Eule 0 #1 January 30, 2006 Hello all! This post is similar to Ron's summary of US incidents, but covers Germany. 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. With assistance from the German-language forum (Stammtisch), I have attempted a translation of part of the 2005 accident and incident report. The original PDF in German is here, if anyone wants to check or correct 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 2004, not 2005. As a quick comparison with the US, in 2004, Germany had 310,650 jumps and 4 fatalities. In 2005 there were 5 fatalities. I think the US averages around 3,000,000 jumps and 30 fatalities per year. Edited: Late breaking correction for "Automat mit HS" in Stammtisch. Eule German Parachute Association - Safety Conference 2005 (PDF p. 14) Short report on 2005 fatal accidents No. 1 26 May 2005 in Soest Licensed jumper, about 200 jumps * Next-to-last jumper of 15. * No steering after canopy opening. * Landed without flare and with the wind about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the dropzone. * According to physician, jumper was unconscious under canopy and had severe head and neck injuries when landing. ??? * Jumper died shortly after arriving at the hospital. * Autopsy showed brain bleeding (aneurysm) as the cause of fainting. No further investigation necessary. (PDF p. 15) No. 2 3 June 2005 in Bruchsal Licensed jumper, about 700 jumps * Free fall jump from 4,000 m (13,100 feet). * Free fall, opening and canopy flight normal. * 180° hook turn started too low during approach - hit the ground in the turn. * Died of broken neck and internal injuries. * Main canopy Nitro 120. No further investigation necessary. (PDF p. 16) No. 3 18 June 2005 in Damme Two licensed jumpers, with about 180 and 140 jumps * 3-way formation jump from 4,000 m (13,100 ft) with free-fall maneuvers (Salti ??? and barrel rolls. One jumper with camera helmet.) * Jumper 1's pilot chute started to slip out (seen on video). * At about 2,500 m (8,200 ft), pilot chute came out and caused unintentional opening during barrel roll. * Jumper 2, only a few meters above jumper 1, struck jumper 1 with full force. (Jumper 1 just at line stretch. ???) * Both jumpers immediately suffered fatal head injuries. * Jumper 1 landed about 2 km (1.2 mi) out under main canopy. * Jumper 2 fell unstable until the AAD opened the reserve. Landed with bad opening (???) in tree beside airfield. Investigation by German Army. (PDF p. 17) No. 4 30 June 2005 in Fehrbellin Licensed jumper, about 600 jumps * Training jump for swooping match. * Opening and pattern completely normal up to last acceleration turn for downwind landing. * The turn was clearly initiated too low, but was not aborted. * This led to hitting the ground at high speed and fatal injuries. * Main canopy Katana 89, wing loading about 1.8. Technical investigation by German Parachute Association experts. (PDF p. 20) CAUSES of fatal accidents 2005 2 fatal low turns (and 2 low turns with major injuries) 2 free-fall collision (after premature opening) 1 by aneurysm after opening (PDF p. 18) Short report on 2005 major accidents 16 May 2005 in Bad Neustadt/Saale Licensed jumper * During demo jump at airshow, normal jump and pattern until about 15 m (45 feet), when a steep left turn started. * Jumper hit ground hard and fell forward. * Broken vertebra. No information on jump count and main canopy. (PDF p. 19) 30 October 2005 in Leutkirch Licensed jumper, about 1,000 jumps * Free fall jump with normal jump and pattern until about 15 m (45 feet), when a 180º turn was attempted. * Jumper was too low and hit ground hard. * Life-threatening spine and head injuries. Main canopy Stiletto 120. (PDF p. 6) General jump statistics for 2004 (99 feedbacks) Total jumps in 2004 310,650 including AFF jumps 5,070 static-line jumps 16,856 tandem jumps 21,560 New students 1650 including AFF 790 Static line 860 (PDF p. 7) General jump statistics for 2004 Accidents Fatal 4 Major 94 Minor 70 Incidents Reserve ride 302 Low pull 18 AAD fire 11 Landing on/at obstacle 21 Canopy collision 6 (PDF p. 9) Statistics of the known jump accidents in 2005 65 accidents overall | Students | Licensed| Jump count | 1 <10 <50 |<200 >200|Tandem -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Unstable opening | | 1 | | | | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Mid-air collision | | | | | 5 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Canopy control | | | | | 4 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Low turn | | | | 2 | 9 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Landing | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Hit obstacle | 1 | | | 1 | | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Operating error (equipment) | | | | | 1 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Free fall injury | | | | 1 | | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Other | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Fatal accidents | | | | 1 | 4 | | -----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Notes | 17 hurt | 36 hurt | 7 hurt | | 5 dead | passengers (PDF p. 10) Remarks on accidents in 2005 5 injuries with demo jumps (off-field landings) 1 canopy collision (2 hurt in the approach flight) 3 free fall collisions (with 5 hurt) 1 hurt in the climb (Heart attack?