Eule 0 #1 May 8, 2007 Hello all! In early 2006, Ron posted a summary of incidents in the US for 2005. I found a similar summary online for incidents in Germany for 2005, translated it (with help), and posted it. I knew that there would be another summary for 2006, but I just hadn't looked for it yet or done the work. I finally did it, so here it is, with the idea of "better late than never". The German Parachute Association (Deutscher Fallschirmsport Verband or DFV) has an annual safety conference, the proceedings of which are posted on their Web site. Click on Download, then "Sicherheitstagung_200x" to see what is available for each year. One of the DFV officers posted an explanation (in English) of how these reports and statistics are gathered. You can get the original report in German if you want to check my work. I have marked the places where I am unsure of the translation with '???'. I have included the section on accidents, plus some general statistics on number of jumpers and jumps in Germany. Note that some of the general statistics are for 2005, not 2006. As a quick comparison with the US, in 2005, Germany had 260,800 jumps and 5 fatalities. In 2005, the US had 2,177,007 jumps and 27 fatalities. Eule German Parachute Association - Safety Conference 2006 (PDF p. 16) Short report on 2006 fatal accidents No. 1 7 May 2006 in Soest Student jumper, 34 jumps (male, 41 years old) Student jumper, 26 jumps (female, 33 years old) Two freefall students in the final phase of training jumped next to last and last. The jump was normal until final approach. The wind was between 14 and 16 knots. Both jumpers were at about 100 m (300 feet) AGL and one was 100 m (300 feet) in front of the other. The jumper in front made a 180 degree turn to get closer to the landing area. The canopies collided, collapsed, and entangled. Both jumpers fell to the ground from about 80 to 100 m (240 to 300 feet) with fatal injuries. (PDF p. 17) No. 2 11 June 2006 in Saulgau Licensed jumper, about 110 jumps (male, 62 years old) After normal freefall and deployment, the jumper probably had a stroke under canopy. Without steering, the jumper flew towards town, hit the wall of a house, and fell to the pavement with heavy internal injuries and a broken neck. He died in the hospital after some days in a coma. (PDF p. 18) No. 3 15 June 2006 in Lützellinden Licensed jumper, about 400 jumps (female, 52 years old) Jump normal until about 300 m (1200 feet). At this height, over the peas, the jumper threw her helmet down and apparently without reason cut away a good main canopy. Jumper went into a track position and hit the ground without any apparent attempt to deploy the reserve. All circumstances point quite clearly to suicide. (PDF p. 19) No. 4 24 June 2006 in Flensburg Licensed jumper, about 3000 jumps (male, 62 years old) No pull during a demo jump (AL in Kaserne ??? *) from about 1000 m (3000 feet). Medical cause? No AAD installed. Accuracy ("goal jump") canopy. ??? (* Possibly a soccer game (A----liga) at a fort/barracks ) (PDF p. 20) No. 5 3 September 2006 in Worms Licensed jumper, about 380 jumps (male, 42 years old) Demo jump (AL *) into the harbor. Wind about 5-6 m/s (10-12 knots). Planned water jump by four jumpers in two approaches. This jumper went first, with a 120 square foot canopy that he only had a few jumps on. By bad set-up and bad canopy control (front riser turn), jumper flew into a boat at the edge of the harbor at high speed and died from the very hard impact. Main canopy Faqtor 120 with only 2-3 jumps on this canopy. (* Soccer game? ) (PDF p. 21) No. 6 16 September 2006 in Fehrbellin Licensed jumper, about 600 jumps (male, 45 years old) Normal jump with fully deployed canopy. Landing pattern too close to an obstacle - to fly over the obstacle, the jumper pulled and held a front riser too long. Without flaring, hit a wood bank at high speed, and died a short time later from severe head injuries. Main canopy Stiletto 120 with about 12 jumps on that canopy; previously jumper had a 135 square foot canopy. (PDF p. 22) No. 7 31 October 2006 in Eggenfelden Licensed jumper, about 300 jumps (male, 45 years old) 3-way jump with normal freefall and deployment. At opening, jumper flew about 6 to 8 complete circles down to about 150 m (450 feet) over a hangar. The jumper was probably surprised by the speed and altitude loss. Instead of flying straight ahead to an alternate landing area, (understanding the situation was too much for him??? "offenbar mit Einordnung der Situation überfordert") the jumper made another full turn and hit the hangar roof at high speed, then fell to the ground and immediately died from his injuries. Main canopy Icarus 139 with about 30 jumps on that canopy. (PDF p. 24) CAUSES of fatal accidents 2006 1 during off-field landing because of errors in approach, canopy control, and (risk assesment??? "Risikofreude") 1 error on approach; hit obstacle 1 low turn; hit roof 1 no pull, no AAD 2 canopy collision (students in landing pattern) 1 stroke after canopy opening 1 suicide (PDF p. 23) Short report on 2006 major accidents 22 July 2006 in SLS-Düren AFF student, 8 sport jumps (male, 23 years old) Repeat level 6 jump (8 jumps