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Erroll

Please don't speculate.

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This refrain is being repeated in "Incidents" with monotonous regularity. "Wait for the official report" is another. The Incidents forum (as well as all the others) are discussion forums. Speculating, exploring possibilities and examining different outcomes are all inherent in discussions.

I realise totally that friends and family of jumpers reported on in Incidents do read the threads. So what? If the exact facts and details are not available why read the thread then? What is the point of posting sketchy information about a fatality and then not allow speculation (read 'discussion')? Surely it would be better then to simply post the information on the fatalities page and be done with it. When the 'official' report comes out six months later we can all 'discuss' and 'learn' so as to 'prevent a recurrence'. Right? Sure.

On the other hand, if all the facts and official report are available, what is there to discuss?
Don't turn too low to the ground. It can kill you.
Don't do dangerous stunts. They can kill you.
Don't get in the way of rotor blades. They can kill you.
End of discussion.

And if no conclusive evidence emerges, even after the official report?
It appears that he mistimed the turn and impacted the ground.
It appears he misjudged the angle of his flight and impacted the bridge.
It appears that he mistimed his throw and impacted the water.

What shall we learn from this?
Don't turn too low to the ground. It can kill you.
Don't do dangerous stunts. They can kill you.
Don't toss too low. It can kill you.
End of discussion.

I am not advocating that thinly veiled implications of substance abuse or malintent or other things of that nature should be tolerated, but surely a discussion forum is exactly that. A place to discuss, speculate, ponder.



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I agree 100%.

Make a clear distinction between speculation and fact, and qualify your statements as necessary.

Take a purely hypothetical low turn fatality:

It could be the result of a lot of different problems, from a bad spot, panic turn in shifting winds, a broken break line, a tension knot, and so on.

Discussing all of these possibilities makes people think. It raises awareness and most likely allows people to learn vicariously lessons that have a high tuition when learned first hand.

Once investigated, it might turn out that just before the jump, the deceased confided in a friend that he was going to do his first 180 hook turn landing.
However, that friend left the DZ before the incident and wasn't able to weigh in with their info for a week.

IMHO, the good that can come from discussing possible causes outweighs the possible harm that can come from speculating.
-Josh
If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

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Take a purely hypothetical low turn fatality:

It could be the result of a lot of different problems, from a bad spot, panic turn in shifting winds, a broken break line, a tension knot, and so on.

-Josh



NO landing injury was EVER caused by a bad spot. A landing injury happens when jumpers fail to utilize all the area around them for landing. It really grates my goat whenever I see someone post landing injuries were the result of a bad spot. BS.

I know this is a hypothetical you are discussing here. I just thought I'd bring that point up now.
Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

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NO landing injury was EVER caused by a bad spot. A landing injury happens when jumpers fail to utilize all the area around them for landing. It really grates my goat whenever I see someone post landing injuries were the result of a bad spot. BS.

I know this is a hypothetical you are discussing here. I just thought I'd bring that point up now.


No one's ever drowned from a bad spot? Seems I remember someone drowning in the ocean some time back... nit-picking... If someone does suffer injury from a bad spot, forrest, ocean, demo, whatever, it's their own fault. Pilots don't typically shove jumpers from the plane. They just turn the green light on. And that with the absolute best of intentions. Never met a jump pilot yet that couldn't spot better than me. Well... maybe one... but that's a long story...
__________

I don't mind speculation in the incidents forum as long as it is labeled such and stays contructive. If you've been slapped for being speculative, I havent yet read about it... more than once have I seen unkind and unnessesary things written in there. Stone casting. That I don't like.
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

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Take a purely hypothetical low turn fatality:

It could be the result of a lot of different problems, from a bad spot, panic turn in shifting winds, a broken break line, a tension knot, and so on.

-Josh



NO landing injury was EVER caused by a bad spot. A landing injury happens when jumpers fail to utilize all the area around them for landing. It really grates my goat whenever I see someone post landing injuries were the result of a bad spot. BS.

I know this is a hypothetical you are discussing here. I just thought I'd bring that point up now.



haha. what other answer to expect from a jumpship pilot. lol.
namaste, motherfucker.

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No one's ever drowned from a bad spot?



Flotation gear? Lack of preperation? Proper procedures for getting out of gear when landing in water? B License training? Sound familiar. No, I will not accept that a bad spot ever killed or hurt a jumper as the cause.
Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

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haha. what other answer to expect from a jumpship pilot. lol.



Or a jumpship pilot who has enough jumps and time in the sport to know that it is a cop out to blame the spot for the incident. Personal responsibility for your own skydive remember? See above for the other reasons why this is a cop out.
Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

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What the hell is this "official report" everyone yammers about? Who issues "official reports"? What makes it authoritative? Has anyone ever seen such a thing?

The "official report" is a fiction people absorbed from some afterschool special and never questioned. There IS no "official report". There is no omnipotent observer who answers our questions in a timely and unbiased manner on form AAA-123 filed with the Skydiving Regulatory Agency. We're on our own, people. YOU'RE on your own.

You're an adult and you get to question and consider. Think for yourselves. Ask questions. Speculate. Make connections with your mind. Think.


First Class Citizen Twice Over

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On the other hand, if all the facts and official report are available, what is there to discuss?
Don't turn too low to the ground. It can kill you...


There's still lots to discuss, imho.

