her boyfriend/instructor just bought her an engagement ring.

Interestingly, what I would put in the unverified category is the fact that she got her dental at least partly done by a jumper and that he wrote off a significant chunk of the bill.

-Blind

Damn dude, you are the man on finding out the low down on shit. However, you are not exactly right on your unverified category.
321CYA
Sitflybaseboy
PS No good deed goes unpunished.

BASE 1043 Night BASE 160
BASE is to skydivers as skydiving is to whuffos

[windcatcher 0]

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I saw the whole thing happen, and no it wasn't her first jump

Hey Magellan,
What direction was she from the DZ? You are quite the post girl on DZ .com. You like them better than IH?
321CYA
Sitflybaseboy

Are you trying to get me in trouble Marky?
I DID see Shayna's accident, I prayed for her the entire time I watched her canopy spiral into the ground, and kept praying for her.

wait a sec...what DIRECTION was she from the dz????
( how the hell would I know ,I'm Magellan)
and yes I like dz.com more than IH
( there's more to do and more people to meet!)

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[freethefly 6]

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What's wrong with that gal jumping a 190 main?!? What does she weigh?

As for giving the sport a black eye, that craps sells. Always has, always will.

The 190 was a Sabre2 which is semi eliptical and considered a HP canopy. PD themselves does not recommend this canopy for an inexperiance pilot, although they do aknowledge that they have been used successfully. They state other models that are more appropriate. As for use with students, 152lbs exit weight is max. I believe she weighs in the area of 120-130. Exit weight with gear would put her at the max. Another 190 of say maybe a silhoutte or a larger size navigators would had been a wiser choice as they are not as ground hungry as a Sabre2. An older Sabre190 would had been a wiser choice also as the only thing it has similar to the Sabre2 is the name. I myself trained on a PD210 F111 in 97. In fact I still have this canopy. It is a great canopy to learn under as it is very forgiving. I also once packed it without properly stowing toggles and opened in a slow lazy spiral. No problem. My next canopy was a Sabre150. I now fly a Stiletto150 and I am very happy with my current canopy and how I came to be able to properly handle my current canopy. A lot can go wrong when in a high stress situation and being under a fast spiraling canopy not of your doing can only elevate the situation from bad to worst if the pilot does not have the experiance to recognize and rectify the problem. A big floaty type canopy such as a PD210 or the larger Mantas will most likely, given a proper wingloading, give the jumper time to recognize and rectify most problems without overloading the jumper with fear due to the accelerating spiral and ensuing groundrush. It is appearent in this incident that the canopy choice did play a major part in her cutting it. Had she had been under a canopy that is designed for student training she most likely would had more time to see things as they were and maybe had acted correctly in the situation in which she found herself. Being that she was flying a good canopy it is also appearent that had she not had inadvertantly fired the toggle, she would had most likely landed just fine to jump again. So this says that the canopy is fine for students if a high stress situation is not introduced into the equation. But, being that no two jumps are the same and that there is no guarantee that you will have a good canopy every jump, why risk the life of someone who is not even qualified to jump student gear without supervision. What is wrong with jumping Mantas or PD210's as students? What? jumping and flying a big floater is not a thrill? It is because of these types of incidents that more rules are imposed upon us. People need to use common sense if they wish to stay alive. Skydiving is an extremely dangerous activity and a lot of new jumpers do not seem to realize this. To much attention is giving to such items as "safety helmets" and aad's and not to the responsiabilty of the jumper to choose wisely. There is a reason why guys like Lew Sanborn and the such are still jumping today. They take extreme responsiabilty for themselves and others. They choose proper gear. They sit out on high wind days. They give and take advise and use it wisely. These guys are who I look up to. If ya ever get the chance to talk to guys like Lew, sit for awhile and listen. You will learn alot about the importance of choosing wisely and be able to jump for years to come.

As for "crap sells", well, only if someone is willing to sell and selling out the sport to the media is crap.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[sitflybaseboy 0]

That is exactly what I was getting at, your directional talent is Magellanish!
321CYA
Sitflybaseboy

BASE 1043 Night BASE 160
BASE is to skydivers as skydiving is to whuffos

[windcatcher 0]

But you love me anyway

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[Zenister 0]

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Okay everyone, obviously this story has gotten way out of hand, but can't something be done to prevent further damage???
For instance, I believe she is going to be on Oprah--can't we all do something like write to Oprah and news stations to tell the TRUTH??????????????
Her main did open, and newsstories are saying it didn't....shouldn't we somehow send someone the facts?

I feel sorry for Shayna and Rick, I watched the whole thing happen...but they are leaving parts of the story out

fwd Oprah a link to this discussion, have everyone you know write her a letter/email etc. With the intention of making Oprah aware exactly how this story is being spun and how her show will be used to spread half-truths and miss information in a shameless plea for attention.. Oprah has web boards as well that discuss her show and its content.. join them and add your .02 (eyewitness account and factual information) to set the record straight...

make the 'back story' as big a deal as the inital news cast and it will be hard for her to continue to misrepresent herself to national media...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[MC208B 0]

informative post, thanks.

as for the young lady getting on Oprah, maybe Oprah will give away a new rig to her audience?!?

[freethefly 6]

If they go on Oomprah, USPA should yank their membership. As it is right now they are on their way to NY NY to go live on TV to tell another crock of lies. They are trying to yank on heart strings to open pockets to grab cash. This is so shameful. It is obvious to me that they have no consideration for our sport. The stations around Springfield and Joplin have been running all sorts of promo on "poor Shayna and on how her parachutes failed to open". Shit , just as I key this they are now talking about how her parachutes were "broken and no chance they would open" and how she "fell" 10'000 feet with no parachutes to stop her fall. I am about to puke, I am so tired of turning the TV and seeing them on there trying to garner sympathy and money.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[flydog 0]

If the boyfriend is on disability why hasn't anyone turned him and the fact he is skydiving into social security or whoever is paying disability. Im sure if they knew he was skydiving disability would be gone in a heartbeat.

Not that I think we should just screw someone, but it seems as if he is screwing us all.

[apley 0]

i did my part. i have invited oprah to read these forums and talk to REAL skydivers for accurate information. i like the idea of making our reaction bigger than the story.

[The_Don 0]

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i did my part. i have invited oprah to read these forums and talk to REAL skydivers for accurate information. i like the idea of making our reaction bigger than the story.

I don't know if shes ready for the bonfire ... might not be a good idea ...

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!