Lucky to be Alive !!!!

[SkyOCiel 0]

for the last 2 days i've been turning it in and around in my head, i'm very very lucky to be writing this..

30 jumps ago, i got a pretty good scare with a pilote chute in tow with just enough time to cut away and open the reserve, to be in the saddle at 1.1k.
i had pitch too low after a long track to get away from the formation.
We checked the pilot chute (which was cocked!) and nothing seemed wrong with it...

Now sunday, my first jump of the day, did a solo freefly and pitched high (4.5K) .
my main opens slowly (spectre) but when i feel nothing in my back i look back and see th F..ing pilot chute about 3m above me collapsed !!!
With no lines, no main out !!! again !
so i wait a little,i'm high and hoping for my main to open, but when nothing happened i go for my cut away and then reserve !
i think i'm out of the woods, reserve out when on my left side i see my main entangling itself in my reserve left risers !!!!
that's when you think to yourself: "i'm Fucked !!!"
the main starts to inflate and starts to dive down ,and i spin faster and faster...
in the meantime i have both hands on the opposite rear risers (of the reserve ) to try to counteract the turns, i may have slowed it down a bit, i had the main collapse for 1 sec which stoped the spin but it reinflated and dove down right away...all i could do was pulling on my right rear riser and hope for the best.
The ground came i hit very hard with both legs first and rolled, and then i remember thinking "i can move my toes, my legs, so my back must be ok i can move my arms, my head..i think i'm OK !!!"

and i was ; i just can't beleive i walked out of it .
Pure luck, i hit a very very soft muddy field.

So now, i must admit i've been thinking 2 close calls in the last 2 months i love skydiving, but since sunday i realized it is possible to be in a situation where there is not much to do to save our skin ....and not being in control at all is very scary.
The good thing of it is we found the problem in my pilot chute so we know why it happened and it shouldn't have happened in the first place, but all in all i m pretty shaken up and i just wanted to share it with other skydivers .
Any thoughts , comments i would appreciate, i think at this point i am a bit confused
But damn i love this sport!

S-

[dgskydive 0]

I am a little confused. You say you cut away, so how did the main get hung up?

The big advice I would give is the next time you see a PC in tow like that. Don't wait for it to do something. Cut it away and get the reserve right away. You did ok because you are here to write about it. But next time (I hope you don't have a next time) you may not be so high and have that much time. Start those emergency procedures right away!

Dom

[SkyOCiel 0]

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am a little confused. You say you cut away, so how did the main get hung up?

when the main is not deployed yet , it won't actually cut away. but the release of pressure from the reserve opening allowed the main to get out of the bag and float away from me unfortunatly it floated a bit too close and entangled itself in the reserve.

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The big advice I would give is the next time you see a PC in tow like that. Don't wait for it to do something

when i say i waited, i mean about 1 or 2 sec ~ 500ft to make sure i don't get my reserve out when the main is about to deploy !

S-

[mfrese 0]

First...Glad you're OK!

Second...boy do I have a knack for picking weekends to take off. I miss all the excitement!

Third...what was the problem with your pilot chute? Who found it? How were the openings prior to this?

Fourth...If these things are happening, TALK TO US, GIRL! We're pretty casual around H-town, but maybe we need to start having a quick debrief of all the lower-time people to make sure things are working OK. Maybe a gear seminar to make sure things are working properly...besides just safety day.

Maybe if we can get your gear up to speed, we can make you feel a little more confident in the air! Come out this weekend and we'll talk...I'm probably going to be there both days, and probably going to be fun jumping the whole time...maybe we'll jump together, after we check your gear over

Take care,

Mike

Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

[Blahr 0]

Glad you are alive!!

You say that you know what happened to the PC. Please tell us, I'm curious.

[gemini 0]

I think there may have been a thread similar to this a few months back.

Many people forget to check their pilot chutes for wear and tear. Things that can go wrong that are similar to the main canopy eg., "kill" line shrinkage, holes and tears, increasing porosity of fabric can all cause hesitating deployment or slower than normal openings.

Other issues that can cause deployment issues include pilot chute stitching coming apart at bridle attachment points, hackey stitching coming apart at attachment point, etc.

I had about 500-600 jumps on the pilot chute that came with my Sabre2 when I got the first deployment hesitation. When you get one there will be no doubt in your mind that something is not right because absolutely nothing seems to happen after you have pitched. You may not be aware of it, but I can assure you that you will know when the normal pitch to main inflation start sequence is to long.

I limped along with mine until the hackey literally came off in the packers hand one day. Sure glad it happened to him on the ground and not me in the air. I was very angry at myself for not recognizing and finding the problem.

