Jumping in the States and Jumping Overseas

[FutureJumper 0]

I cannot find it but while using serach I came across a thread about jumping in Australia. It said something like there were skydivers from Australia who were jumping in the USA. When the Australian jumpers were on the airplane they did not use their seat belts. All the other skydivers looked at the Australians as if they were out of there minds and promptly told them to fasten their seat belts. From the thread. The Australians seemed as if they had done nothing wrong.

Is this common place? Is jumping in Australia not up to scratch with safety standards and practices?

What about the rest of the world? Do you have to use your seat belt to ride up as you do here?

[julio_gyn 0]

I think the seat belt is DZ rules, I jumped in a dz that require, and my dz doesn't, both in ireland

Julio Cesar
blue skies

[TrophyHusband 0]

i believe (someone will correct me if i'm wrong) that here in the state the faa requires seatbelts to be worn during takeoff and landing, but once in the air they may be removed.

its very common for jumpers to then remove the seatbelt at about 1000 feet for a couple of reasons. the first is that the highest chance of something going wrong with the plane is on takeoff. by the time the plane reaches 1000 feet, the throttle has been backed off and the chances of failure go down. second, 1000 feet is plenty high enough to exit the plane and go straight to your reserve if you had to make an emergency exit. of course if you aren't next to the door, you may have a lot less than 1000 feet by the time you do get to the door.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Quote

i believe (someone will correct me if i'm wrong) that here in the state the faa requires seatbelts to be worn during takeoff and landing, but once in the air they may be removed.

The seatbelts are also required to be worn while moving on the ground (taxiing). But you are right that they are not required during flight.

"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

[kallend 1,623]

FAR Part 91.107

(2) No pilot may cause to be moved on the surface, take off, or land a U.S.-registered civil aircraft (except a free balloon that incorporates a basket or gondola, or an airship type certificated before November 2, 1987) unless the pilot in command of that aircraft ensures that each person on board has been notified to fasten his or her safety belt and, if installed, his or her shoulder harness.

...

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

[aussiechick 0]

In oz seatbelts are required to be worn to 1000ft, though not always enforced.

[riggerrob 558]

Engines are most likely to fail when power settings change.
An engine is most likely to fail the first time the pilot applies full power for take-off.

The second - most frequent - time for failure is when the pilot reduces power at 1,000 feet. Remember that many aircraft engines are only rated for full take-off power for a minute or so. After a minute, they start to over-heat, components melt and other messy things happen.
Reducing power - at 1,000 feet reduces thermal stresses, but also changes pressures. So if a bearing was starting to fail ... and all that pressure was holding the pieces in loose formation ... any pressure change will allow those loose pieces to wander ...

In conclusion, if an engine survives the first power reduction - at 1,000 feet - it will probably survive all the way to the top.

[riggerrob 558]

In most countries, air regulations require that seat-belts be worn during taxi, take-off and the first 1,000 feet .. or so ... of climb.

Whether regulations are enforced depends upon civil aviation authorities and DZO attitudes.

Americans suffered two bloody crashes back in 1992 and learned their seat-belt lesson the hard way.
Unfortunately, other nations are too lazy or stupid or arrogant to learn from Americans' mistakes and insist on re-learning the seat-belt lesson the hard way.
For example, Canadian Air Regulations require every skydiver to wear a seat-belt during taxi, etc. ... however, Transport Canada will only certify airplanes with factory-original seat-belts, meaning that Beechcraft King Airs are only allowed to fly with Beechcraft-original seat-belts.
The sad thing is that Beechcraft-original seat-belts are so difficult to wrap around skydivers that few wear them and they border on useless in a crash.

Transport Canada was surprised when I told them (in 2009) about all the work that Jack Hooker (1992) and the FAA (1997) had done to develop skydiver-specific seatbelts. TC did not learn anything from the King Air crash - in Pitt Meadows, BC in 2008, because the Transportation Safety Board Report was full of errors. At last count (2010), TC still has not approved Hooker's skydiver-specific seat-belts in any Canadian jump-plane.

In conclusion - in many countries - skydivers are forced to chose between operating legally or safely (pick one) but it is impossible to do both simultaneously.