Had my First Cut-Away

[shward 0]

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I had my first cut-away. Nothing too scary, but it was the first jump on that rig, it's a used rig, but my first jump on it. Anyhow, seeing as it was my first jump I decided to do a solo and pull high. I pulled while stable at 6K and had a rather hard opening, nothing that left me with a headache but it was a shock. When I looked up to grab my toggles, i noticed that the right toggle wasn't there. Looking further up, the brake line had snapped just below the cascade. I though about attempting a rear-riser landing, but having never done one before, decided against it. I cut away at 4.5K and deployed reserve, landed uneventfully in exactly the spot that i originally intended to. Kept both handles though.

As I said, this was my first jump and the DZ rigger had just inspected the whole thing and packed both main and reserve.

Reason for this post...
What could have caused that line to break?
-I've heard body position, line wear and freak accident. Anybody else got any other ideas?

Also, would any of you have done anything different?

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[airtwardo 6]

Sounds like you did everything you were supposed to!

Without seeing how the canopy was packed, the shape it's in or how you deployed, it's tough to speculate on the cause.





...so that's a case of for the 1st, and a bottle of the good stuff to the rigger for the save!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[shward 0]

Beer has already been drank, he will get the bottle when I get my rig back.

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[petejones45 0]

What kind of canopy was it?

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[shward 0]

Triathalon 189

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[SRI85 0]

Bottle for the rigger? I think I'd kinda want to blame him for missing that on inspection. Was it the rigger who packed it for your cut away jump?

[skyrider 0]

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Sounds like you did everything you were supposed to!

Without seeing how the canopy was packed, the shape it's in or how you deployed, it's tough to speculate on the cause.





...so that's a case of for the 1st, and a bottle of the good stuff to the rigger for the save!

But.....the rigger packed his main too...

Seriously though, what was the wing loading? and in teh future, the next time yoo open high, unstow the brakes, and try some rear riser flares, Which BTW, might not have worked, if you did not have a hook knife to cut the remaining brake line, (without practice anyway) you may have had to pull one rear riser just to fly straight!

Impossible for anyone to make the call on cause, without seeing the gear!IMO

[Ron 7]

1st. Congrats on not dying!

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Anyhow, seeing as it was my first jump I decided to do a solo and pull high.

Good choice!

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I though about attempting a rear-riser landing, but having never done one before, decided against it.

Not a bad choice.

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I cut away at 4.5K and deployed reserve, landed uneventfully in exactly the spot that i originally intended to. Kept both handles though

Good and great!

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What could have caused that line to break?

Several reasons.... the most likely is the line was worn and it was just its time. I know you said it was looked at by a rigger..... But:

1. People make mistakes
2. How bad it is is often a judgment call
3. Some lines don't show wear as well as other types
4. Shit just happens

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Also, would any of you have done anything different?

Well you are fine, so my traditional line is you did everything correctly.

Depending on what size the main was and the wind conditions... I might have landed it on rears. I would have tried some practice fares up high before making my choice (you didn't mention trying that). And if the canopy was big enough, the winds were high enough, the landing area smooth enough, and I felt good enough... I *might* have landed it.

When you cutaway, you are trading one malfunction for what is behind handle #2. Reserves do malfunction.

All that being said, you did fine. Seeing you lived and all, I'd say you did a good job.

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

[airtwardo 6]

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Bottle for the rigger? I think I'd kinda want to blame him for missing that on inspection. Was it the rigger who packed it for your cut away jump?

I would imagine the brake line 'passed' the riggers inspection, but either way, having a malfunction on a main that YOU didn't pack is just as much your fault as the person who packed it...so you have to BLAME yourself too

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[airtwardo 6]

But.....the rigger packed his main too...

One way to get free booze and paid for a repack!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SRI85 0]

I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

[shward 0]

Ya'll let me clarify something..

I"M NOT LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME!!!!

I'm sure that I did something wrong and I know that ya'll aren't going to be able to tell me what it was since none of you were there.

