My Cutaway: Should I have?

[Zlew 0]

Don't second guess, and don't listen to the "coulda/woulda" folks.

IMO, you don't want to land on your rears for the first time in an emergency situation. At 78 jumps, I doubt you have had the time to really learn that skill (I know people with thousands that can't).

I landed on rears with a knoted brake line last season, and it wasn't that big of a deal.

I also watched someone with 500+ jumps try to land on rears with a busted brake line a few months before. He was lucky to walk away after his canopy stalled and fell behind him at 10 feet or so off the ground.

One day you may choose to land that same malfunction, and if/when that time comes I hope in your mind your skills and practice with your canopy piloting are strong enough that you hear yourself say- no problem, I got this! If not... chop it again. :)

[parachutist 1]

Zlew

At 78 jumps, I doubt you have had the time to really learn that skill (I know people with thousands that can't).

At 78 jumps a student has spent more than 5 hours under canopy. There have been ample opportunities for practice. Many don't bother to learn any more than absolutely necessary, but that's not something to praise.

[irishrigger 31]

Hi Keleetz,
In everyone opinion i read so far everyone agrees you took the correct decision. and as a long time AFF-i let me say very Well done on making the correct decision!!!! please do not doubt yourself for one min regarding this, you made the correct and right Decision in your circumstance.
you will need expirience to determine if the canopy was save to land, obviously with 2 broked Steering lines it be very hard for you to decide that, especially after a hard opening, you do not know what extra damage could have been done to the canopy itself.I teach my student the very same thing, if they are unable to do a canopy control check,due to something being broken, take the safe option and do your EP. my Golden rule is if in doubt feck it out! i have unfortunatley a few cutaways due to broken steering lines, however they were on Tandems. however if i was given your situation on my current canopy a Vel 120 with a high wing loading, i would still cut away even though i shave plenty of swoop expierience and close to 7000 jumps. I would still cut away.
Also be careful on who gives you advise regarding this and what they would have done. there is a lot of skygods on dropzone that know everything and do every thing different. listen to your instructors.
and if they say you could have stayed with it ask them why you were not thought rear risers control lessons in your jumps before that? remember you never stop learning! In mu opinion a lot of student slip through the crack after they have finished AFF and are left to their own devices.
With my students i brief them and get them to exercises riser turns and flares on rear risers after they have finished AFF and have started there consolidation Jumps. and it is not just 1 jump i get them to do it on. i make them do several by the time they are ready for the A Licence.
bottom line, given your situation and with no expierience at all on riser turns, your decision is 100% correct and i applaud you for making it.
and on a final note, being a master rigger myself, make sure you buy your rigger a beer or 2!

Happy jumping!


Rodger

[FB1609 0]

You did the right thing as you were unhurt, but I had broken steering lines once on an old F111 210 or so years ago, it flew stable, I checked I could turn and flare with rears, so I kept it, had an uneventful landing. I had about 150 jumps at the time. Just thought, why cutaway something that I knew 100% I could land fairly safely, and the spot was good.
As much as we all hate to admit it, or how rare it is...reserves can fail.

Edit: I'd probably do the same in identical circumstances today, not saying it's the right thing to do though, just me.

[FlyBear 1]

If you decided that the canopy wasn't flyable, the canopy wasn't flyable. Period.

It is your decision and not someone else's. You weren't injured, so you definitely made the correct decision.

The only problem you got by cutting away is: You owe beer to your jumping friends. ;-)

[Keithor 0]

This choked me up.

Jump 3 was a brutal opening causing whiplash and putting me out of the sport and into Physiotherapy for a month. A hard opening is my second largest fear.

My 12th jumps I had a VERY slow opening, to the point where I looked up wondering if the canopy would open (it felt like an eternity but I probably only looked at the canopy flutter for about 2 seconds). I run the scenario over and over in my head wondering why the HELL I didn't look at my altimeter while this was happening. All in all everything worked out just fine.

This led to my biggest fear. WATCHING a mal to the ground. I can tell you if I was in your situation I HOPE I wouldn't hesitate to chop.

Great job, and remember any landing we walk away from with or without a plane is a good one.

[Boomerdog 0]

Ultimately, the decision is yours and yours alone to make. You walked away so it's hard to argue with the results. I had a similar thing happen to me on jump# 50; hard opening, really rang my bell. The right brake line snapped off, left brake line good. The canopy was 1) square 2) stable 3) steerable with risers. I stayed with it coming in on risers. Since I had taken a good canopy course post licensure, I opted for a riser landing. I landed a bit hot but knew how to PLF. I had a few bruises, no broken bones. No one second guessed me but did ask why I chose to "stay with it" rather than cut it away. The questions were more from curiosity rather than critique. A week later, our Big Dog on the Block Master Rigger and I had a talk about the incident and he said I made a good call. If you haven't taken a canopy course, I highly recommend it.

