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Attempted exit of aircraft with seatbelt still attached

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An experienced jumper forgot to take off his seatbelt and was hanging for a short time outside the aircraft until a quick thinking friend cut the seatbelt, whereupon he fell clear of the plane.

Fortunately the remaining assembly was around the left leg strap and did not interfere with pilot chute deployment.

Aircraft was a C206U with right side cargo door. Jumper was sitting on bench seat next to pilot, facing rearward.

I asked him later if he didn't feel the seatbelt tighten as he got closer to the door, but he said he did not. The seatbelt does not have much slack in it.

The owner/operator/pilot gave a nice post-incident briefing to everyone.

The jumper did the right thing and bought the destroyed seatbelt. (Of course he took it to the bar that night and used it as a conversation piece to accompany his "no-shit-there-I-was" story to the local gals.)

Please remind everyone to take off their seatbelts at the altitude recommended by drop zone policy. It's easy to forget. (The times I have forgotten I wasn't anywhere near the door.)

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Although this incident could qualify for a "bonehead" mistake, the positives outweigh the negatives. This jumper would have been in a bind were it not for someone being there with a razor knife. I think every jump ship should have a razor knife at the exit point that is affixed to the jump craft itself. It should also have a landyard on it (WE call them Spyders in my proffesion) in case it's dropped while in use so it can't get away and can be retrieved simply by pulling it back to the jump craft with the landyard itself. Cudo's to the quick thinking colleague who cut the jumper loose.
-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

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absolutely important....I always point it out to people although the funniest was of course the TI that forgot it the one time...

On a side note...this was a nice incident to read...no deaths involved...thanks for posting

dave
http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

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We had a similar situation several years ago at my original Home DZ. Cessna 182, Very Large Jumper that sat on the Step and then tried to roll off (This was at about 3500ft, was supposed to Hop & Pop). Got his leg strap caught on the step and was hanging under the plane. Took about 15 minutes and 3 passes over the DZ to get him unhung. Very dangerous situation as they were starting to get a little worried about the fuel situation and cutting the legstrap was not a good option. Finally the Pilot was able to pull somewhat of a zero-G maneuver while the DZO (Still in the plane) was able to use something to pry the Legstrap free. Jumper landed fine but bruised and shaken.

More than just seat belts can get caught.

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This happend to me a couple years back, but luckly the seat belt wasnt long enough to allow me to get to the door. Its actually a pretty easy mistake when you have a lot on your mind. This was recurrecny jump after 7 month layoff and I was kinda jittery. . Glad everything worked out well though.

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We had the same thing happen out of a 182 awhile back, as luck would have it there was a cameraman in the door who was able to video the whole thing.

The camerman simply reached down and opened the buckle on the seat belt and the jumper fell away clean. Apparently the whole thing was quite comical (I still have not seen the video)

Instead of whipping out knives and slashing seat belts wouldn't it make more sense to try and open the buckle first? The seat belts we use in jump planes are quite easy to unfasten and with tension they open very quickly.

I think the knife should be the second option if for some reason you can't release the seat belt in the conventional manner.








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ive only ever seen buckles like (or actually) B12 snaps that hook onto leg straps



that sounds more like a tether, than a seatbelt......:|

could be lots of bumps and bruises, if 4 jumpers or more got thrashed around during any sort of accident, or take-off issue...only connected by one point...
Seat belts are most effective, if they can go around the Jumper, and not just 'through" the harness...:|AND they are More easily NOTICED, prior to exit, if you wear them around you....;)
jt

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(Of course he took it to the bar that night and used it as a conversation piece to accompany his "no-shit-there-I-was" story to the local gals.)



Side bar question;

Does that work? Can you really pick up gals by telling them how stupid you are?
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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In my experience, people generally unfasten their restraints as soon as they legally can (i.e. by the time the aircraft is climbing through 1500ft). I do that routinely because I think otherwise there's a good chance of forgetting during the climb, especially in case of an aircraft emergency when you might need to exit in a hurry. Isn't that the most common practice? That said, I'm not aware of any policy that says you should have unbuckled by a certain height.

The only time I've seen someone deliberately leave a harness fastened all the way to altitude is when facing rearward in some steeply climbing aircraft, where it's more comfortable to let the harness take some of the strain than use your legs to keep you from sliding.

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>Does that work? Can you really pick up gals by telling them how stupid you are?

Most acts of bravery are preceded by acts of stupidity, so they're a necessary part of many stories. Naturally if the same person is responsible for both, it's best to minimize the stupidity aspect of the story.

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>That said, I'm not aware of any policy that says you should have
>unbuckled by a certain height.

Seatbelts MUST be removed before any door is opened for obvious reasons. Barring that, there's no hard and fast reason to remove a seatbelt by X feet (other than as a way to avoid forgetting it, that is!)

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I hate to admit that although I have never jumped while still strapped, (knock on wood!) I have been strapped all the way to altitude at least 5 times before moving a bit and noticing I am still strapped. On the up side, when possible I always put the seatbelt with no slack around my body (not just the harness), so I notice as soon as I try to move. This is one ot the things that I have a tendency to forget. (Argh!)