Why did they turn low? What can I learn to prevent me from being in that position in the first place? Is it better to take a downwinder instead of flat turning into the wind at 80 feet? Were they avoiding another jumper? How many degrees turn was needed instead of a 180 to avoid the other jumper? Did they unstow their brakes before final, or did they do it late, and only then discover the problem? Would a canopy control class have taught this jumper something to save his ass/head?

As a very low time jumper, I want to know the whole process. The why's, where's, how's. It is not ever enough to say "the ground will kill you"- I know that. What I want to know is what led to the situation in the first place - and how to make sure (or as sure as I can) that if I ever find myself in that situation, I have a different option.

Given that this is a sport where you can do everything right and still die, I really don't see that happening in the majority of cases. Therefore, I want to know what was done wrong so I can learn.

Speculation, then, creates an area of learning, a reasonable place to discuss and to grow my knowledge base. To show me where I am wrong, where I am right, and where I need to learn more.

Just my .02, though. Take it for what it's worth.

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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It's always good to get all the information, but sometimes we won't ever have all the answers. Example: How can we know what a jumper was thinking when he/she did that low turn and was killed because of it? That's when speculation comes into play. We can only guess what was happening and try to learn from the experience.
When Jack died, we had no idea why he passed out under canopy, thus not being able to steer and land safe. To this day all I have is speculation.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

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Hey, Chris? I'da agreed with you 100% until I was put out over the grape stakes south of Lodi in a big way where we intentionally deployed just above 2000'. There was no option but to land in the grape fields which are narrow rows of grapes staked out on barbed wire.

I suppose you are still correct, because to be on that big sequential you had to have skills recognized by the organizers, and me and two other jumpers managed to put it down into a 5' maintenance trail in between the stakes uninjured and without damaging our gear.

Hmmm. Grist for the mill.

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Flotation gear? Lack of preperation? Proper procedures for getting out of gear when landing in water? B License training? Sound familiar. No, I will not accept that a bad spot ever killed or hurt a jumper as the cause.



There was an entire load dropped into I think Lake erie.

100% bad spot.

Most times I would agree with you. But there are cases.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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semantics -

is it the fault of a bad spot

or is it the fault of 'accepting' the bad spot

in the end, the skydiver chooses to leave the plane (yes there are stupid exceptions to this one)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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Am I thinking of the right incident. Weren't these jumpers military? I don't think they were able to refuse the spot. Those jumpers were trusting that the pilot had the correct information.

I've been on big way event, where we got a bad spot. There weren't a lot of options as to were we could land. Power lines crossing over the roads, swamp, and a small church parking lot. The LO couldn't see the ground due to clouds, so he counted on the pilot to get us in the right place. We were lucky, only one person got hurt.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

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Am I thinking of the right incident. Weren't these jumpers military? I don't think they were able to refuse the spot. Those jumpers were trusting that the pilot had the correct information.



Im thinking of a civilian jump in the 70's out of a beach 18.

They were over solid overcast and getting info from center to determine the exit point. Problem is center was looking at the radar return for another airplane.

All that jumped died.

There was an artical on it in Parachutist last year.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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Here is Bill Cole's post about that event.

60's, not 70's. When I started jumping in the mid-70's, there was noway, nohow, no-ever that most folks would consider letting the pilot spot, because of this.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I disagree.

I know what you are saying about spotting and the jumper is responsible for his own safety and shouldn't leave the plane unless he nows where he is and is positive he is going to be able to get back.

The fact is, if you get out of the plane over a hazard and don't notice it until you are tracking right at it or pulling, and end up in a tree or breaking something falling out of the tree. Then the bad spot lead to that injury.

People need to learn to spot. Not just look out the door and see the dz at a 30 degree angle out the door. Look straight down, get your exit point lined up directly under the plane.
Dom


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Chris,

Anywhere I jump that is generally true. However, if there are NO outs at the plane's current location (rare), then leaving the plane in that location is probably a bad idea anyway, whether or not the green light is on. So in that case it behooves the jumper to NOT leave the plane. Looked at that way as well, you could say that a bad spot does not cause injuries, since the jumper also has a role.
|
I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane.

Harry, FB #4143

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Am I thinking of the right incident. Weren't these jumpers military? I don't think they were able to refuse the spot. Those jumpers were trusting that the pilot had the correct information.



Im thinking of a civilian jump in the 70's out of a beach 18.

They were over solid overcast and getting info from center to determine the exit point. Problem is center was looking at the radar return for another airplane.

All that jumped died.

There was an artical on it in Parachutist last year.



flyangel may be referring to the Pismo Dunes incident, where the Arizona Jumper died offshore during a movie shoot.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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Aren't there two incidents? One with civilians and another with military?



I don't know.

I dont have every incident report memorized;)

I get a little fuzzy at events that happend before I started jumping...Even more fuzzy at events that happend before I was born.B|
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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flyangel may be referring to the Pismo Dunes incident, where the Arizona Jumper died offshore during a movie shoot



Could be I don't usually follow movie accidents, or stunts...
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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Wendy, thanks for the link. I have it straight in my mind now. Because the jumpers were using a B-25 WW II bomber, I got it mixed up in my mind. (I guess it sucks to get older)

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flyangel may be referring to the Pismo Dunes incident, where the Arizona Jumper died offshore during a movie shoot



I had forgotten about this one. But that's a good point, was this incident due to a bad spot?
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

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