Dumbest skydiver ever

[fonz 0]

Recently a sad fatality occured in Belgium. A 2000+ jumps female was faced with malfunctioning main and reserve. It turned out that her rig has most likely been tampered with. In the aftermath of the incident, Belgian TV channel VTM interviewed a surfer (yep: that riding the water waves stuff) who did one AFF jump in 2005.

According to DZ tales, after an uneventful freefall, this lady was hanging under a perfectly good main canopy (after having briefly experienced slight line twists) but heading in the wrong direction. The instructor told her over the radio to turn right. She made a minor right turn. The instructor told her to turn more. She then cut away, had her reserve opened high and perfectly by the RSL, landed out, didn't flare at all and severely injured her back. She never jumped again.

Below is a rough translation of what this young lady told the Belgian TV after the recent fatal accident.

Without asking myself questions, I threw myself out the door. The freefall felt good, but then I had to open my parachute. It opened, but was in a twist. Normally, experienced jumpers can easily remedy this. But I had never done that before. Instead of horizontally, I now plunged vertically down. The instructors told me over the radio to pull right. They meant I should turn right to untwist the canopy, but in the panic I pulled my right handle and disconnected my parachute. Afterwards, people told me that without my parachute I had reached an approximate speed of 900 km/h (a good 550 mph). My brain exploded and I felt my body weaken. People who have had a near-dead experience talk about light at the end of a tunnel. But I suddenly felt a feeling of tranquility come over me. For a moment, I accepted my fate until my energy to survive kicked in. The pressure knocked open my reserve canopy. Normally, inexperienced jumpers have a large, steerable reserve. But my luck gave me a small one. That reserve slowed my fall, but had opened too late. I saw the ground coming at me very fast. First, I wanted to grab a lamp post but then I saw a lawn between two houses. I did what I could to smash into the ground there and it worked. I smashed into the grass at 60 or 70 km/h (about 40 mph). Had I hit concrete, I would have been stone dead.

This is NOT a joke about dumb Belgians, this lady REALLY said this on Belgian TV after the recent fatality happened! And I've only picked out the highlights, she said more stupid things.

First, I wanted to comment on her story here, but on second thought, it's too stupid to even bother. This Sofie Avonds girl must really be the most stupid skydiver ever.

Alphons

[edit: typo corrected]

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[niu 0]

Put a camera in the face of a media whore,and he/she will do anything to keep it there.

[fonz 0]

A statement that has been proven damn right countless times before already!

This woman has absolutely no idea what she is talking about but abuses a very tragic and highly sensitive event (a jumper went in because some idiot seems to have turned a parachute rig into a murder weapon) just to get attention.

Throwing yourself out of a plane without thinking?
Falling at 550 mph after a cutaway?
Having your brain explode?
Thinking of holding on to a lamp post?
Hitting the ground at 40 mph with a perfectly good student reserve?

I mean... sheesh! If you don't know what you're talking about, just STFU.

Put a camera in front of an idiot and idiotic things will come out.

Alphons

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[shropshire 0]

Why would a 2000+ jumper be on radio - or have I missed something here?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[niu 0]

What are you so upset about?
An idiot journalist goes out and find another idiot to interview and the result is total crap.
What`s new about that?

[labrys 0]

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Recently a sad fatality occured in Belgium. A 2000+ jumps female was faced with malfunctioning main and reserve. It turned out that her rig has most likely been tampered with. In the aftermath of the incident, Belgian TV channel VTM interviewed a surfer (yep: that riding the water waves stuff) who did one AFF jump in 2005.

Ummmmmm Yes, you've missed something.

Owned by Remi #?

[labrys 0]

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What are you so upset about?

Where does the OP say they are upset? It sounds like a commentary to me.

Owned by Remi #?

[shropshire 0]

It wouldn't be the first time.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[fonz 0]

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Why would a 2000+ jumper be on radio - or have I missed something here?

You did miss something. A 2000+ jumper went in (was set up to go in) and some know-nothing one-jump screwup comments about it on national TV in a way that upset a large part of the skydiving community in Belgium and Holland (same language). The one-jump screwup was the one on radio, not the 2000+ jumper.

Alphons

[edit: typo corrected, that seems to happen a lot lately]

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[shropshire 0]

Whoops. I see that now .

Note to self.... dont drink and post

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[fonz 0]

Quote

What are you so upset about?
An idiot journalist goes out and find another idiot to interview and the result is total crap.
What`s new about that?

What upsets me is:

1. A fellow jumper bounced because her rig has been sabotaged. That's bad enough already.

2. A national TV station lets somebody who doesn't know a goddamn thing about skydiving tell the most ridiculous things and thus cause a lot of bad publicity to our sport without either checking the validity of that person's story or showing even the slightest shred of respect for the loved ones the deceased jumper left behind.

What I didn't mention yet is that the TV station did other things as well, such as grabbing a photo of the deceased that was put on a Belgian forum as a memorial and use it in their show without even asking anyone.

Alphons

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[hansv 0]

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What are you so upset about?
An idiot journalist goes out and find another idiot to interview and the result is total crap.
What`s new about that?

Nothing new. But reason enough to be upset. I remember an "AFF student from hell" thread some time ago, also a one-jump-screw-up who thought he knew it all. People got pretty upset about that.
In this case a fantastic lady died and her death is being used by some bimbo to get some more attention from the media. Disgusting

I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.

[mangledspoon 0]

What's the story with the 2000+ jumper? How was the rig tampered with?
I'd like to know more, can anyone direct me to a thread about it or something...

[elias123 0]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2536597;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

there you go
there isn't really alot of info about it
and the police here has ordered an informationstop

eli

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane"

[fonz 0]

In the meantime, we still don't know exactly what happened.

Another jumper (who was a close friend of the deceased) has been arrested after having made a failed suicide attempt. A love triangle between her, the deceased and another (male) jumper emerged and she's now a prime suspect.

But information is still scarce so be careful not to draw premature conclusions!

Alphons

[edit: typo corrected]

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Kynan1 0]

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Afterwards, people told me that without my parachute I had reached an approximate speed of 900 km/h (a good 550 mph).

Crazy stuff! I've only gotten up to 217mph on a head down. Maybe I need to work on better body position?

[Froggy 0]

To me, the most stupid skydiver ever would be Scott Lutz. :) I mean, the guy's name has become a synonym of idiocy...

--------------
We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

[Broke 0]

Lutz or Richardson?

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[fonz 0]

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I've only gotten up to 217mph on a head down. Maybe I need to work on better body position?

I'm afraid all the body position in the world won't help you reach 500+ mph between cutaway and RSL activation

Alphons

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Kynan1 0]

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Quote

I've only gotten up to 217mph on a head down. Maybe I need to work on better body position?

I'm afraid all the body position in the world won't help you reach 500+ mph between cutaway and RSL activation

Alphons

Joke. It is impossible to reach that speed, unless you are strapped to a rocket.

[fonz 0]

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Joke.

Yeah, I gathered as much.

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It is impossible to reach that speed, unless you are strapped to a rocket.

Or your name is Joseph Kittinger

Alphons

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[popsjumper 2]

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Lutz or Richardson?

I thought Richardson was really Lutz in drag.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239