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jdfreefly

Is it a fatality if..?

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A few weeks ago we tried to get a load up before a storm came in. Due to the incoming front, the winds did a complete 180 as we got to jump run...the whole load landed out.
This massive thunderstorm was building over our heads as we packed by the road and prayed for a ride. Suddenly, a question came to me:
Is it a skydiving fatality if I die from getting hit by lightning because I was packing my rig in a thunderstorm due to a bad spot?
Any opinions?
-If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you do not understand the gravity of the situation!

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since you asked for opinions, i'll give you mine. this is one of the most assinine questions i've ever heard, and with enough folks already gone this year i consider it an insult to those that have passed. would it be considered an automobile accident if i got ran over, and killed by a car while crossing a busy intersection, c'mon....gimme a break..........
Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

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I guess one could argue that since you didn't know how to spot, you got struck down......survival of the fittest or retaliation by the gods? Heh, heh....
Ya' know Smack-water Jack he bought a shotgun
'cause he was in the mood for a little con-fron-ta-tion

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Aparently, I should have choosen my words with more care. I hate when I am being serious and people think I am trying to make a sick joke.
First of all, at the time, trying to pack in an oncoming severe thunderstorm, it was a serious question. Second, the question was more along the lines of would or should something like this be included in the incident reports.
I fell it should since, had someone been killed in the storm, it would have been as a direct result of our poor decision to jump when we knew a storm was coming.
-If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you do not understand the gravity of the situation!

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Gee Richard, little harsh? Damn.
-S
PS - Your question would parallel saying "if you have a malfunction and go in, is it a fatality". I think a closer approximation to the original question would be...If a car runs over your toe and in hopping up and down in pain you fall off a cliff, is that a traffic fatality?

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**Gee Richard, little harsh? Damn.**
he asked for the OPINION, i gave mine. can i not do so without being judged? good, bad, or indifferent that was, and still is MY opinion which WAS solicited. i think clay had a more fitting response than i did, although people that ask these kinds of questions should consider the fact that others have or may have lost dear friends to some kind of misshap involving sky diving this year, and/or previous years. the man asked for my .02 usd, and i gave it. peace to all, be safe.
Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

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Ok, look at your original post, then read this post by someone else...
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Since you asked, my opinion is that this post is kind of sick, especially considering the past few weeks the skydiving community has seen.
-------------------------
Same sentiment, two ways of expressing it.
-S

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with all due respect to the seriousness of the question would it be a skydiving accident if you were doing exactly what you described just that instead of getting hit by lightning you got run over by a car, or a snake came and bit you, or you laughed so hard that your heart stopped. Point being, if this is a serious question then atleast give us your view point so that it doesn't sound all that absurd to us. Else it sounds like some loud thinking to kill time.

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Quote

just that instead of getting hit by lightning you got run over by a car, or a snake came and bit you, or you laughed so hard that your heart stopped


Or drank so many beers your liver fell out and went "clank, clink,clank" across the floor....:D
"Here I come to save the BOOBIES!"

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Anyone remember Land of the Lost, where there was a family driving along and an abyss opened up, swallowed their car, and they were taken back to prehistoric times?
Should their auto policy have covered that?
;-)
-S

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Why do you consider packing part of skydiving? Packing is simply maintanence of equipment that is used for skydiving. Just like changing you oil or filling your car with gas is simply maintanence of the equipment used for driving. I'm not sure how you can ask a serious question about whether or not an accident that occurs while folding nylon could be considered a skydiving incident.
Now if your question is whether or not the "incident" will be discussed by skydivers and in included at web pages such as this, then the answer is yes. It will definately be discussed by the skydiving community. But even an airplane crash involving skydivers is not a skydiving incident, it is an aircraft incident involving passengers that happened to be skydivers.
jhus..

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Just to throw something on the other end of the spectrum from "driving and changing the oil" - let's say some climbers got stuck on the side of a mountain and a storm came along and killed them. Was it a climbing accident?
Is it a hunting accident if you're sitting around camp at night cleaning your gun and shoot yourself?
If someone lands in a lake and drowns, is it a skydiving accident?
I don't think it's that "absurd" of a question. Read it again with a cooler head - he's not saying they landed, and were walking around outside of the clubhouse. They decided to jump in questionable conditions and got caught in a storm.
Oh… you wanted the cheese sticks as an appetizer ??

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I'm with jhus on this one...it's definitely something that we would learn from and discuss about not jumping in questionable weather, but is not something that I think should be classified as a skydiving fatality. If the person were in freefall, yes, I think that could be considered a freak skydiving accident, just as if the person who was climbing was killed in a storm. I would not consider it a climbing accident, though, if the person reached the top, a gust of wind came up and pushed him/her over the edge.
I'm going to completely contradict myself now...
What about looking at it as as "skydiving accident" as something that could happen no other way than skydiving itsself. i.e. - If you could describe someone's death by no other way than to mention skydiving, then it is a skydiving fatality. If someone asks how a person died, though, and the answer can be that he/she had a heart attack, was struck by lightning, or anything else that could happen on the ground, then it may be related to skydiving, but not a skydiving fatality. This would be referring to the actual event that lead to death.
Just a thought.
steve

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Ooooh, Ooooh!!! Land of the Lost! I LOVED that show. Wish it'd come on again.... But I think they were canoeing and went over a waterfall.....and into the land of the lost. The sleestaks were cool....
Ya' know Smack-water Jack he bought a shotgun
'cause he was in the mood for a little con-fron-ta-tion

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So medical conditions now are excluded? I seem to remember an incident a few years ago of someone going into diabetic shock in freefall. Is that skydiving related? The person was kept away from their insulin for a long time due to the plane ride, due to the lack of insulin they had bad judgement.... so was that skydiving related or not?
How about the one where the person landed in the tree and tried to free themselves before the rescue crew got there and choked them self on thier own chest strap? Is that one related to skydiving? The drowning in December... is that one or not?
Drop the tube...DROP the tube...

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