total). Wind on the edge of 16 knots; spot about 1 NM (1.2 mi) from DZ. Freefall OK until about 1500 m (4500 feet). At pull time, student stretched legs, became unstable (top-heavy), and dipped down and turned away. Hard pull on the main because of broken Teflon coating at the handle. Instructor tried to reach the student until about 600 m (1800 feet) but couldn't. The instructor pulled at 600 m and didn't see the student's canopy. The AAD fired the student's reserve low enough that full inflation and landing happened at the same time. Student survived with heavy fractures of both legs. (PDF p. 7) General jump statistics for 2005 Accidents Fatal 5 Major 65 Minor 40 Incidents Reserve ride 286 (including 72 student reserve rides) Low pull 8 AAD fire 11 Landing on/at obstacle 12 Canopy collision 4 (PDF p. 6) General jump statistics for 2005 (78 feedbacks) Total jumps in 2005 260,800 (down about 50,000 from previous year) including AFF jumps 4,750 static-line jumps 12,650 tandem jumps 22,530 (PDF p. 8) Training statistics 2005 (66 feedbacks) New students 1,460 including AFF 710 Static line 750 Student jumps in 2005 17,400 (down about 4,600 from previous year) including about 900 jumps in other countries (PDF p. 9) Statistics of the known jump accidents in 2006 91 accidents overall | Students | Licensed| Jump count | 1 <10 <50 |<200 >200|Tandem -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Unstable opening | 2 | 1 | | | 1 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Mid-air collision | | | | | 4 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Canopy control | 1 | | | 1 | 3 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Low turn | 1 | | | 1 | 4 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Landing | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 12+1 | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Hit obstacle | 3 | 1 | | | 2 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Operating error (equipment) | | 2 | | | 1 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Free fall injury | | | | | | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Other | 1 | 1 | | | 2 | 3 | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Fatal accidents | | | 2 | 1 | 5 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+------+ Notes | 33 hurt | 35 hurt | 16 hurt | 2 dead | 6 dead | passengers (PDF p. 10) Remarks on accidents in 2006 3 injured by demo jumps (off-field landings) plus 1 fatal accident 2 injured by free fall collision (tracking dive) 2 injured by reserve deployment directly under a funneled 4-way (PDF p. 11) Tandem accidents 2006 16 known accidents 12 passenger in incorrect position when landing (foot/leg injuries) 1 injured instructor (tandem examiner) by bad landing of the student 3 injured passengers by bad wind conditions (turbulence, downwind) Tandem reserve rides 2006 13 reserve rides including 11 on "EZ" (PD) main canopies (including 5 line overs) 2 on "CONTRAIL" (PV) main canopies (PDF p. 12) Tandem incidents 2006 1 reserve landing with blocked left steering line or blocked left toggle ??? 2 drogue out after canopy opening (kill line problem) ??? 1 water landing in Oderhaff (place ???) (bad spot, clouds, strong wind) 1 injured passenger (tandem master without valid certification - (Owi by LBA ???)) (PDF p. 13) AAD cases 2006 1 lifesaving case - AFF student in uncontrolled free fall with hard pull on main canopy (PDF p. 14) Student accidents 1 tree landing under reserve (main malfunction) 1 landing with turning (malfunctioning) main canopy (PDF p. 15) Further cases of damage/incidents 2006 1 damaged horizontal stabilizer of jump plane (static line with pilot chute) EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #2 May 8, 2007 thanx. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #3 May 8, 2007 Thanks for that. Do you have the total jumps made in Germany for 2006? Things I noticed were the age and experience of the casualties. There was only one person under 40 and only one person had more than 600 jumps, indicating these people started skydiving later in life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eule 0 #4 May 10, 2007 QuoteNo. 3 15 June 2006 in Lützellinden Licensed jumper, about 400 jumps (female, 52 years old) Jump normal until about 300 m (1200 feet). 300 m is the figure in the original report. I gave an inaccurate conversion - it should be 900 feet, not 1200. EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eule 0 #5 May 10, 2007 QuoteDo you have the total jumps made in Germany for 2006? No, I don't. It wasn't in the 2006 safety meeting numbers and I couldn't find it elsewhere on the DFV site. Just going by the number of jumps and accidents reported for 1995-2005, I would guess something like 300,000 to 310,000 jumps in 2006. EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vpozzoli 0 #6 May 10, 2007 In this context I think "AL" actually means "Accuracy Landing" and has nothing to do with the Fussball-Liga And Risikofreude is bettter translated as "complacency" (literally "being happy with the risk"). Other than that excellent translation. Thanks for your work. Cheers, Vale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
