Is this Real?

[EOCS 0]

Hi, looking for verification for this picture. If so whats the story with it?

http://i.imgur.com/RtQsrh.jpg

-Jim

[cpoxon 0]

Yes, Greg Gasson. He has a harness underneath his clothes and it attached to the rig harness. See Joe Jennings "Good Stuff"

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[oldwomanc6 38]

Here's the video

http://post.fulldorm.com/2011/12/02/guy-jumps-out-of-airplane-holding-on-to-his-parachute/

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[spikes2020 0]

how did he land it? PLF? that is a bit crazy.

I've seen pictures of people use rock climbing gear and dangling one guy under the other with a parachute, then he drops off the end and opens his own chute.

Cheers

Jon W

[Squeak 17]

there's also the bike stunt dude that jumps with out any rig at all and is caught in freefall and clipped into a climbing harness.



eta Travis Pastrami, or Salami or something

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

how did he land it?

He's Greg Gasson. Kind of like nerdy Zoolander version of Chuck Norris.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Quote

how did he land it? PLF? that is a bit crazy.

I've seen pictures of people use rock climbing gear and dangling one guy under the other with a parachute, then he drops off the end and opens his own chute.

Watch the video. After opening, he flips himself up and into the harness and then pops the brakes and lands normally.

I had a feeling it was going to be this one when I saw the thread title.

It's an amazing stunt, but like most stunts, it isn't all that it appears to be. That doesn't mean that a couple of things going wrong in the wrong way wouldn't have been catastrophic, but for him to have slipped and let go just wasn't going to happen.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[dthames 0]

In a book that I read an experienced skydiver was in the cargo compartment of a C-130 in Vietnam. The plane was hit and was in trouble. The subject of the story grabbed a bailout rig but before he could fully don it, he was thrown or blown out into the night sky. He managed to deploy and land the parachute, as I recall. I don’t remember if it stated if he had ever managed to fully don the rig or not. I think he was the only survivor of the crew.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[angryelf 0]

The story of which you speak is about Duane Hackney. He was a Pararescueman on a Jolly Rescue mission during Vietnam. According to him (he was the only survivor) he had given his parachute to his patient as they had taken quite a bit of fire during the flight. he was in the process of donning another rig when he was blown out of the aircraft. The rig was a military round bailout, not really a skydiving rig. Duane said he pulled just above the trees (triple canopy jungle) and opened as he went into them. I am pretty certain he had his legstraps on (at the very least one), but not much else. Duane was and I think still is the most decorated Enlisted man in the Air Force. His peers all say he was a war hero who knew how to get noticed by his superiors and the media. (One told me that Duane could "ham up for and work a camera crew better than anybody"). How it really happened is really only known to Chief Hackney-but his AF Cross citation for the mission is pretty good reading:


The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Airman Second Class Duane D. Hackney, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force while serving with the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, 3d Air Rescue and Recovery Group, DaNang Air Base, Vietnam, as a Paramedic (Pararescueman) on an unarmed HH-3E Rescue Helicopter near Mu Gia Pass, North Vietnam, on 6 February 1967. On that date, Airman Hackney flew two sorties in a heavily defended hostile area. On the first sortie, despite the presence of armed forces known to be hostile, entrenched in the vicinity, Airman Hackney volunteered to be lowered into the jungle to search for the survivor. He searched until the controlling Search and Rescue agency ordered an evacuation of the rescue crew. On the second sortie, Airman Hackney located the downed pilot, who was hoisted into the helicopter. As the rescue crew departed the area, intense and accurate 37-mm. flak tore into the helicopter amidships, causing extensive damage and a raging fire aboard the craft. With complete disregard for his own safety, Airman Hackney fitted his parachute to the rescued man. In this moment of impending disaster, Airman Hackney chose to place his responsibility to the survivor above his own life. The courageous Pararescueman located another parachute for himself and had just slipped his arms through the harness when a second 37-mm. round struck the crippled aircraft, sending it out of control. The force of the explosion blew Airman Hackney through the open cargo door and, though stunned, he managed to deploy the unbuckled parachute and make a successful landing. He was later recovered by a companion helicopter. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Airman Hackney reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Eidted to Add: He wasn't a skydiver. He was a very experienced SL Parachutist. PJ's did start jumping freefall later on, but I doubt if he had done much freefall in 1967.

-Harry

"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."