2005 US Incident Summary

[Ron 7]

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First time in 10 years that "landing" has not been in 1st place.

Yes, which makes me think that people are learning, or that some of the regulations (like how some DZ's have WL charts) are helping.

Thats good.

One thing that bothers me is how so many people this year failed to correctly perform their EP's all the way, or lost track of altitude.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[speedy 0]

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It's a matter of semantics.

Many people consider the "Skydive" as the Free falling part of diving through the sky.

If, as you say "You cannot stop a skydive until you are on the ground."

When does the "Parachute Jump" start and end?

You are right of course, I don't know why it got to me ( and still does) so much. I'll just let it go.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[Trae 1]

in reply to " One thing that bothers me is how so many people this year failed to correctly perform their EP's all the way, or lost track of altitude. "
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Apart from students it's not so common to see skydivers practicing their emergency procedures at least not in public on the DZ.

It would seem prudent to do this just prior to each and every jump. It only takes a few seconds (or less) and is a good reminder for any-one no matter what skill or experience level.

Seeing highly experienced skydivers quickly running through their emergency procedures prior to emplaning is something that looks VERY sensible.

Perhaps we can all set a good example by doing this.....before EVERY skydive.

[riggerrob 558]

Yes, but practicing emergency procedures is just not "cool" on some DZs.

On the other hand, some large DZs offer to fire tandem instructors who are not seen patting all their handles, in the correct sequence on every video.

Frankly, I scares me how many licensed jumpers screw up EPs when I ask them to pull their reserve ripcord when their reserves come due for repack.

[Trae 1]

in reply to "Yes, but practicing emergency procedures is just not "cool" on some DZs. "
.Frankly, I scares me how many licensed jumpers screw up EPs when I ask them to pull their reserve ripcord when their reserves come due for repack. "
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I think we've found a flaw in the crystal.

In the cool crowd it's not the done thing to imply that any practice is necessary. Then impressionable newbies appear to copy this anti-survival tactic.

Over the long term the cool crowd goes cold. often leaving a trail of destruction in its haphazard and often delusional wake.
It's probably not cool to notice this tendency or talk about it but I'd prefer to be temperate and survive than cool and dead any-day.

I'm reminded a bit of the dog that leads its pack across the highway to thin it out a bit. The faster ones speed over just making it.... the slower less speedy ones at the back of the pack either drop off or get taken out by a truck or two with no brakes. Later on the surviving pack members go back for a feed.

[uponone 0]

Ron, thanks for taking the time to post this.

If all the instructors/experienced skydivers would practice their EP's on the way up to altitude I think it would make it more "cool" for others to practice. I always do one before boarding the plane, then one on the climb up, then when we are about ready to jump I check my main flap to make sure it's closed, touch my hackey to make sure it's in the right spot, and then do another quick practice of my EP's. It only takes a second and I don't see what's so "uncool" about practicing survival techniques.

[Zenister 0]

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In the cool crowd it's not the done thing to imply that any practice is necessary.

damn i guess there just arent that many 'cool' jumpers about Eloy then... nearly everyone i see regularly touches their handles, in order, at some point in their in-plane ritual...its a pretty reliable altimeter on some loads...

maybe we have vastly different definitions of cool...but i'd say your statement only applies to the group you observe weekly...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Trae 1]

in reply to "damn i guess there just arent that many 'cool' jumpers about Eloy then.."
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Sounds like a HOT place to skydive.

[matthewcline 0]

The line about Eloy is true.

At around 8K I am sitting there eyes closed thinking through the six way RW jump I am on.

I get an elbow to the ribs followed by an "oops sorry", I respond "no problem" and look to who got me. Kirk Verner is doing EP's right before he went into his visualization of the same six way.

The point, EPs save lives. Skydiving like you have no ADD and practicing EP's will keep the average jumper alive, there are exceptions and this incident may have been one.

May heaven rejoice in their new member,
we will smile as we remember.

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[Trae 1]

in reply to " I get an elbow to the ribs followed by an "oops sorry", I respond "no problem" and look to who got me. Kirk Verner is doing EP's right before he went into his visualization of the same six way. "
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You guys have got some of the best to emulate.

Here people seem more interested in funny little flapping hand shakes and weirdly try to touch every-one in the plane before they get going...

I'll take the EPs any day.

