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MJH

Malfunction and Cut-away

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I deployed my canopy yesterday from a stable body position. On deployment, my risers were crossed in an x in front of me, and I had minor line twists. The risers, however, were crossed through one another, and were impossible to separate. When I hit my hard deck, I was satisfied that I could not control my main well enough to land it. So I chopped and landed under my reserve. I packed my own main.

Some at my DZ think a step-through caused the malfunction; others (including a rigger) say that it could not have been. I don't know what to think.

All of which I am certain is that I did something wrong and I'd rather not repeat the error. Does anybody have any thoughts on what might have caused the malfunction?

Thanks.

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The risers, however, were crossed through one another, and were impossible to separate


I can't really understand that part, other than picturing your canopy flying backwards. Can you elaborate?

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Did you run up the lines and separate the line groups when you packed? Did you pack it or someone else? What did you do when you flaked it? Did you not leave enough slack between the bag and risers? Did you spin the bag when you put it in the container? etc...
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The risers, however, were crossed through one another, and were impossible to separate


I can't really understand that part, other than picturing your canopy flying backwards. Can you elaborate?



Alas, I can't add much to what I said. At first I though I had line twists (which I did, but which were incidental to my real problem) and spent time trying to kick out. Then I saw the risers in an X through one another in front of me, tried and failed to separate them, determined I could not land the canopy, and cut because I was at my hard deck. I didn't have as much time to study the problem as I would have liked.

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Again, did you unhook the 3 rings.

It does sound like a sort of stepthrough BTW, imagine taking your bag and rotating it so that the bag and two line groups on the left pass between two linegroups on the right before you do your stows or put it in the container.

When you open one riser will be routed between the other (and the canopy will be backwards I think but maybe not obvious with the twists).

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I can't really understand that part, other than picturing your canopy flying backwards



If nothing was disconnected during or after the pack job, wouldn't the only way to have the risers cross through each other mean that the canopy was upside-down?
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I can't really understand that part, other than picturing your canopy flying backwards



If nothing was disconnected during or after the pack job, wouldn't the only way to have the risers cross through each other mean that the canopy was upside-down?



The way I visualize it yes, it would take two side line groups and the bag rotated through the opposite side, and your canopy would be flying backwards if you kicked out the twists I think.

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The way I visualize it yes, it would take two side line groups and the bag rotated through the opposite side, and your canopy would be flying backwards if you kicked out the twists I think.



I don't visualize "backwards". It seems (to me, but my spacial skills are bad) more like it would still be facing the correct direction, but inverted top to bottom.
Owned by Remi #?

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The way I visualize it yes, it would take two side line groups and the bag rotated through the opposite side, and your canopy would be flying backwards if you kicked out the twists I think.



I don't visualize "backwards". It seems (to me, but my spacial skills are bad) more like it would still be facing the correct direction, but inverted top to bottom.



Only if it opened upsidedown :)

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Probably a simple step through. They can look weird. No sense trying to make sense of a description of what it kinda looked like.

If the canopy is flying straight, slider down, it might steer and flare fairly normally, with just a little extra friction for the steering lines to work through, which of course can be dangerous.
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bag can tumble through it's lines..

If your super curious, You can probably recreate the mal (on the ground). There is also video (somewhere on skydivingmovies.com) of a premie producing the same mal, you can feel the pilot scratching his head.

Check with a rigger perhaps you need to check the compatibility of the gear (bag too tight?), tube stows/bands, how much lines between the risers and the first stow or the pilot chute (kill line okay?).

Maybe it just was shit happens.

Blues

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bag can tumble through it's lines.



Hmmm. So I may not have done anything wrong after all. A thought that is both comforting and disturbing.

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Check with a rigger perhaps you need to check the compatibility of the gear (bag too tight?), tube stows/bands, how much lines between the risers and the first stow or the pilot chute (kill line okay?).



My rigger is inspecting the rig this week.

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Maybe it just was shit happens.



It may be. Thanks.

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Or you could do it while packing, sure you didn't get mixed up and twist the bag through the lines while you were putting it in the rig? That way your lines/risers would have looked fine while you were packing. Just a thought.



I'm not 100% certain, but it is hard for me to picture myself having done that. Then again, I packed this rig five weeks before jumping it, so my memory is not very good.

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There's other ways this could have happened to produce the equivalent effect, for example your pilot chute bridle could have been routed under a single group of lines, instead of straight off the bag, or in the chaos of deployment maybe your lines got above your pilot chute but both seem unlikely.

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