[tbrown 26]

I opened up at about 4000' and my canopy CRACKED open. It was an insanely hard opening. My first thought after was "Holy sh*t! Am I ok?" I was a bit disoriented to say the least. Anyway, I went to release the toggles, and I ended up pulling them the whole way down to my sides without any resistance. I was confused, so I looked around and noticed that I was holding my toggles in each hand with the lines trailing behind, like streamers.
____________________________________________________

You absolutely did the right thing. I had a very similar slammer opening (also with a 210 Pilot) six years ago, with a bit more apparent damage than you seem to have had, but otherwise pretty much the same as you. It hurt like hell and I was stunned, I really wasn't bangin' on all six cylinders mentally from the force of the opening. I also chopped and had a pleasant reserve ride and landing.

It never ceases to amaze me how many jumpers who ought to know better will tell you that you should have kept a bad canopy. I've heard every lame excuse in the book, from "you could have used your rear risers" to "reserves can malfunction too". The handles and reserve are their to save YOUR life if you don't have a controllable canopy. Lately we've seen too many fatalities where people have tried to limp in with a bad canopy, then they get below 500 ft. and see how fast they're really falling. Then they cutaway in a panic, too low for their reserve to open.

You did the right thing and don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[Turboprop 0]

I realise this thread is getting a bit old: hell yes you did the right thing. I have had two chops similar to this in the space of 25 jumps: the questions `can I fly it, can I steer it, can I land it: all have to be met with YES. As far as landing on rear risers, unless you have actually trained in that any canopy coach will not advise you to do it. As it is your arms would have been very tired by the time you got close to the ground and you could have injured yourself. My last chop line twists `why did you chop, just kick out' I was asked. Well open at 2800, line twists in a spinning main, couldnt make any headway: 2000 feet and recall of a recent fatal where a fellow fought line twists all the way to 800 feet before chopping: reserve didnt inflate in time. So I did. You were in the best position to decide, no one else. I lost a freebag and a handle on this occasion, but still have my life and body intact and live to jump again, and revisit packing :)

[crazychickUK 0]

I had a similar problem many years ago only one of my break lines was tangled and knotted due to a very near horse shoe malfunction (long story). I wasn't all that experienced and I just remembered my training "can I steer it? Can I land it?" I tried to use rear risers but didn't have the strength so, without hesitation I chopped.

No-one said anything negative to me that day but someone did the following week, who hadn't even been on the dz that day. They said that they'd heard I'd chopped a perfectly good canopy. I just brushed it off as I was confident in my decisions but did wonder how this person felt qualified to question me as they'd previously rode a malfunctioning main down to 1000ft before chopping!

It's your life on the line, no-one else's. If you think there's the slightest chance you can't land your main safely then cut away. It's irrelevant what others would do.

[DrDom 0]

crazychickUK

I had a similar problem many years ago only one of my break lines was tangled and knotted due to a very near horse shoe malfunction (long story). I wasn't all that experienced and I just remembered my training "can I steer it? Can I land it?" I tried to use rear risers but didn't have the strength so, without hesitation I chopped.

No-one said anything negative to me that day but someone did the following week, who hadn't even been on the dz that day. They said that they'd heard I'd chopped a perfectly good canopy. I just brushed it off as I was confident in my decisions but did wonder how this person felt qualified to question me as they'd previously rode a malfunctioning main down to 1000ft before chopping!

It's your life on the line, no-one else's. If you think there's the slightest chance you can't land your main safely then cut away. It's irrelevant what others would do.

Those kinds of Monday-morning quarterbacks get people killed. You should NEVER second guess a cutaway. If the parachute does not make you comfortable that it is THERE, SQUARE, and LANDABLE... what the hell other questions do you need answered other than "what sucks less"... a cutaway or a potentially dangerous canopy?

Tell him when he is under the canopy its his call, but until then you made the best decision with the information you had at that moment. Making you question your decisions causes hesitation. Hesitation is not a lifesaving maneuver in the world of skydiving.

I see this in aviation, medicine, and now skydiving. If you want to have a conversation about a cutaway its great, but leading in with "I heard you cutaway a perfectly good parachute"... i can't tell if its rude, obnoxious, or completely ignorant.

sorry for the rant.

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[Duckwater 0]

You absolutely did the right thing. Take a canopy flight course and learn how to fly and land on rear risers…. It will save the next reserve ride. Don't try it untrained. Good job making a decision and not over thinking it.