Patty

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We need to update some info about our dz, and I keep receiving an error message. Any suggestions? thanks!

Your cypress in here at the dz. Allan mailed it off twice and it was returned both times as undeliverable. Please contact the dz at [email protected] and give a correct mailing address. Please put Attention Jeanie on the email. Thank you.Quote

After reading a few of these posts, I thought it might be time to get the real story out about the low pulling incident at Skydive Space Center in Titusville. My name is Greg Nardi and I am the DZO at Space Center. I wasn't at Space Center at the time but I have spoken to several of my staff and fun jumpers who were, and here are the facts as I have found them. The jumper involved is named Hans Saykicwicz. He is a B license holder and as of Jan 2006 - according to his waiver, he had 380 jumps total. Hans has been at Space Center ocassionally and according to all of the senior staff ( many with well over 10,000 jumps) he has always had a problem with pulling low. He is also known to have a bit of a bulletproof attitude. He has been approached many times by other jumpers and asked to keep his pull altitude a little higher. These jumpers have been concerned for Hans' safety and for the safety of others. On the day Hans was asked to leave... he was asked several times to keep his pull altitude up. He was repeatedly below 2000 feet and he continued to pull low after being asked not to. Our manifest was concerened for everyone's safety and enough people complained about Hans that she felt it was the right thing to do and asked Hans to leave. If Hans would have agreed to pull a little higher he would still be jumping there. Incidentally, the manifestor in this case is one of the nicest people I know, she has been at Space Center for over 10 years and EVERYONE LOVES HER!! She really cares about jumpers and I have never heard anyone say anything bad about her. I can guarantee you if Hans couldn't get along with her he may have some other issues - if you know what I mean. In the 6 years that I have owned Skydive Space Center, I think Hans has the distinction of being the only jumper to ever be asked to leave because of pulling low. We don't require anybody to pull at 4,000 feet or 3,000 feet. But when we see a jumper putting himself or others in jeopardy then we have an obligation to try and correct the problem. Hans may actually think he is pulling higher than he is... many times depending on someones awareness level.. they will look at their altimeter at 3,000 feet and begin their pull sequence. By the time they decide to pull, reach back, find their pilot chute, throw their pilot chute, and after the a normal deployment, they can be below 2000 feet. This depends on how quickly people react to the decision to pull. The altitude that really matters is how high you are when your parachute opens. Not what your altimeter said the last time you looked at it!! Generally speaking, if someone is opening consistantly lower that they think, they might be the person that may need a little more time in the event of a malfunction. At Skydive Space Center the lowest altitude we jump from is 15,000 feet. AGL!! Its not like we aren't getting enough freefall. After 70 seconds of freefall what is Hans doing for the last 2 or 3 seconds that is worth being really low after a malfunction, or risk a cypress fire. ( Although Hans doesn't jump one) Now, I realize that when some people get 400 or 500 jumps.. ...somehow they become the best skydiver they know....but if any of us are being told repeatedly by some very very experienced instructors and jumpers that we might want to increase our safety margin,... I think it is wise to listen!! ... while listening is still an activity that we are able to perform... due to the fact that our brains are NOT YET scattered across the drop zone and our ears are still attached to our skull!! OK, there is my one post for this decade.....BE SAFE AND BE NICE!! Greg Nardi