Have you ever?

[Ruskin 0]

Has anyone out there ever failed to pull whilst training for whatever reason but successfully handled a malfunction since, and if so was it a high speed malfunction?
The reason I ask is that on level 4 of my AFF training I went into a tumble, spinning on my back and lost awareness of everything including altitude. At 4,000ft my instructor caught up and pulled my main for me. This makes me doubt how I would react in an emergency situation on my own.

[TFFTM 1]

Yes and Yes.
AFF jump instructor had to shake me several times to get me out of my daze at pull time.

Got better after some serious talking to and good nature ribbing. (Was called RIPCORD for weeks).
100 jumps later had a baglock at a particulary low altitude. Training kicked in and just as calmly as if nothing were happening executed my EPs, all was well.
Keep in mind that I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS practice my EPs on the ground. OVER & OVER & Over again. Running through all the diffrent scenarios with the correct EPs.
The more you prepare the better prepared(That sounds weird) you will be if and when the time comes to function in an emergency situation.
Good Luck.

BSBD
Home of the Alabama Gang

[calledisrael 0]

i - much to my shame and embarrassment, and to my extreme inexperience - had a total on aff 6, tumbled and lost all awareness, and ended up with a cypres fire. it took me a couple of weeks of intense training, counseling, thinking, and practice, to get back up and do right and not brain lock.

four jumps later i dislocated my shoulder in freefall and had to pull silver... and had no hesitation to do it. i learned my lesson hardcore. and practiced, practiced, practiced till i was sick of it. like you say, i was slightly encouraged just to know that i *could* do it when i had to. not like having to cutaway or anything - but i definitely knew that i could think about it calmly and not panic.

now i am healing from shoulder surgery so that i never have that problem again. but honestly, i credit it to how thoroughly i processed the incident with my instructors and the thoroughness of the practice they put me through before i went up again. so take the time, lots of it, to process it with them. i am sure they will be able to give you insight.

life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
(helen keller)

[immanence 0]

I have never had a malfunction but I know on my fourth jump (which was a static line round) I completely switched off in the door on exit. I was just absent. If I'd have been onto freefall without an AAD (and AADs were not always common on student kits in 1993) I'd have gone in. I think this kind of blanking out is quite normal, however. It is a stage to be surmounted and is not often talked about openly because of the unfortunate bravado that sometimes goes with our beautiful sport. Perhaps there are some who from the beginning have no levels of fear to break through, but for many there are complex, subconscious and conscious levels of intensity to process. I think the first 50 jumps are crucial because you either grapple with this intensity incrementally, or you face it all at once, like in the situation you describe. Plenty times since jump number four for me I've been a few seconds behind the instructions of my instructors, but I never blanked out like that again, and I doubt that you will either.

TFFTM is on the money: practice, practice, practice. Drill on the ground. I must have run through EPs thousands of times in my head, with my rig on, alone at the mockup while others were chilling out ..... and even in my sleep. I still do. What the practice does is not only create muscle memory but presentness of mind. When I blanked out I was lost somewhere in the back of my own mind. With practice and drill and thought you leave your fears in the back of your mind and the skydiver in you comes forward.

Blue skies,
ian

"where danger is appears also that which saves ..." Friedrich Holderlin, 'Patmos'

[mikeat10500 9]

Quote

I have never had a malfunction but I know on my fourth jump (which was a static line round) I completely switched off in the door on exit. I was just absent.

Sensory overload is what we called it on our DZ. I have seen it many times in my first jump students(IAD). It normally ends with deployment..wake up time.
I found it easy to understand as I suffered from it myself on my first jump.
Some are more prone than others by far. It is a dangerous creature that you must never turn your back on...it sneeks up.
On jump #54 I used my reserve for the first time, in responce to a high speed mal. After extracting the ripcord fully to see with my own eyes the pins had been removed completely, it happened....during the longest 2 seconds of my life I could feel the fear swell up from inside me....lossing control of my brain...no longer thinking about how to stay alive....just stunned.
When can it happen? If you are more sensitive to high stress levels, uncurrent,inexperienced, or biting off more than you can chew.
Ever see someone jump a canopy they are not ready for and as the action picks up close to the ground....they choke...stop flying it...reach for the ground or something equally dangerous?
Sensory overload can range from loss of vision and motor skills to minor brain farts.
Getting and staying current is the best defence.

....mike

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Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1
Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.