[Zenister 0]

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infunny little flapping hand shakes and weirdly try to touch every-one in the plane before they get going...

we do those too

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Ron 7]

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Apart from students it's not so common to see skydivers practicing their emergency procedures at least not in public on the DZ.

Yeah, amazingly students want to copy the cool kids....

Its a shame that not enough people think that safety is cool. Funny story about that....Many years ago I was jumping with Derrick Thomas and the ringer team at a Turkey meet. We had two airspeed folks with us, and all the "experienced" folks in the area...One of the new young hotshots (good jumper) is walking to the plane and he has his rig undone, legstraps hanging lose, cheststrap undone. I pulled him aside and asked him a few questions:

1. Hey XXXXX. You think the group standing out here is really experienced and cool?

He said yes.

2. Notice that every single one of them has their gear totally on? No one is wearing their rig like you are right?

He said no...

3. Who do you think is cooler, Derrick Thomas, Airspeed, Sally Hathaway, Tony Hataway, or you?

He started wearing his rig all the way on.

Cool, is surviving. Stupid looking is a body bag.

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Perhaps we can all set a good example by doing this.....before EVERY skydive.

I have 3,800 jumps and maybe 10,000 cutaways . I practice my E-procedures several times on the walk to the boarding area, again in the plane before exit (serves as a handle touch also).

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Trae 1]

in reply to "infunny little flapping hand shakes and weirdly try to touch every-one in the plane before they get going...

--------
we do those too
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errr yukky .... freefly germs.................

I prefer to guard my handles..... and keep my eyes open....

[AFFI 0]

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If all the instructors/experienced skydivers would practice their EP's on the way up to altitude I think it would make it more "cool" for others to practice. I always do one before boarding the plane, then one on the climb up, then when we are about ready to jump I check my main flap to make sure it's closed, touch my hackey to make sure it's in the right spot, and then do another quick practice of my EP's. It only takes a second and I don't see what's so "uncool" about practicing survival techniques.

About the “experienced” skydivers who did not handle their EP’s correctly and died. Practice is good but an area where I see skydivers might be making an error – well, my observation of how some practice their EP’s in the loading area and on the way to altitude is going through the motions of practice hurried – “Ba Bam (cutaway) Bam (reserve)” in rapid succession.

“BaBam-Bam ”! “BaBam-Bam ”! “BaBam-Bam ”!

Emergency procedures should be (IMHO) graceful and methodical with good technique rather than trying to do it as quickly as possible. Think of Boxing or Fencing, not really sports of brutality as much as they are sports of good form and gracefulness. The “BaBam-Bam ”! practicing is building muscle memory that could be counter productive because if one is used to practicing this way they might rush their EP’s when they don’t have to and create an opportunity for error, and as we all know skydiving is not a good activity to have errors in. Unless I am out of altitude, I personally perform emergency procedures for a partial malfunction METHODICALLY, I do not rush them. I have heard comments about “beating the RSL”, if we are used to being in a rush we might punch the reserve handle before we are actually released fully from our main, before we really intend to but our muscle memory tells us to “BaBam-Bam ”! I have a few friends who were bitten this way and they had unfavorable results.

And meerly checking my own pin and flap is for me falling short of good safety practices. I get a visual check from a fellow skydiver for presonal safety reason AND to set a good example to the jumpers onboard who may not be knowledgable enough to self ceck.

Am I making any sense here?

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[Trae 1]

in reply to "Unless I am out of altitude, I personally perform emergency procedures for a partial malfunction METHODICALLY, I do not rush them."
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I think you've made some good points here.

Part of learning to do anything well is to get it right...especially EP's .
Each individual step is supposed to be performed with definite actions...not necessarily slowly but certainly methodically.
Like with learning a musical instrument you begin by doing it slowly ....as you get it right you can speed up....as required .

Similarly with EP's . the important thing is to get it right... at an adequate altitude.
if your hand slips off the c/a and you still activate your reserve then....wrong.

Part of training for muscle memory / semi-automatic response is to ensure each critical step is performed in the correct order with definite/positive /strong action.

Once this definite order is learnt then things can be sped up as required. Of course sometimes a bit of thought may be required as one of the steps. Training for this thought bit may be challenging as there are many possibilities in the more exotic malfunction situations.

The human mind/ body is capable of varying things as required by the circumstances...especially if it's pre-warned by others experiences.

