Beaner Failure

[RiggerLee 61]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/paraglider-pilot-dies-saving-his-passengers-life-after-cord-snaps-midair


Lee

Lee
[email protected]
www.velocitysportswear.com

[pchapman 275]

Not sure of the skydiving relevance but I wasn't aware of that paragliding incident. A popular paragliding forum doesn't have any answers yet.

Who knows what the standard of equipment was at that particular place in India. No emergency chute carried either, apparently.

Carabiners in paragliding have long been known to have certain limitations. Now maybe you know this, but just to give background for the thread: If the 'biners are aluminum they are more likely to get cracks from rough handling or scratches that make them fatigue damage and breakage. So many pilots went to heavier steel 'biners. And the snap gate system sometimes allows repetitive strain on them because when under less load, the closed snap gate doesn't always actually get loaded. So the 'biner acts more like a "C" shape rather than a closed "O" shape, and cycles of stress fatigue it.

We don't usually deal with carabiner style hardware in skydiving...

[dpreguy 14]

I am constantly perplexed and irritated by the seemingly ubiquitous trust persons put in a single carabiner. Bungee jumping etc. As former 20 + year rock climber (back then) I had seen every carabiner made. And yes, in climbing we only used one while leading and when time was a factor. I have popped a rivet in a steel one when doing a fast stop on a rappel, Seen a rope pop out of one, and so forth.

But everyone. Everyone back then knew that when time and circumstances permit that you avoided putting a life at risk with a single carabiner. We all knew to use two and oppose the gates.

Now, when I go to climbing stores I see carabiners that are very expensive. I think the assumption is that if it is expensive and rated in high thousands of pounds or kilos, the user just thinks he's covered. And, I'm sure that in almost every case, that is true. Almost every case. But, as the previous poster pointed out, things can be damaged etc.

Nothing is more secure than to use TWO good biners and opposing the gates. So simple.

In a hang/para glider there is no reason to rely on just one. It is just a bad practice. Almost isn't good enough. And the use of two as I have described has been known for 40 or 50 or more years.

[pnuwin 0]

We had a rule to trash any carabiners that had been dropped. You couldn’t see hairline fractures. I imagine many would disregard this rule.

Here’s a link to a recent incident where a guy forgets his carabiner and has to hang on for his life.

https://youtu.be/dLBJA8SlH2w

[RiggerLee 61]

I saw that one as well but considered it less interesting.

I don't know if part of the beaner stayed with the harness or not. It would be interesting to see the fracture line. Looks like it failed on the opposite side from the gate. I'm thinking that it got thrown down on concrete or some thing. Got a small fracture and then grew over time as it was loaded and unloaded flexing as described above.

I shared it because I found it interesting even though it's not a peace of hardware we normally use. I just think it's worth remembering that hardware is one of the scetchiest parts of our systems. And we put a great deal of faith in it some times. Any one that's been around long enough has stories. I found a main ring with a fracture in it when we were proof testing a batch of hardware. It broke way below spec. I remember a badly forged 22040. I've also seen them with the bar upside down. There was a bad batch of those going around at one point. I've seen rapid links split and stretch. Lines fell off his canopy after he landed. I've seen slinks break under canopy.

Although it's from a different industry it's a good object lessen and shouldn't be ignored.

Lee

Lee
[email protected]
www.velocitysportswear.com

[linestretch 0]

for what it's worth, paragliding rigs use 2 biners. You can clearly see this in the video. If you're referring to using 2 biners per attachment, then that's a different story. This is a tandem & there should have been a reserve throw in there somewhere (but obviously this didn't happen). The headline that the pilot saves the passengers life is odd. Had he thrown the reserve he would have saved both lives.

my pics & stuff!

[Hooknswoop 19]

At the end of the video, you can see the deflating para glider just above them. Then you can see something else drifting down. Whatever is drifting down resembles a cutaway main skydiving canopy. Could this be their reserve?

As for saving the passenger's life, he hit first. Not much choice in the matter. If that saved the passenger's life and they want to give the pilot credit, OK.

Derek V

[linestretch 0]

I saw that too....just assumed it's part of the wing that tore off. But the reserves are integrated a bit differently so that wouldn't have been the reserve. Granted, there's a lot more gear makers of paragliders than like skydiving and they are no where near standardized. To me, it looks like the biner failed, & they rode in the streamer with zero reserve deployment.

my pics & stuff!

[Hooknswoop 19]

It could have been the reserve if that failed as well.

Derek V

[linestretch 0]

not buying it since the reserves are typically integrated into harness and not the biners. Watch this video, about a minute into it. You can see how the reserve attaches to the harness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guhZt6f4oLA

well shit....it is connected to the biners on that one. I'm still sticking to my 'not buying it' statement though.

my pics & stuff!

[linestretch 0]

So I stand corrected....the reserve is attached to the biners. There are several methods to connecting the reserve to the harness. My personal set up doesn't attach to the biners, it's attached harness and you'll hang from the reserve differently than when under the wing.

But...with that said, the reserve has 2 attachments and with one not working, the other should have done it's job and should have supported the weight of both.

my pics & stuff!

[Hooknswoop 19]

I watched it again, never saw anything that would resemble deploying the reserve. I did manage to freeze the video and you can see the carabiner failing. That system used 6+ carabiners.

My reserve attaches to the carabiners, (front mount, speed wing).

Derek V

[linestretch 0]

Yes, front mounts allow that option....right to the biners. But other harnesses that have the reserve in the back or bottom typically have the bridle running up and to the back of the pilots head. The shitty thing is you hang leaning forward when under the reserve.

my pics & stuff!

[kuai43 7]

RiggerLee

https://www.foxnews.com/world/paraglider-pilot-dies-saving-his-passengers-life-after-cord-snaps-midair


Lee

Ok. I clicked on this, thinking it was a Mexican pilot/instructor.
Just ban me now. I've had worse.

Every fight is a food fight if you're a cannibal

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man. - Anthony Burgess

[SethInMI 160]

kuai43

[quote
Ok. I clicked on this, thinking it was a Mexican pilot/instructor.
Just ban me now. I've had worse.

Yeah, i think it would be nice if Lee would spell correctly, but we are all so used to the way he writes that it is part of his charm; reading him is sometimes like solving a word puzzle.

It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".