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riggerrob

Seat-belt hang-up?

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This related to speculation about the recent tandem accident in Cape Cod.
I answered: "once" to my own poll. I was doing tandems out of a cargo-door Cessna 206. I got one ass cheek off the door sill when I felt the seat-belt. Hauled my ass (and my student's ass) back inside the plane. Removed the seat-belt and exited on the second pass.

Caveat: Lawyers are free to quote this thread as long as they pay me royalties. Royalties start with video-tape of them going three rounds of "smash mouth" with another lawyer. They are not allowed to harm para-legals in the process. They are not allowed to harm legal assistants in the process. They ate not allowed to harm legal secretaries in the process. They are not allowed to harm hired-guns in the process. They are not allowed to harm law students in the process. They are not allowed to delegate ...

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I consider removing my belt at the prescribed altitude part of my "never forget" list, right along with gear checks before boarding, handle checks before exit, etc. In fact, I spend the climb-out monitoring altitude with my hand on the buckle, ready to take the belt off as soon as allowed. For me personally, I want to be ready to bail at any moment, especially at low altitude should it be necessary.

On a side note, at my home DZ we jump Otters and Caravans and most of the year it's warm enough that we want the door open after getting to a safe climb altitude. Part of our routine procedure includes the folks who open the door confirming all belts are off before doing so. The door is not opened until a thumbs up is given by the jumpers confirming belts are off.
Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

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Somewhat related is being aware on every exit of slop seat belts laying on the floor in front of the door, and stowing them out of the way, for anyone after me. Once I saw a student re-buckling the seat belt at the end of the bench right in front of the door. I nicely mentioned NEVER EVER.
Life is short ... jump often.

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A number of years ago, we had a young lady attempt a naked hop-n-pop. She was sitting on a bench very close to the door and neglected to disengage her single-point seat belt before exit. She made it out the door but not much further. She bounced around a bit before she was hauled back in the PAC. She received a knot on the head and rode the aircraft down. She did complete the jump another day. Side note: one of the people who hauled her back in the plane was a newer jump named Nick Batsch.
Peace,
-Dawson.
http://www.SansSuit.com
The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving

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It happens. Sitting at the door of a caravan, doing a tandem (had around 10000 tandems at this point). Something happened and changed my routine. Forgot about it, sitting exit, hanging from under the plane. Was about the disconnect the restraint (lift buckle) and pulled back in by camera people. Have a routine and if something changes it, triple check and be sure. Distractions are a part of the scenario.

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trigger


..........................................................

Yes!
Thanks for providing video.

Why are those red straps so long?
How do they prevent skydivers from flailing around the cabin?
How do long straps prevent disastrous shifts in balance?

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The restraint's vary in length.... don't know the reasons for the idea behind the design.I can only assume to limit the amount of forward travel in the event of an aircraft incident.

Edited to add!

With 14 jumpers weight shift is limited as we are packed in like sardines.
.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

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trigger

The restraint's vary in length.... don't know the reasons for the idea behind the design.I can only assume to limit the amount of forward travel in the event of an aircraft incident.

Edited to add!

With 14 jumpers weight shift is limited as we are packed in like sardines.



...............................................................................

I am struggling to see the logic behind red straps that long.
Granted, they prevent people from crushing the pilot, but they ignore the other end of the balance envelope 'cus they allow everyone to slide too far to the rear. If everyone slides too far aft, then the airplane is un-balanced: easy to stall and impossible to recover from a stall/spin.
We have lost too many jump-planes and jumpers in stall-spin accidents.

I am also struggling to understand how that long a red strap could prevent flail type injuries: bouncing off the ceiling, wall, floor, repeat????

I am completely baffled as to how that long a red strap could prevent a dog-pile at one end of the cabin?????

Inquiring minds want to know?????

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Like i said Rob, not my idea and i agree with your points but any restraint is better than no restraint and believe me, i have been there.

Broke my back in 2007 in an aircraft incident! Whether restraints would have made a difference i don't know, but i'd like to think so.
.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

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http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2711809;search_string=headcorn;#2711809

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2717788;search_string=trigger;#2717788

The first LINK is the actual incident

Second
LINk relative to the incident

Lessons learned=restraints are a good idea use them ( no restraints were fitted in the aircraft and i was sitting back to back with the pilot statement relating to the 2007 incident )

Wear your helmet ( scroll down the thread in the 2nd Link as pictures are posted )
.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

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Odd!
The official report lists one parachutist suffering chest injuries, but no mention of your spinal injuries. Make sure that your injuries are carefully documented, in the event that you need to file claims for compensation later in life.
BPA remains steadfast in their conviction that hang-ups are a greater risk than crashes.

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Not an official report just the damn media.

FTR Fractured L2,L3,whiplash and burst blood vessels in my eyes.
Dragged my arse out of hospital the next day as i could stand the sound of people whining

One dead pilot

And no i'm not interested in compensation

Fact: i am fully recovered IMO and have no desire to profit from someones death.

Maybe i suffer with man the fuck up
.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

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......

Maybe I suffer with "man the fuck up"

...........................................................................

"Man the fuck up" really messes with bureaucrats.
Their entire triage system is based on how loud the patient whines.
Bureaucrats cannot see the difference between "patient quit whining" versus "patient is healed."

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Those red lanyards are asinine, I fail to see the point!

That is the downside of single point belts, I know two really great heads up instructors that managed to get their way out of a U-206 with the belt still on.

If the belt isn't all jammed up I try to always shorten single point belts so that there is as little slack as possible. I figure it will be harder to forget if I have a short leash, and I will flail around less if I actually put the seat-belt to use in a crash.
"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

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rastapara

Also, is it a good idea to attach the seatbelt to your cheststrap? Its not designed to be loadbearing right?



.............................................................................

Correct
Most chest strap buckles are only rated for 500 pounds. Chest straps are only expected to keep the shoulder straps on your shoulders while your torso rotates to vertical.
Chest and back straps' primary function is to prevent you from falling forward or backward out of the harness.
Chest and back straps are only expected to hold 5 to 15 percent of opening shock.

Once your torso is vertical, most of the weight is taken by your leg straps and MLWs.
In comparison, most leg strap buckles are rated for 2,500 pounds.

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2004 from a 206 in Iowa. It was really cold and the plane had a roll up door that I was unfamiliar with, I was distracted after exit i found myself hanging right side up under the plane. did i mention I was last out and it was a utility 206 so no help from the pilot. Fortunately the belt release was at the harness and i released it and away we went.

Sometime luck matters...

Uncle/GrandPapa Whit
Unico Rodriguez # 245
Muff Brother # 2421

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