Thankfully with well maintained and proven equipment most malfunctions can be treated as a fairly straight forward event. Stick to the training and mostly it'll turn out right. For the unusual ones instinctive survival skills and self training may become a deciding factor.

[tonyhathaway 0]

I'd bet that some info on here 2 years ago was read by at least a few of those that were killed last year. The info is out there-and has been, some choose to ignore it, some choose to forget it. Some people will read or hear about last years fatalities and will this year die themselves. How this will happen, and who, is yet to be determined, but who disagrees that it will happen? There are very few new ways to kill yourself being invented. yes, it does happen, but Its so often the same old stuff. Most people I see when they hear about a fatality their justification to themselves is "well I would just do this or that....." and that clears their mind so they can go jump again. Once again, I'd bet that some of the dead did the same thing so they felt better about jumping. On a good day you can still leave the DZ in a body bag. Maybe through no fault of your own, maybe 100% your own fault. The trick is to do what you can to NOT let that happen. Sounds easy but since I started jumping about 3-400 people (someone knows the numbers since 1988) in this country alone have proven that it isnt as easy as it sounds. -Tony

My O.C.D. has me chasing a dream my A.D.D. won't let me catch.

[Ron 7]

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I'd bet that some info on here 2 years ago was read by at least a few of those that were killed last year. The info is out there-and has been, some choose to ignore it, some choose to forget it. Some people will read or hear about last years fatalities and will this year die themselves

100% agree. Putting that info out there is one reason I spend my time putting this info together.

Now, what do we do about it?

I would like for everyone that reads this to look at it and PRACTICE their emergency procedures....To the point of at some time this year getting into a hanging harness.

I know that some people think that since they are "experienced" that a hanging harness is not cool....Well I happen to think funerals are much less cool.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[JohnMitchell 14]

Even with 1 fatality partly attributed to the RSL (body position would be the other contributing factor) the RSL's win 4 to 1 this year. Usually there are no fatalities linked to the RSL and plenty of chances for saves. No one knows what will confront them when they leave the plane. You have to play the odds. For most, that means you should wear an RSL, just like you should wear a seatbelt on takeoff on in a car. I've got 10 successful cutaways under my belt, but I don't know what the next one will bring. I'll keep my RSL hooked up.

I'll also keep my old dude Stilleto loaded 1.43. That's as fast as I need to go.

[kallend 1,648]

In case anyone's interested, I have been keeping track of trends over the last few years:

www.iit.edu/~kallend/skydive/fatalities.gif

not yet updated for 2005

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[wmw999 2,148]

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I would like for everyone that reads this to look at it and PRACTICE their emergency procedures....

I'd really like to see a return to cutaway practice in hanging harnesses. Yes, it's a pain in the rear end, but man seeing where the handles are when you're dangling and being buffeted by a bunch of rowdy friends is helpful.

Not to mention it's way fun to be one of the rowdy friends doing the buffeting.

It's a pain in the rear end to build one, especially given that you'd really have to have a good mechanism to avoid messing up the risers that you take out. And, well, it's in yet another place if your main is not in the container.

How to encourage it? Not sure -- no one goes to the DZ when it's raining any more; that's when it used to happen. But it's helpful.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Trae 1]

in reply to "How to encourage it?"
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Put a woman in there first and watch the guys turn up to buffet.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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In case anyone's interested, I have been keeping track of trends over the last few years:

www.iit.edu/~kallend/skydive/fatalities.gif

That's a great graph. Not many new people realize how many folks used to bounce with no chute out, and how rarely people got killed under an open canopy.

Both are very preventable these days.

[rasmack 0]

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I'd really like to see a return to cutaway practice in hanging harnesses...

WTF?!? You mean to say that is not the standard?!? Sorry for the exclamation marks, but this is something I have come to regard as being standard. I just assumed this was the same everywhere.

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[stoneycase 0]

thanks, very informative.

i'm wondering - do you also have a graph showing the USPA membership trends? it would be useful to do side-by-side comparisons.

Does whisky count as beer? - Homer
There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner
Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

[Ron 7]

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WTF?!? You mean to say that is not the standard?!? Sorry for the exclamation marks, but this is something I have come to regard as being standard. I just assumed this was the same everywhere.

A lot of DZ's just use a harness with handles.

Even when there is a hanging harness....You don't see too many non-students in it.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334