I am glad the person in this incident was promptly helped by the guy who cut the seatbelt. Do you have any info on the tool used to cut the seatbelt?

--
Be careful giving advice. Wise men don't need it, and fools won't heed it.

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On the up side, when possible I always put the seatbelt with no slack around my body (not just the harness), so I notice as soon as I try to move. This is one ot the things that I have a tendency to forget. (Argh!)

It is also one of the things that seem to happen to me sometimes -- Leaving myself buckled all the way to altitude. Once in a while it happens ("once in a while" is probably too often), but I do have it pretty tight, and always look at it before moving anyway - and I have readjusted my position to do a handle/pin check, which often necessitiates getting my butt away from the seat...

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Back when I was a GK, we picked up two UV-20 Porters from the recently deactivated Berlin Brigade. They spent most of my first year getting them painted and training the pilots, but that fall we started jumping it. It had no benches - we sat on the floor, and secured ourselves with long military type seatbelts that would go across a row of people sitting side by side. After unhooking we would run the released belt under our legs and hook them back together again so they wouldn't sneak out and beat up the aircraft.

We were training at Raeford that fall, and I walked out of the snack bar to hear a hard opening overhead, followed by a scream. I looked up to see one ParaFoil 282 among the demo canopies, which I knew belonged to Neal Beverly (I saw him get on the plane wearing it). He came in and landed beside the tuffet (unusual) and on his ass, followed shortly by some writhing around and calls for a medic.

Turns out Neal had unknowingly hooked his foot under one of the re-attached seatbelts and exited that way, and had dangled under the aircraft. Jose Pruneda, a private pilot, had been flying right seat for fun on that lift, and simply got up and released the belt, freeing Neal. I am not a believer in coincidence - Bob Giaccone had been flying the Porter alone all day until that lift. :o Jose's being there kept Bob from having to land the plane with Neal hanging, which he told us he had planned to do next to the helipad at Womack Army Hospital as a last resort (he would have gotten in, but not out again).

Neal had a badly broken ankle and was out for a while. We ended up making a mat for the floor of the Porter, which we were then able to shove the released seatbelts under to eliminate the risk of another towed jumper, and keep them from beating up the plane. Of course, the mat brought up another issue when jumping smoke . . . but that is another story! ;)
Arrive Safely

John

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We had a similar incident out of a PC-6 Porter about a decade ago only the jumper didn't forget to unbuckle his seatbelt. At the time we re-buckled them after taking them off so that they didn't hang outside the door banging the aircraft after exit. One of the jumpers didn't notice that he stepped through a seatbelt prior to exit.

I was flying right seat, the pilot noticed a shoe at the corner of the door & asked me to check it out. I noticed a leg still attached to the shoe & immediatly squeezed my way between my seat & the pilots seat while wearing an old military emergency rig & military pilot helmet - it's a tight sqeeze.

I made eye contact with the jumper, he signaled me to cut him away by giving me the scuba diving out of oxygen signal & "mouthing cut me away". I simply unbuckled the seatbelt & he fell away looking up at me & giving me a thumbs up. He landed in the pea gravel pit with a broken ankle & deep cuts from the seatbelt.

After this incident we strapped a military helmet bag to the floor & all seatbelts went in it prior to exit. To my knowledge we have not had a problem since then.

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...wouldn't it make more sense to try and open the buckle first?



They reported that the buckle was unreachable due to the position of the jumper's body.



It's also possible for the buckle to be threaded through the leg strap or lateral, and as the person falls away the released buckle jams under the nylon strap, making it impossible to free while under tension.

Obviously opening the belt is an easier way to handle a hang-up than cutting the belt, but sometimes, as you noted in this case, it isn't enough. That's why every jumpship should have a knife, and hopefully there will still be a person on the plane able to use it. That's something for everybody to check at your home drop zone next weekend!
Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

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So whats the use of wearing a seatbelt if you are not wearing it correctly???
Isnt it supposed to be tight?
If its loose and something happens, you are gona bounce all over inside the plane.
If you wear it correctly, it wont let you get off the seat/floor.
If u can reach the door and get off the plane with the seatbelt on, why bother wearing it?
HISPA #93
DS #419.5


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We had the same thing happen out of a 182 awhile back, as luck would have it there was a cameraman in the door who was able to video the whole thing.

The camerman simply reached down and opened the buckle on the seat belt and the jumper fell away clean. Apparently the whole thing was quite comical (I still have not seen the video)



I saw one exactly like that on Real TV, perhaps you can find it to DL somewhere, I will keep an eye out for it. It was a tandem with an older tandem student who, according to the show had no clue that it happened.
-
Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

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(Of course he took it to the bar that night and used it as a conversation piece to accompany his "no-shit-there-I-was" story to the local gals.)



Side bar question;

Does that work? Can you really pick up gals by telling them how stupid you are?



And what quality would they be that you would actuly want any action from them ?
SO this one time at band camp.....

"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."

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