I'm just asking if anything like this has happened to you and were you able to figure out why?

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[petejones45 0]

Good job man!

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[Nutz 0]

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But.....the rigger packed his main too...

One way to get free booze and paid for a repack!

I am certain he / she was packing the main with that very thought in his / her head.

Good job! Beeeeeer!

"Don't! Get! Eliminated!"

[NWFlyer 2]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

"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

[Mailed_Fist 0]

Agreed. Buy the booze, OP, if you've not already.

Only assholes don't buy a bottle for the rigger who saved their ass.

[SRI85 0]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

I'll never suscribe to the "sometimes shit happens." Theres always a cause for the effect.

[NWFlyer 2]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

I'll never suscribe to the "sometimes shit happens." Theres always a cause for the effect.

But you don't know that the rigger is that cause.

"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

[SRI85 0]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

I'll never suscribe to the "sometimes shit happens." Theres always a cause for the effect.

But you don't know that the rigger is that cause.

correct, i dont, just saying i wouldnt be so quick to reward him with a nice bottle.

[wildcard451 0]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

I'll never suscribe to the "sometimes shit happens." Theres always a cause for the effect.

This is true. However, when you are tossing a ball of wadded nylon and lines into a 120 mph wind, no matter how orderly you did it, or how many times you have done it perfectly before, you do have to bring in a bit of "chaos theory" into the mix.

/before you want to nitpick this - yes, you can predict what will go where based on airspeed, angle of presentation of each facet of the canopy to the relative wind, burble behind the jumper, jumps on each line and a % of the maximum recommended jumps before failure, modified of course by "k" - the universal constant for line wear based on your local environmental factors........or you can say that sometimes shit happens.

I will leave the above formula as an exercise for the reader.

[SRI85 0]

just wanted to add that my brake lines are currently not in the best shape, i feel comfortable jumping it, multiple riggers said its ok, but im well aware that im more prone to having it break given its current status.

[pchapman 262]

Now you say that the rigger did inspect the main canopy -- that's something that's often a separate job, and not done as part of a regular reserve repack.

It might be easier to miss seeing wear below a cascade, because usually there's far more wear down near the brake eye and toggle, so that's the place one would look at first if considering whether the brake lines need changing. Look at the same spot on the other brake line, whether it is worn. "Just below the cascade" might be at the bottom edge of the finger trap at the cascade, a point that's naturally weaker in a line.

So there may or may not have been anything that could have been spotted ahead of time on the line that blew.

A friend had an explosive opening on a larger Triathlon, that was his regular canopy, that blew a brake line and another line, although that opening was hard enough to leave him pretty sore. It can happen out of the blue.

[firemedic 7]

Same thing happened to me first jump on a brand new Cobalt. It came from the factory with incorrect trim.

[riggerpaul 1]

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I agree, which is why I pack for myself. But I still wouldn't reward the rigger.

Read Ron's reply above. Sometimes shit just happens. I had multiple lines break on a canopy that had <300 jumps on the lineset. An inspection likely wouldn't have shown anything. I had the broken lines replaced and put another couple hundred jumps on those lines with no further problems (except that, of course, the lines were getting out of trim).

I'll never suscribe to the "sometimes shit happens." Theres always a cause for the effect.

Agreed, there is always a cause. The question is, "was the cause detectable before the fact?"

Some believe that the tail of a trapped line must be tapered to be correct. Some believe that if it is not, the strength is significantly compromised.

A problem related to this is difficult or impossible to detect. Maybe the tail was tapered, but not tapered enough, etc, etc.

What if a poorly built cascade, combined with other non-rigger factors, is what caused the problem?

It may be that the rigger contributed nothing to the mal on the main.

In that case, all that's left is that the rigger saved this fellow's skin.

So why not show him you appreciate it?

[DanG 1]

You said the right toggle wasn't there. Could it have been that the right brake (or both brakes) were not set before the pack job? That could lead to a hard opening, and would allow the toggle to fall away after the line broke.

- Dan G