POWERLINES

[mountainman 0]

Does anyone know what you are supposed to do in the case of going into powerlines (and there is no turning around)??
There are probably powerlines within landing distance from ANY dropzone. Do you know what to do if you going right into them??
Our humble corner on the web... HERE

[PhreeZone 15]

That sould have been covered as part of your ground school.....Taken from my DZ's Student manual....
Power lines are the most dangerous landing hazard you must be capable of handling. Power lines should be avoided at all costs, even if you must make a radical turn close to the ground. If you do find yourself about to land in power lines, get rid of any ripcords or cutaway handles in your hands. Try to land parallel to the lines. Think thin! Put your feet and knees together. Put your arms up on the inside of your risers. Turn your face to the side and prepare to do a PLF, should you go all the way through the lines. If you are suspended in the lines, try not to touch anything. Don't touch more than one line at a time. Don't try to grab the pole or tow as this will complete a circuit and electrocute you! Stay put and wait until qualified personnel (i.e. the power company or fire department) comes to get you down.
Whoa... That was cool!

[FallingMarc 0]

Hard to think of a situation where I'd actually put myself in power lines, if I thought I was aimed anywhere near them I'd rather land crosswind or downwind than risk even possibly hitting them. But if there's no way out, like you said, then I'd do absolutely everything in my power to keep from touching more than one at a time, or from touching them and the ground at the same time, because you don't get zapped if you're only in contact with one. Even if I found myself hanging a couple of feet off the ground, I don't think I'd cutaway--I'd rather wait until help found me and got ahold of the power company to turn off the lines before messing with anything.
Marc

[Zennie 0]

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Power lines should be avoided at all costs, even if you must make a radical turn close to the ground.

OK, I can't agree with this part. And I think The Parachutist's Handbook also mentions not to turn low (don't have it handy at the moment). It was drummed into my head to never-ever-ever-ever do a radical low turn.
A radical low turn is guaranteed to do serious, serious damage, if not kill you. Again, another situational thing, because we're talking about two really, really bad choices here, but I think I'd take my chances with the lines rather than pounding in.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[Zennie 0]

I bopped over to wreck to see what people have said about low turns vs power lines go and the consensus seems to be to opt for the low turn.
Man, I dunno, I still don't like that. About the only time I can conceive of doing a low turn would be if it was either that or get creamed by a semi truck.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[skybytch 259]

It's the lesser of two evils, Zennie. Personally I'd rather be recovering from several broken bones from a low turn than from being electrocuted - I know someone who flew into powerlines; he will never walk again, much less skydive, and he lives in constant pain even now, six years later.
pull and flare,
lisa
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I don't think much, therefore I might not be

[cloud9 0]

All I have to say is if you take the power lines. You'll only do it once!

[Lindsey 0]

For situations like this, it is very important to know how to do a flat turn, or a braking turn. Basically you go into brakes and then slowly let up on your toggle opposite the side you want to turn. It's very simple, but like everything else must be practiced so that when you find yourself in a nasty situation like right on top of powerlines, or someone cuts you off low, you automatically know what to do!
Peace~
Lindsey
http://home.earthlink.net/~linzwalley
"I live with fear and terror, but sometimes I leave him and go skydiving!"

[Zennie 0]

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Personally I'd rather be recovering from several broken bones from a low turn than from being electrocuted

Agreed. Perhaps I am underestimating the likelihood of getting electrocuted.
BTW. Is the person you know Mad Dog?
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[Zennie 0]

Just got home and pulled out Poynter & Turoff's book to see what they said on the subject: "You must avoid power lines at all cost; the danger is just too great."
So the consensus appears to be low turn over power lines. Man I hope I never have to make that choice.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[starzwithaz 0]

Lindsay nailed it!!!!
Do a flat/brake turn. This should keep you from becoming a Lawn Dart.
Blue Skies and Sandy Beaches
Starz

[skymedic 0]

Give me the low turn with crosswind/downwind landing any day. Once you have seen the results of electrocution you dont want to even go there.....
Marc

[skybytch 259]

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BTW. Is the person you know Mad Dog?

No, a guy who did about a hundred jumps at the little dz I used to jump at. It was pretty sad, he would've been a real good skydiver and he was a really nice guy.
pull and flare,
lisa
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I don't think much, therefore I might not be

[spectre230 0]

[mountainman 0]

Thanks for all the advice. We DID go over this in the ground school (so don't think they are incompetant), I just wanted to hear it from some real life experiences.
We were taught to do a braking turn as well. Would this keep you more level to the ground (AKA not pound in) and result in a softer, yet hard, landing??
Thanks all!!
Our humble corner on the web... HERE

[Lindsey 0]

"We were taught to do a braking turn as well. Would this keep you more level to the ground (AKA not pound in) and result in a softer, yet hard, landing??"
Sure...you're more likely to have a hard landing turning low, but with a braked turn you very likely will have a nice landing....though possibly down- or cross-wind. I've only been forced with the decision once....cut off by a not-so-heads-up out of the pattern jumper as I was just about to turn to land.....did a nice controlled flat turn, landed downwind without further incident. This was under an ExtremeFX loaded 1.7:1. Just practice and be prepared!
Peace~Lindsey
http://home.earthlink.net/~linzwalley
"I live with fear and terror, but sometimes I leave him and go skydiving!"

