Open container in the plane, what would you do?

[chuteless 1]

Ive been in the door seat of a Cessna with the guy on my left having his reserve accidentally opened in flight. The door was off the plane. I helped him hold his chute closed so it would not go out the door, and we both went down with the plane.

I never needed a jump so bad that I would leave him to do it himself, and possible be dragged through the wall of the aircraft and killed, while I had my jump..No way.

Bill Cole D-41

[slotperfect 7]

Lots of possible situations and actions here, but here goes . . .

Big airplanes, away from the door - anything comes open:
-contain it and get the door closed
-move the jumper forward
-remove his rig and stow it safely in the cockpit or under a seat
-seatbelt him in for the ride down
-if it's a student, I will ride down with him

Big airplanes, near the door - anything comes open:
-contain if possible and get the door closed, follow steps above
-if any part of it gets out the door, clear the way for the jumper's inevitable exit
-exit with them to lend medical assistance after landing

Small airplanes - anything comes out:
-contain it, get the door closed, EVERYONE rides the plane down

I will rarely attempt to restow a BOC P/C that has come completely out or close a container that has come completely open.

Arrive Safely

John

[firstime 0]

Thumbs up to you Aggie, this was mentioned from
time to time, but have never heard the different
scenarios as discussed here. It made me grow an
additional eyeball while at the DZ. Maybe a couple of
bungy cords should kept in the plane???
Again, great post and I will throw it out for discussion
this Saturday.

[bigbearfng 9]

Re: open container in a small plane; having read about this subject in incidents, and reading here, I can't understand why anyone would open the door (when the door is closed and chute still out) and jump....I realize I'm still gonna be an fng for a long time yet-but at this point I'd really appreciate some input from the pilots here.
The pilot in command has the final say, yes? And I've been drilled to listen to the PIC. (yes, I know there may be exceptions-eg.plane is already spinning out of control, tail is already gone, etc, so just get out the best you can ...).
So as a pilot-in these situations, would you tell these folk to not open the damn door? Or else?
Thanks for any input!

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I have been on four aircraft in these situations
1. C-182 I was hanging when the guy in the jm seat was moving into the crotch, leaving his bag in the plane. The pilot grabbed the guy's main lift web and dragged him back into the plane. As soon as I saw the lines I let go of what was clearly an unsafe aircraft. After I let go they closed the rig and everyone got out. I was a bit low for four-way.
In retrospect: No big deal. The in flight door was a properly fitted one a la Chas Bunch's FAA approved mod. There is no excess air movement in the aircraft when the door is closed.
2. On a Beech-18 senior jumper's reserve pc came out at about 9000'. The container was closed by a committee of riggers onboard and the jump proceeded.
In retrospect: The guy later said that an eight-way with camera costs money and closing a reserve container is not magik. Given that he had a cypres closing loop and a regular pullup cord, I don't think I would have made the same decision.
3. and 4. on the same day in eloy two guys from the same group, on consecutive loads for them (and me), opened their reserves by slumping in the skyvan. In both cases they went forward and took their rig off. We all jumped.
In retrospect: Ya, that was the appropriate thing to do.
When I see people saying, 'everyone land in the plane' I think that's good for a cessna but not for a bigger plane. If we do all land in the plane, who pays for my plane ride? On the DZ with your friends in the 182, that's one thing. In eloy with people you have never met and are not jumping with, that's another. I mean,... these guys were from France.
If it's a student load and anything more than a pilot chute comes out, we're landing now. That's just part of the cost of doing business. I guess it helps that my DZO has a brain.