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skydiverek

Crazy cutaway video

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skydiverek

Please list mistakes ;):

(no Facebook account or logon necessary)

https://www.facebook.com/184924424877894/videos/908180672552262/



OK. I'd like to learn a few things from this incident.

Question: In this case do people think holding on to the prop/gun prevented him from fixing the line-twist, or is it more likely that line twist wasn't going to get fixed and the inevitable result is was a reserve ride.

Any guesses how fast he was losing altitude in that that line twist, and since his back facing toward the to ground he needed his altimeter. Did he wait too long to chop?

I counted 24 seconds (approximate) between first opening the chute and pulling the reserve, but more scary was I only counted 8 seconds from them time the gun slipped from his grip and when it hit the ground. (If we assume 6 seconds per 1,000 which is generous considering I don't think he was at terminal velocity) that reserve might have been pull at about 1,000 feet or just above. Does that estimate seem right. Does anyone know what altitude he was at when deploying the reserve?


Considering he might have been low did he have time to try to get belly to earth? With an RSL in that situation, assuming you are spinning back to earth what is the best way to deploy your reserver?
Short of avoiding the situation, any thing he could have done better with is emergency procedures?

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Those line twists looked like they were their to stay. Once you start spinning on your back like that it's a one way ticket to chop city. I also think he was probably a little over 1k. The guy had a MARD of some sort. There was no time for him to get belly to earth. One thing he could have done to avoid the chop was drop the rifle immediately and try to prevent the twists from getting so bad. The only problem is that that falling rifle could hurt someone on the ground. For that reason I wouldn't have let it go either.

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An old cliche: "Don't spend the rest of your life trying to get stable".

Once you initiate your EPs, just finish them. You can deal with line twists in your reserve... unless you're terminally focused on stuff like hanging on to some selfie-stick, obviously. selfie sticks are banned over here by the way. For non-camera props it depends on the common sense of the jumper, which (knowing jumpers) in some cases might possibly have to be beaten into said jumper by the instructor on duty.

You're absolutely right that he spent way too much time trying to correct that line twist. I can't tell whether or not he should have been able to fix it without trying to hold on to the rifle, but the rifle certainly didn't help matters. I also agree that the rifle spent way too little time in freefall for comfort.
"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

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Pretty lucky he had an RSL, was that a skyhook? After checking and resecuring his selfie stick at 1:29 he goes for his handles then changes his mind? Takes another 8 secs and then exectues his EPs? Not sure why he delayed that long, looks like a lot of g forces on a crossbraced canopy.

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For the love of God, don't jump with potentially lethal props (i.e. if the dummy rifle hit someone on the ground).

Yes people have jumped with chairs and kayaks and real guns and all that stuff, as organized stunts in the middle of nowhere.

Try and imagine the fallout if it landed on a road, much less hit a car, much less hit a person, much less killed said person.

You have to anticipate that whatever you jump with you will lose on exit and it will land in the worst possible place. This guy deserves the dumb f**k award, he also fought the line twists way too long, so maybe an oak leaf cluster too.

Based on his chin strap beard and apparent lack of appreciation of how bad he f**ked up, I'm willing to put money on him being involved in a serious incident/possible fatality within a few years.

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With the gun 7 seconds from impact after being slowed to very sub terminal, I'm calling this a probable skyhook save.

The main problem is delaying EPs, holding a prop probably required faster EPs, not more screwing around.

I'm not worried about the prop drop, that wasn't the plan, camera helmets get chopped in an emergency and they have higher terminal V than a plastic gun.

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jdpml

Would love to know the experience of both jumpers, and who thought this was a good idea .



Seems like an awesome idea, it's basically a jump with a selfie stick. Don't let hindsight skew the assessment. How he responded to the emergency is the issue, yes he should have been more ready to ditch the prop and/or execute EPs. GoPros are pricey though.

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dorbie



The main problem is delaying EPs, holding a prop probably required faster EPs, not more screwing around.

I'm not worried about the prop drop, that wasn't the plan, camera helmets get chopped in an emergency and they have higher terminal V than a plastic gun.




I agree about the EP's but...

It looks like a dummy gun used for training, not a plastic toy, they can weigh 5+ lbs, rock hard, and sometimes are real metal guns that have been rendered inoperable and coated in rubber. He also had to ditch it just to execute EP's properly not because of an extremely rare and life threatening malfunction (i.e. camera helmet entanglement/chop). Holding a prop in your hand is not comparable to a camera helmet in terms of 1: probability of dropping it, or 2: in comparing potential damage to it hitting someone or something on the ground.

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I counted 16 revolutions (at least) of the canopy, he probably lost thousands of feet of altitude in that time. I expect he opened higher than usual for the type of jump, good planning, but everything else was pretty disgraceful. Especially if he is or was an experienced skydiver. try once, try twice and then screw it - Plan B

Obsessed with saving the prop and camera.

Jack Larrison went in at Z-Hills in 1997 or 1998, opened a triathlon at 2700', got a toggle fire, had issues all the way to ground, distracted by various things going on. Not a malfunction, just one brake released.

It only took him 11 revolutions and 42 seconds to reach treetop height where he chopped. end of story. The only reason we know what happened to Jack was that he had a camera running with a clear view of his altimeter.

Are line twists a malfunction? Not in many people's minds.
Is a brake fire a malfunction? Not in many people's minds.

But if have not solved either of those in 2 or 3 revolutions, then it is NOW a malfunction and get the fuck rid of it. And I now teach this in my safety seminars.

I challenge anyone to open their parachute, leave the brakes set. get it flying straight....now release one toggle and see what happens. even 'docile' canopies will be horizontal to the ground in 2-3 revolutions and spiraling out of the skyve at a rate of 250-300' per revolution. And your eyeballs and feet will start to hurt rather quickly. this is a malfunction that needs to be dealt with immediately.

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tkhayes

get it flying straight....now release one toggle and see what happens. even 'docile' canopies will be horizontal to the ground in 2-3 revolutions and spiraling out of the sky



+1
Yeah that's a valuable canopy practice to do! I find it much freakier to be taken for a ride like that, than simply doing planned controlled spirals -- even if the control inputs to the canopy are the same. And I'm saying that as someone who does like screwing around under canopy, doing stalls, intentional cutaways, etc.

There is something of a startle factor when the canopy whips you around without your own active control input.

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Quote

I challenge anyone to open their parachute, leave the brakes set. get it flying straight....now release one toggle and see what happens. even 'docile' canopies will be horizontal to the ground in 2-3 revolutions and spiraling out of the skyve at a rate of 250-300' per revolution. And your eyeballs and feet will start to hurt rather quickly. this is a malfunction that needs to be dealt with immediately.



I will have to give that a try.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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