[xybe 0]

Them powerlines is scary.
While learning to jump I once found myself with o broken line heading for the powerlines, landed crosswinds between the powrlines and a ditch. Busted my butt a little bit (the DZ doesn't teach PLFs and my legs were too far appart). Beats the hell out of hitting the power lines.
I don't think I even doubted for a second, the JM really insisted on avoiding powerlines and it was second nature to me. I would never make a low turn (brake or otherwise), but I think this is the one exception for me, even while I am still learning the sport.
Blue Skies
XYBe

[PhreeZone 15]

Thats not at all what I was implying... What I've seen before is DZ's put students out without any explanition of hazards and how to deal with them. I've heard of dz's not teaching water landings until the jumper needs to apply for a licence. What good is that if you happen to land in the water before then?
When ever anyone asks me all most anything I have them go get the student manuel and I go through it with them and point out the paragraph that deals with the question. Others just give the answer. Needless to say everyone takes the shorter route and asks someone else nowdays. oh well...Whoa... That was cool!

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

"All I have to say is if you take the power lines. You'll only do it once!"
Anyone who thinks this is a joke can write me personally and I will relate some of my experiences with you. I have witnessed at least five powerline hits, some with tragic consequences. Bottom line: take powerlines VERY seriously. Land downwind, on the concrete, on your face before you even consider hitting powerlines.
Chuck

[PalmettoTiger 1]

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If you go to a new dz take a long walk or drive and look for the hazards that you might fly into.

Heheh.. you must live in the Southwest or Midwest. If I took a walk to scout hazards, I'd need knee-highs and all I would see are trees. Blues, squares,
PTiger
"Beer: the OTHER other white meat."

[JDBoston 0]

Hard to say which is the lesser of two evils here. Everyone should take a look at www.skydivenet.com (7/4 incident) for an example of why this discussion is a valuable one to engage in.
Joe

[Zennie 0]

For those of you who haven't gone there...
7/4/01 Beeville, Texas Cat-LAND Age-52 #Jumps-40 AAD/RSL?-N/A
Description: This jumper was approaching the landing area too high, and was approaching power lines on the other side of the landing area. He initiated a hard turn, too low to recover, and was critically injured on landing. He passed away at the hospital, after being evac'd by helicopter.
Lessons: Power lines are very dangerous, but so are turns low to the ground. Either brake-turns or flying in deep brakes are frequently preferable to a hard toggle turn in this type of situation. If you don't know what a brake-turn is, ask your instructor.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[skybytch 259]

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I've heard of dz's not teaching water landings until the jumper needs to apply for a licence. What good is that if you happen to land in the water before then?

The dz I jumped and taught at had just replaced the last round reserve in the student gear with a square. I asked the dzo if we could eliminate flying a round from the first jump course. He said absolutely not. I didn't understand why not until he explained. His explanation? We didn't know if a student would end up doing a second, third, etc., jump at a dz that uses round reserves. Our students might have ended up buying a round reserve. They needed that information - shaving 15 minutes off the FJC was not enough reason to eliminate it.
We taught water, powerline and tree landings, even though there weren't that many trees nor that much standing water. We did it for the same reason we taught how to fly a round. Due to our location (lots of wineries in the area) we also taught grape field landings (land with the rows, avoid the grape stakes - "don't be a parasicle!") and correctional facility landings (there was a juvenile facility next to the airport that two different people landed in - correct procedure was to land and wait quietly for the nice officers to come escort you out).
imho it's unethical to not teach basic survival skills in the first jump course, even if that means taking extra time to do it. PLF's and powerline, water and tree landings are all survival skills.
pull and flare,
lisa
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I don't think much, therefore I might not be

[jfields 0]

As boneheaded as they are about most things, the Army taught me a lot about emergency landings. I'm thankful to have gone to jump school. In addition to perfecting the PLF, I have gone over many different types of landing obstructions. Unlike many modern dropzones that are hurrying AFF students through the course, the Army took nearly a month of intensive training. If you took out all the pushups and running, maybe a week and a half. We went over water landings, tree landings, powerlines, and all sorts of differing landing conditions. Once I got to my permanent duty station, we did water training where we jumped into a pool in full combat jumping gear and had to extricate ourselves before swimming laps. Trust me, it isn't easy swimming like that. I had my own tree landing courtesy of the Air Force. It ended up mildly enough, with me crashing through lots of branches with my feet and knees together. The parachute ended up caught in the tree, but low enough that I was on the ground.
As for powerlines, there wasn't a whole lot to do under a round. We were told to steer away the best we could, then wait for help if we got hung up on them. But jumping a ram-air parachute, there is just about no excuse to land on powerlines. They are a nice linear obstacle. Land on one side or the other, however you have to land.
Justin
Member of the Whuffo Conversion Team

[littleguyjumper 0]

I am a new jumper and I heard through the grape vine that this gentleman was from Del Rio I am from del rio as well is this true i only know of a couple of jumpers here. My condolences to him and his family
Blue ones