/Brain seizure? - still in coma) (PDF p. 11) Tandem accidents 2005 7 known accidents 7 passenger in incorrect position when landing (foot/leg injuries) Tandem reserve rides 2005 14 reserve rides including 10 EZ main canopies (including 7 line twists) ??? 2 two-out ??? 2 streamers (both cases central cells folded) ??? (PDF p. 12) AAD cases 2005 1 lifesaving case - unconscious jumper after free fall collision (PDF p. 13) Further cases of damage/incidents 2005 1 heavy injury by hard reserve opening (after cutaway in upside-down position - lines caught on camera helmet) 1 damaged horizontal stabilizer of airplane taking off (static line jump with pilot chute) (== IAD???) 1 substantial airplane damage (prop struck parked vehicle) 1 bad opening (without injury) by bad equipment (rubber bands, Velcro, steering lines)PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skytash 0 #2 January 30, 2006 in reference to fatal incident No 3 - Salto(sing) /salti (plur) are front- or backloops in English. tashDon't ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is a special occasion. Avril Sloe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrogNog 1 #3 January 30, 2006 Is fatal incident #3 already a thread here on dropzone.com? It is an interesting one. -=-=-=-=- Pull. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turnlow 0 #4 January 30, 2006 First, thanks for your post. Second, I find the level of detail available interesting, particularly when compared to other countries. How is this inforation gathered and how did you receive it? Could you provide more details on the incident report process in Germany? I am curious to learn how it differs from the US where I believe the reporting to, and membership in, the national organization is voluntary. _________________________________________________It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eule 0 #5 February 8, 2006 Skytash: thanks for the correction. FrogNog: I think this is the Incidents thread about this incident. Quote Turnlow> How is this inforation gathered and how did you receive it? I don't know how it is gathered. The DFV appears to have an annual safety conference, where a summary of the year's incidents is given. The slides of the 2005 report are online as a PDF, which is what I translated. Quote Turnlow> Could you provide more details on the incident report process in Germany? I can't, but I think possibly Chrisky, Skytash or cengelbrecht may be able to. If there isn't a reply in a few more days, I'll ask about the process in the German-language forum. EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eule 0 #6 February 10, 2006 An update to my original post: Quote (PDF p. 11) Tandem accidents 2005 7 known accidents 7 passenger in incorrect position when landing (foot/leg injuries) Tandem reserve rides 2005 14 reserve rides including 10 EZ main canopies (including 7 line twists) ??? 2 two-out ??? 2 streamers (both cases central cells folded) ??? I was confused on the translation of the tandem reserve rides. I thought they were referring to different types of malfunctions, but instead they were referring to the model of canopy that had the problem. cengelbrecht explained this to me in the German-language forum. With his explanation, the "reserve rides" entry should read: Tandem reserve rides 2005 14 reserve rides including 10 on "EZ" (PD) main canopies (including 7 line-overs) 2 on "TWIN" (Paratec) main canopies 2 on "CONTRAIL" (PV) main canopies - center cell collapsed in both cases EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cengelbrecht 0 #7 February 12, 2006 Hi Eule, ok, the qustion was, how the reports are gatherd. This is quite easy to be explained: 1. Any incident in Germany, involving licenced skydivers, must be reported to one of the associations (DFV or DAeC, where DFV covers approx. 85 % of the skydivers in Germany), if the injury is classified as serious. Serious means, broken bone (not fingers or nose) or stay in hospital for more than 24 hours, regardless of the injury. Non-serious injuries don't need to be reported, but should. And a lot of dropzones do report accurately. 2. Any incident involving students, must be reported to the associations, regardless of the degree of injury (could be none!). This includes both regular students and tandem students. It also covers reserve deployments, even if no one is injured. Remark: For Germany, we have a different legal situation compared to the US. Legal authorities, which are the LBA (Luftfahrt Bundesamt), comparable to the FAA, entitled both associations with a status of "self administration", even for these parts which belong to the LBA's core competence like incident investigation and equipment approval. Don't want to go into too much detail, it is quite complex to draw the full picture. But because of the status, the associations have a legal background for acquiring the data for the annual report. Hope this answers everthing satisfactorily ... Best personal regards Carsten (just in case anyone wants to ask about my qualification: vice president of DFV since five years) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