Pilot chutes should be replaced frequently. It's not worth the few dollars you save by putting off the expenditure.

Blues,

Blue skies,

Jim

[SkyOCiel 0]

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If these things are happening, TALK TO US, GIRL! We're pretty casual around H-town,

sunday after it happened i think i was a bit under shock still, but i did talk to Tim and i was planning on having more talking once my head got back to thinking.

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gear seminar to make sure things are working properly.

That's a very good idea, one of the thing i told myself is that i need to learn much more about my gear, i jump it i can fly it a bit but i don't think i know it well enough. and that is my responsability to know these things.

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Third...what was the problem with your pilot chute? Who found it? How were the openings prior to this?

Brad found the problem.
if i understood correctly the lines that connect the top of the pilot chute (where the hackey is) to the bottom (mesh part) was a bit too short which could cause it to marginaly not catch air properly so not have enough pull strenght or collapse too quickly.
i have to ask again, on sunday i wasn't fully there i think.
prior to that i always had decent opening although very slow but i have a spectre..

S-

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[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

Glad you landed ok!

Question: Could you reach the bridal behind you when you saw that the pilot had not pulled your pin? I had considered what i'd do in this situation, and I think the first thing i'd do is reach back and pull the pin and see if the main inflates before I decide to cut away. I don't know that it would inflate or not, but there's a better chance if the bag is out of the container.

Angela.

[dgskydive 0]

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when the main is not deployed yet , it won't actually cut away.

I know that.

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float away from me unfortunatly it floated a bit too close and entangled itself in the reserve.

That is what I was looking for. SOmetimes folks will pull the reserve and then cut away. Just wanted to make sure you did it right.

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when i say i waited, i mean about 1 or 2 sec ~ 500ft to make sure i don't get my reserve out when the main is about to deploy !

My normal prodecdure would be to cut away and pull as fast as possible. If I don't feel the snatch (pulling you up right) right away I would just go to the handles. Maybe look up back right before I cut away. I have seen to many times where that 1 or 2 second delay could have saved a life or at least not broken something. Just my .02. Obviously you are here so what you did worked. Just adding another point of view.

Dom

[SkyOCiel 0]

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Could you reach the bridal behind you when you saw that the pilot had not pulled your pin?

you know ever since it happened i keep asking myself should i have tried ?
the answer is i didn't try, but when i get my rig back i will probably see if my arm is long enough to reach , just to know.
i know soem people have fixed a pilot chute in tow by pulling on the briddle but there is also a few potential problems associated with doing that like having a deployement on your back , but to tell you the truth i don;t know which is worse between that and getting the reserve entangled!

[SkyOCiel 0]

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I think there may have been a thread similar to this a few months back.

You 're right i don't know how to do the clicky but there is a good post on Pilote chute defect and what causes it .date is
Apr 20, 2002, 8:16 PM
Forums: General: Talk Back:
PC in tow... for real this time
From "Pilot Dave"

[diablopilot 2]

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nothing happened i go for my cut away and then reserve !
i think i'm out of the woods, reserve out when on my left side i see my main entangling itself in my reserve left risers !!!!

This is why one school of thought is not to cut away from a total mal. That way *IF* you do get a main deployment after the reserve is out you have a semi controlable situation with two out, instead of an entanglement.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[pilotdave 0]

Yeah, I had a PC in tow a while back (sometime around my 50th jump) for the same reason (from the sound of it, anyway), a shrunken kill line. Without even thinking about it, I grabbed the bridle. It worked, but flipped me on my back. Didn't cause any problems other than a couple linetwists. But I wouldn't do it again.

Dave

[CornishChris 5]

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but the release of pressure from the reserve opening allowed the main to get out of the bag and float away from me unfortunatly it floated a bit too close and entangled itself in the reserve.

Question. If you have a PC in tow then by my understanding within the container (still closed) you have a closed D-bag and stowed lines; If you cut away then if the pressure release the pin the D-bag will fall away from the container if you are already under canopy. If you are still falling how would the container come open and allow the main to "get out of the bag"?

Lots of "ifs" but trying to understand the sequence of events that led to this entanglement, from cutaway to it happening.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[pilotdave 0]

Well, try it (on the ground). Cut away then pull your bridle. I bet you'll have a normal deployment, then the main will release. On my rig, it takes quite a bit of force to open the riser covers. I'm pretty sure the bag will come out before the risers release.

Dave

[Mad47 0]

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The big advice I would give is the next time you see a PC in tow like that. Don't wait for it to do something. Cut it away and get the reserve right away.

There is no generally accepted emergency procedure for PC in tow. Many very experienced jumpers will probably tell you that they would pull silver without cutting the main away.