Hard opening...

[skybytch 268]

It was the 18th jump of the big way camp... an 80 way that didn't complete. I turned and tracked, found my own clean air behind the outside people and between the people in my line and dumped. Instead of what I normally feel when my Spectre 170 deploys - a slight pulling at my back as the lines unstow then slowly being pulled vertical as the canopy works it's way open - I felt a "trap door effect" (much like on a tandem opening), then THWACK! The hardest opening I've experienced in almost 870 jumps.
All I could do was hang there, yelling "ow! shit!" repeatedly. My chin and lower lip were on fire, my knees were pulling up toward my chest, my arms were flopping around and my brain was checked out. Not good when you have 80+ canopies opening in the air all around you.
My brain still wasn't back with me, but out of sheer habit I reached up for the toggles and popped them out. Something felt wrong... I looked up to see the center D lines trailing behind the canopy and the center of the tail flat and much higher than it normally is. Again from force of habit I flared to about half brakes and felt the canopy slowing, thinking wtf??? Broken lines?? Holy shit. Breathe. Ow. Breathe. Owww. I'm flying straight, headed away from the drop zone with no canopies in front of me.
Slowly my brain was coming back to functioning. I remember seeing a blue and white canopy to my right, just below me and turning away. There were other canopies out there too, but none that would affect me as long as I stayed flying in the direction I was going. I glanced at my altimeter; I was just above 1500 feet - I remember thinking do I fly and land it or do I cutaway and pull the reserve? I flared again, felt the canopy slow down but not nearly as much as it normally does. I tried a gentle left turn... it worked. I flared again; okay, I think I can land this. Damn, I hope I can land this... Ow. Shit. Fly for me baby... fly....
Slowly turned 180 back toward the dz, head on a swivel locating the other canopies in my immediate vicinity. I was on the other side of the runway ("don't cross the runway below 500 feet"), checked altitude again, I'm still above 1000 and others are crossing the runway below me (fly for me baby... please...). Checked the wind sock at the main landing area and watched the first people down in the desert surrounding it to try to gauge the wind direction - I don't want to put this down any way other than straight into the wind. I'm across the runway but there's no way I'm going to make the grass. 500 feet; I do a gentle right hand turn (c'mon baby, fly for me... c'mon baby...) and got crosswind. Another very gentle right turn (please fly, please fly...) and I'm into the wind, headed straight for the hard packed desert floor (oh shit this ain't gonna be pretty... c'mon baby fly...).
Too soon (or not soon enough, depending) the ground was coming up at me quick. Quarter brakes to slow it down a bit (oh please.. shit this is gonna hurt...), time to flare... flare... flare.... slide in on my heels.. keep flaring.... stop. Breathe. Ow. I rolled over onto my side and started shaking. Looked at my canopy and said thank you, thank you, thank you. Laid there for a few seconds, trying hard not to start crying, hands shaking uncontrollably. I slowly stood up (ow... ow... ow...) and dropped the toggles. Daisy chained the lines, grabbed the broken ones, gathered the pilot chute and threw the whole mess over my shoulder. Ow. Owwww.... Walked slowly and carefully back to the hangar, found a spot and dropped my canopy. People are looking at me, someone came up and asked if I was okay, "feet, knees, face?" I'm covered with Arizona desert front and back, still shaking uncontrollably and barely functioning. A friend came over after I'd taken my rig off and asked what happened - I started crying as I tried to explain. He held me for a minute and I settled down a bit (Thanks John).
It took over an hour before my hands stopped shaking. I completely lost it for awhile there, laying in a corner trying not to cry and not understanding why I was so upset. That was absolutely the scariest canopy ride and landing I've ever experienced. I sat down for the rest of the day - although I could have borrowed a canopy from Square 2 and kept jumping, that was the end of the big way camp for me.
Lessons learned. Choose your packer well - I'd been using one guy throughout the camp but he got too busy to pack for me anymore. I'd felt the same "trap door" effect on the jump before, packed by my "new" packer, but that opening was just a bit faster than normal instead of brutal. I should have either packed for myself after that or found another packer.
Don't count on having your brain with you when something goes wrong. Drill your emergency procedures until they are second nature; I'm still wondering if landing it was the best choice. It ended well... but it could have been really painful. Once again, I think my choice of canopy and sizing made a big difference.
Be safe.
pull & flare,
lisa
If I can't have everything, well, then just give me a taste...

