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cruzlite

Stadium Incident; KC

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Rick;

My original intention was to post in "Incidents" forum, however guidelines (see attachment) direct that 'small' incidents be posted in "safety & training".
Since the article refers to injuries as "slight", I put it here. Perhaps a moderator could comment..?...

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It's more appropriate here, but it wouldn't be unwelcome in Incidents. Incidents is intended for discussion of serious or unusual accidents that have educational value. A cutaway due to a lineover doesn't really belong in Incidents, but an unusual canopy problem (like a collision, wrap, and subsequent cutaways) might be appropriate even if no serious injuries result. It's a judgement call, and so far people have been pretty good about posting only serious or unusual incidents.

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WASN'T this the same group (green Beret from ft bragg) the was trying to jump into the Nascar race in really high winds and hit everywhere and everything except where they should have. If so somebody needs to buy them a wind indicator and take them through the basics again on how jumping in high winds is bad! HA!
Blues!
D

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OK, so we have two teams from the green bret's now that can't read a wind indicator?!!! Do these guys sleep through the basic course? Sounds to me like they need to be trained a little better (bring back Skymonkeyone)or make them understand that they may be bullet proof and invencible to the wind, but a canopy is not. I am not bagging on the Green Bret's so don't hunt me down HA! I just think it sounds like these guys should use more common sense when demo jumping. When these guys have a demo go wrong like Rockingham or in KC it really makes the whole skydiving community look bad. The last two demos posted that there were problems with were these guys, some of the best trained jumpers? Once again I am not bagging on the Bret's so please don't take it that way, my point is Demo Jumping is a great way to introduce whuffos to the sport and if it's a bad experience it looks bad on the whole sport. If its Borderline don't jump, there will be other demos to wow the whuffos!

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my point is Demo Jumping is a great way to introduce whuffos to the sport and if it's a bad experience it looks bad on the whole sport. If its Borderline don't jump, there will be other demos to wow the whuffos!



***

Truer words were never spoken...

BUT

To their credit,
at least they had the foresight to do a practice jump
on the day prior.

I'm a demo jumper as well,
and as standard procedure we like to set up,
(or try to)
a prior practice leap, into any stadium as
close to actual demo time as practical.
With the hope the wind variables will be
somewhat similar to the actual demo.

Stadium jumps are without doubt some of
the most challenging demos there are.
The wind always squirrels you,
and because of the nature of the beast...
once committed, you usually have limited "outs".

Its unfortunate that these Demo team members,
fellow skydivers all... were injured.

My hat is off to them for the professional standards
they maintain in taking the practice jump to assess
the safety of an actual demo attempt.

Can you imagine the negative press that may
have followed, should some unfortunate spectator been injured sitting in those areas?

A couple of years ago due to scheduling conflicts,
I had to pass on a high profile flag jump into
Giants Stadium for the grand opening.
I recommended it onto a west coast friend
and top US demo jumper.

Due to circumstances well beyond his control,
he didn't make it into the stadium
and landed safely, in a crowed parking area.

No damage...No injuries.

The promoter, whom I've worked with often in the past,
sent me a video and a nasty letter berating my recommendation.

After viewing the video,
(I had already gotten the performer side of the story)
I flew out and spoke with this promoter personally...
Strongly conveying the point,
no pre jump was allowed as requested...
And several variables he promised to control were not...
i.e. landing area, crowd control.

Under the circumstances,
the absolute best possible outcome was achieved!

No Damage...No Injuries!

I explained that Parachute Demonstrations are
'real time' and not Hollywood,
where you can 'cut' go back and change some
aspect that's not working.

Instead of 'giving it a try'
my friend did what true
Professional Parachute Demonstration jumpers do...

If there is the SLIGHTEST chance
of someone being injured...
Take the out.

...It's easy to armchair quarterback the actions and results of another jumper.
But until you walk the walk...











~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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...It's easy to armchair quarterback the actions and results of another jumper.
But until you walk the walk...

Quote

Yup! Hey airtwardo, our team is doing a night demo into the Jaguars vs Buccaneers game next week. Can't wait.

Jump nice
John Wright

John Wright

World's most beloved skydiver

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...It's easy to armchair quarterback the actions and results of another jumper.
But until you walk the walk...

Quote

Yup! Hey airtwardo, our team is doing a night demo into the Jaguars vs Buccaneers game next week. Can't wait.

Jump nice
John Wright



***

John,

COOL! B|

Get some PICs and post'em,

Have fun and be safe. :)










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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A friend of mine was on the subject jump and called me a couple of days after the event. So the following is second hand info from from of the jumpers (no newspaer/radio) so take it for what it's worth.

The jumpers had a wind meter and the winds never exceeded 20 mph. the location of the reading was on top of the stadium.

A WDI was used but the spotter took the spot to long. I may be wrong but He may have been one of the injured.

The person who landed in the seats in the stadium "knew he was coming up short and should have landed in the parking lot outside the stadium"[:/]

The person with the sprained/broken ankle was a bird colonel who landed on the sidelines. B|

The jumper at the bottom of the stack landed on the 50 yard line in spite of the long spot. He saw the spot was long on exit and ran it in.

The fourth jumper also had a uneventful landing in the turf.

The winds below the top of the inside of the stadium were 180 degree's off the windline.

All jumpers recieved autographed parts of the seats that were replaced due to unforseen circumstances related to the jump.
:)
R.I.P.

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Is smoke on the ground ever used in a demo? This seems like something that could help the jumpers to forsee the 3D aspects inside of the stadium.



***
If you mean having a ground crew person pop a smoke
on the field prior to your landing, my experience is,
Usually not...

If you were to actually see what the winds were doing
you'd never go into one via parachute! ;)

Many times there will be some kind of pyrotechnics
display on the field that will give you a read on
the landing conditions...

You can also read the Flags that many stadiums
fly at various parts of the park,
but that too can be deceiving...
as stated above the winds within,
were 180 degrees from the WDI.

Most event organizers and promoters that would
be affiliated with a demo into a venue such as a large stadium, require an MSDS on the smoke to be utilized.
Next to impossible to obtain. [:/]

It's also a bit smelly and can 'stain' the turf, :o

Which doesn't put you in good favor with the
guys writing the check. :(










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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Hope they're all going to be okay!

From your description...
Were they flying a stack into the stadium?

If so how big?

Sorry me bad the jumpers were "stacking their opening altitudes" opening at different altitude's so everyone could have a clean shot at the 50 yard line.

Compared to the injuries we're hearing about these days one bad nose that took out a few empty seats, and a injured ankle isn't to bad. The seats are toast.

Beware second hand info!



R.I.P.

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