base_rigger

This is not about BASE vs.SD. It's about common sense.

If Jason really feels he did everything right I wonder why he is thinking about increasing the skydive jumps for next year among other changes.

And by the way, every timeI go to a different DZ I get my licence checked and most of the times my log-book as well (including the WFFC)

Jason stated he had no clue about Brian's experience prior the incident.

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Brian and WV girl are two separate cases...simple as that.

No shit. One's alive and the other one's dead.

Your posts suggest otherwise.

But hey you're doing a fine job there mate.

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Sorry, but we don't hold everyone's hand at Bridge Day. We don't pack your chute. We don't know if you lied to us about your experience. Have you ever even been Bridge Day? Are you even a BASE jumper? Why do you hide your name? Scared

Sounds to me you have some guilt to deal with.

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Doesn't matter, there are more prerequisites then jump numbers and it's a case by case basis. The organizers did fine in her case. Glad they were that smart.

Really? I guess that did not apply in the case of Brian.

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you have many ideas. do you plan on contributing actions? such as teaching your own FJC? show us how it's done?

I let the real base gods do all the teaching because if I were teaching someone to base jump he/she would have so much skydiving and rigging experience that probably no teaching would be required beside few minor things. You guys make base look so complicated.

It's very upsetting to me that many fail to recognize the difference in this death.

Let me give you two scenarios:

A guy with 4000 jumps, 600 in the past year hooking himself in.

A guy plunging to his death with 0 previous jump, failing to pull either main or reserve who was allowed to jump on his own.

If you cannot recognize the difference in these two scenarios than you are missing Mac's and my point altogether.

Again folks NOBODY is blaming ANYONE for god sake! But don't let this "self responsibility" crap blind you to the brim from trying to prevent accidents like this one from happening again.

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You know, if the Birdman would have went it, we'd be discussing why we allowed wingsuits or why we didn't check wingsuit logbooks. Or if an experienced jumper died trying 5 front flips, we'd be talking about banning anything over 4 flips. Or if someone bounced on a 7 way, we'd be criticized over the number of jumpers we allow at one time

I disagree.

There is a difference between showing off a stunt, intentionally pull low, being in a complex jump and just pure and simple brain-locking due to lack of hands-on training and currency.

If the guy with the WS went in I'd just say well he fucked up, he should have pulled a second sooner.

Brian failed to react due to his lack of experience. He did not make the call to burn it low, that was not his intention and that is what makes this incident DIFFERENT.

Why can't you see that?

care to PM me?

Tom, you did make good points.

However, is there anything you'd like to add or elaborate so accidents like these one won't happen again?

This was not the case of an intentional low pull, a stunt gone wrong, a hard landing.

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Secondly; you don't think that Jason and Jean and all the others don't feel terrible right now?

This is not about feeling terrible or not. It's about PREVENTING shit like this from happening again.

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Fourth; You're a fucking asshole Mac.

I wonder if Tom is going to ban you but I doubt.

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You need to relax

And you need to see the point he is trying to make.

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Are you saying that Johnny U. and Tom Aiello aren't teaching an appropriate 4 day long BASE FJC?

No they are not. BASE jumping is a hands-on activity. There are no prior jumps in the form of PCA during their corse at the BD unlike the ones they conduct in TW.

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Remember that Mike Pelkey had similar training and perfect return jump at Bridge Day 2005.

Wow Jason, a sample size of 1. You are re-writing statistics here

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First of all, you obviously don't know the physical size of the NRGB. PCA'ing from NRGB is like PCA'ing from a low cliff. There is at least 150' of steel below the exit point. PCA's are not as safe as short freefalls.

My bad, I meant off a different object...

An AFF with two Is would have been a great alternative.

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As I mentioned before, we had no knowlege of Brian's currency

And that is not an overlook?

Oh by the way...BASE ain't skydiving we all know that but try to go to any DZ in the US and see if they let you jump all by yourself after it has been 25 years since your last jump using equipment that now it's not even use as a car cover.

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Brian was adequately prepared

Which he was not! And that's the point! NOBODY is blaming ANYONE for Brian's death. However an accident is always a chain of events and any of the following could have broken some links:

Few skydives before BD.

PCA instead of FF.

BASE AFF with two Is where the right I deploys.

Again NOBODY is blaming ANYONE but at least there should be some effort in trying to avoid a similar situation in the future.

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We are not sure why Brian didn't release his PC and we're still investigating it

Investigating??? Dude, it's called brainlock, sensory overloading, you god damn name it.

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For several years now, we offered a full blown FJC with expert instruction.

Sure, 350 bucks and absolutely no jumps prior to the BD one. You call that a full blown FJC?

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Brian received at least 9 hours of training that we are aware of.

And how many PCA did that include? Or why didn't anyone suggest something along those lines "Hey Brian, about a trip to a DZ and a couple of S/Ls? you know it's been about 25 years from your last jump and 40 from your only BASE and you have never flown a ra air".

Jason you are doing an incredible job putting together the event, no doubt.

However there were some serious overlooks that ultimately led to Brian's death.

If Brian was my student I would have forced him to make a couple of skydives and I would have PCAed him of the bridge, at least on the first jump.

I was searchig the web for a pic of the bogy monster and here is what i came up with.

few more just to rub it in!

Hey Tony,

The lady who took the pics of the jump kindly sent me those.

It's the freefall of you and Nick.

FYI Nick is freefalling an Ace 240 (No vents) with a 46".

Tony had his Flik 293 with v-tec and a 47".

Depending on what you are jumping 2000' is not a H&P it's a 10 sec delay.

I consider a true H&P a 1000 foot jump.

Heal fast!!!

I'm glad I was not there carrying your fat ass out!

It could have been worst dude.

Steve went three times AFAIK: two times AFF style with Maggot and Nick and once with Maggot alone...the last jump was interesting to watch!

You are an inspiration to us all.

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However, I do not agree with the comment further up (base rigger's one) that there is absolutely nothing wrong with using skydiving gear on this object, properly rigged or not - especially on high profile jumps (obviouly not in reference to this particular jump, but to bridge day in general).

How many BASE jumps do you have? How many with SD gear and how many with BASE gear and what are your rigging qualifications?

This is getting off topic by the way...

Brian was jumping BASE gear.

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really wouldn't want to jump sky diving gear at DB unless it was a BASE canopy with the tail pocket, line mod, and mesh slider free packed into the container

So you want to jump slider up with the line mod...

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think about shit before you post it.

likewise.