[billvon 2,925]

Sounds like line dump . . . I can tell the difference in my openings between loose rubber bands and tight tube stoes from the additional pull on my risers during deployment. If someone made very poor stows, I could imagine an even larger difference, one you might interpret as a "trap door" feeling.
-bill von

[MarkM 0]

Yeouch. Glad you're okay and hope your canopy didn't suffer any damage.
But look on the bright side, at least you weren't jumping a Saber :)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"laying in a corner trying not to cry and not understanding why I was so upset"
That's quite a common thing caused by the release of pent up relief, emotion, stress etc. Its natural, and its best to let it all out. A good hug and some words of sympathy help a lot, glad somebody was around to help.
Also pleased your still around to talk about it, line dump is my most feared mal, next to a main/res entanglement, I've heard of people being slammed unconcsious (sp?) by it. Last time I had a seriously hard opening, I lost a couple (6) lines, tore out a couple of cells, and chopped that beetch over Vichy. I hurt for a long time afterwards......and lost my freebag (why are they called free? they are expensive--joking).
Pleased you made it home, and are well enough to relate this to us, nice flying sister......
Remember we can do everything right, and still get hurt........
BTW I chopped my spectre this weekend due to a brake line tangle mal, I didn't believe I could land it so kachink........My PD176 gave me a smooth opening and a sweet landing.
Cya
D

[Albatross 0]

Lisa.
Sorry to hear about the line dump or HARD opening. Glad you are alright. AND YES YOU MADE THE "RIGHT" DECISION YOU LANDED AND DID NOT BREAK ANYTHING. Lots of love from a friend.
C
God bless us and God Bless America
Albatross

[Lindsey 0]

I'm glad you're such a heads-up skydiver. It's really easy to lose sight of the risks involved with every skydive. Malfunctions are life threatening, and dealing with one when you've also taken a major thump takes some keen awareness. Things happen quick, and ya' don't have time to philosophize then. You can't figure out before hand what you'll do in every scenario, but good judgment goes a long way. Glad you're okay! Hope you heal up quickly. And....congrats again on the big ways!
Peace~
Lindsey
you can live in happiness too, like the oompa loompa dooba de do....

[hobbes4star 0]

glad you are alright. sounds like line dump to me to..
why jump when you can fly

[rgoper 0]

Lisa:
i'm glad your o.k. and i hate to hear of the whack. i know it hurts, in more ways than one. you handled it! i'm glad to hear you made the team, hope the rest is uneventful. you have shared your experience with us, and i hope a few of us will learn from it. take care, heal fast! Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

[skybytch 268]

A clarification -

Quote

I should have either packed for myself after that or found another packer.

The packer who packed my whacker was doing me a really big favor by taking me on when she did - she was swamped already and was working her ass off to take care of everybody. She only took me on because she knew me from when she was in Perris. I told her not to stress about it when I paid her for that pack job - shit happens. On that jump the shit happened to me. If I wasn't willing to accept the risk involved with using packers, I wouldn't use them.
Would I have her pack for me again? Yes, I would. What I won't do again is ask any packer to take me on when they are already overbooked.
pull & flare,
lisa
If I can't have everything, well, then just give me a taste...

[scotts 0]

Lisa,
if you check my post in g&r, Wham!Ouch, you'll see i had a very similar experience. Slammed hard. I may have lost consciousness for a bit, I just don't know. 7 weeks later I still have pain and it hurts like hell to sneeze. Like someone is slamming me with a board.
Even though I was able to fly it in, many times I had thought to cutaway as I had altitude and was right over the dz. Thinking about it later, if I had chopped it, what would the opening force have done to me. If I had to cutaway, I would've done so. Glad I didn't have to. Hitting that brick wall at 130mph, was something you and i, and anyone else will never forget.
Hope you have a speedy recovery.
Scott

[quade 4]

Sound like you fractured a rib.
quade
http://futurecam.com

[freeflydeeva 0]

Really glad everything worked out okay. You evidently did what you thought was right. I had a very bad line dump 2 years ago. Broke some A lines and cut away only to have a reserve with a major turn in it. Almost as bad a turn as the main. Flew it in with one toggle at my hip while the other was at normal flight. Was a bitch to flare. LOL So you never know what you will end up with when you cut away. :-)
Just glad you are okay.
Dee