JakGramley

Here's my reply to this same thread in the Wingsuit Forum. At the end I will answer a few more questions that were posted here. My apologies for taking so long to reply to this post. I was out of town and just got back late last night (Thursday 5/9). Yes, we did have contact between a wing suit jumper and one of our Super Otters. It was the last load of the day on Sunday, 5/5. The wing suit jumper is highly experienced and had normally been making contact with the pilot to let him know that he was on the load. Our standard procedure is to have the pilot continue on an extra mile after a wingsuit exit and then to do a long, sweeping turn to the west before descending. This time the communication was not complete. The pilot flew on for a few seconds, turned to the west and began a slow descent. About 15 to 20 seconds after the exit the pilot heard and felt a minor impact. He immediately radioed us and we began emergency procedures to determine if the impact had been with a jumper, if so to identify the jumper and then to prepare for any necessary medical attention. We also launched a second Super Otter to fly chase with the aircraft that had experienced the problem to determine any damage to the aircraft. From the ground we noticed a cutaway main and what appeared to be a fully inflated reserve canopy about 1 mile to the north of the DZ and arrived at that area shortly after the jumper did a standup landing. He was dazed and could not tell us what had happened. We did a visual inspection and found carbon residue on the left wing of the wing suit as well as some minor damage to the suit. At about the same time manifest was able to confirm that all other jumpers on that load were accounted for. We relayed the information to the pilots in the air that the jumper was okay. The aircraft then landed without incident. Ground inspection of the aircraft showed some sheet metal damage and the decision was made to replace the entire tail section. During the disassembly process no structural damage was noted. The second question posed was the notification of the FAA. While I am not the one handling the communication on this one, we had another recent incident at Perris Valley Airport that did NOT involve our aircraft. In that case a twin engine general aviation aircraft had minimal contact with an ultralight aircraft. Both landed safely. When the local FAA FSDO office was contacted they said that a report was NOT necessary unless there was personal injury or major aircraft damage. While the circumstances of this incident are different, the same standard may apply. Once the communication with the FAA is complete I will try to post it on this forum. Now the question of what we are doing about this situation. First off I can tell you that the jumper refused medical attention and has not seen a Dr. since then, despite our recommendation that he do so. Second, we have begun a re-evaluation of our operation as it pertains to wing suit jumps. No, we are not going to discourage wing suit jumps. However we will be imposing new guidelines for line of flight for both the aircraft and the jumpers to insure that nothing like this can happen again. Our goal is to keep up with the sport as it develops. Last, anytime you have questions regarding Perris Valley Skydiving please feel free to contact me directly by email at [email protected] or by phone at the manifest office at (909) 657-3904. We try to be open and honest about everything we do here. I also try to respond to any postings on DropZone.com or rec.skydiving daily. More answers: "The question of contact with wheel or horizontal stabilizer." That one was my fault. We attempted to question the jumper in the field shortly after he landed. We observed black stripes across the wing suit (which is white and light grey). They appeared to match what would be tire tread marks from the aircraft. I mistakenly reported a tire strike. Further examination of the aircraft on the ground revealed the damaged aircraft skin on and around the tail. We now speculate that the marks on the wingsuit are carbon deposits off of the horizontal stabilizer. "The direction of flight of both the jumper and the aircraft." This is purely speculation at this point. The aircraft pilot never saw the jumper. This was a sunset load, with fading light conditions. There was a definite haze in the air. The wingsuit is white and light grey. Had the pilot known EXACTLY where the jumper was, it would have been difficult to spot him in those conditions. We believe, from the accounts of the pilot and the jumper (the jumper remembers exiting the aircraft and his first few maneuvers in freefall), that the jumper exited the aircraft as the last jumper on a south to north jumprun. The jumper executed a left turn, turning him to the west, and then another left turn, causing him to parallel Goetz Road, about 1/2 mile or more west of the DZ. The aircraft did approximately the same thing. We speculate that the jumper and the aircraft were on the same heading, with a closing rate of about 40 mph (since they were both headed in the same direction). We think that the plane descended onto the jumper, which would explain how the jumper missed the wing and the right prop. The streaks on the back of the left wing of the wingsuit were only slightly angled, running primarily parallel to the jumpers body. The jumpers rig is black and shows little detail of the impact. The left wing of the wingsuit has some tears on it, the container appeared to be completely intact. The main canopy showed no damage and we have no idea why the jumper cutaway from it (he has no recollection of any of this). His main landed about 1/4 mile from the jumper under no-wind conditions. Interestingly enough, we were able to locate his reserve handle and reserve pilot chute and freebag the next morning. The jumper retained his cutaway handle. "Wrinkled skin on the aircraft." Yes, there were minor skin wrinkles from the connecting point of the tail and up to near the top of the vertical stabilizer. There was also a minor dent to the bottom of the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer. Pat Conatser elected to replace the entire tail section, partly so that they could check for any structural problems. None have been found. Probably the aircraft could have continued in service without any repairs, but Pat and Melanie just doesn't operate that way. "Could the jumper could have been trying to lurk the plane and got WAY too close?" No, this was not the case at all. The jumper is question is VERY conservative in his skydiving. This was never in question, nor was it ever seriously discussed. The jumper has complete recollection of his exit and the first 10 to 15 seconds of his flight and can recall in detail that experience. He also recalls that the plane flew away from him after his exit, but that he then lost sight of it as he made his first left turn. "Should birdmen go out first?" We at Perris don't think so, for one main reason. Most times you need to make several passes to get all of the jumpers out of a twin Otter or Skyvan. Pilots do NOT want to have to try and locate the wingsuit jumper prior to initiating the next pass. Instead we are proposing that the wingsuits go out last, that they exit the aircraft, then turn to the east and fly out to the east of the jumprun. Our aircraft will continue on for approximately one mile and then make a turn to the west, beginning their descent further out than normal. This should allow us to continue to operate, even dropping jumpers from another aircraft, provided the next jumprun is offset to the west. "AAD's" I do NOT want to start one of those nasty discussions about the use of AAD's, but the wingsuit jumper did NOT have an AAD installed on his rig. In several conversations with him after the event took place he said that he never considered that he would need one since he only jumped a wing suit and always jumped alone. In this case he did everything right once the contact took place. He deployed his main and had to release it due to some type of perceived malfunction. He deployed his reserve canopy without incident. Since this incident he has bought, and is now having installed, a Cypres AAD. I hope that this helps shed more light on this unfortunate incident. I would gladly address further questions on this forum, or privately by email or phone. Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

My apologies for taking so long to reply to this post. I was out of town and just got back late last night (Thursday 5/9). Yes, we did have contact between a wing suit jumper and one of our Super Otters. It was the last load of the day on Sunday, 5/5. The wing suit jumper is highly experienced and had normally been making contact with the pilot to let him know that he was on the load. Our standard procedure is to have the pilot continue on an extra mile after a wing suit exit and then to do a long, sweeping turn to the west before descending. This time the communication was not complete. The pilot flew on for a few seconds, turned to the west and began a slow descent. About 15 to 20 seconds after the exit the pilot heard and felt a minor impact. He immediately radioed us and we began emergency procedures to determine if the impact had been with a jumper, if so to identify the jumper and then to prepare for any necessary medical attention. We also launched a second Super Otter to fly chase with the aircraft that had experienced the problem to determine any damage to the aircraft. From the ground we noticed a cutaway main and what appeared to be a fully inflated reserve canopy about 1 mile to the north of the DZ and arrived at that area shortly after the jumper did a standup landing. He was dazed and could not tell us what had happened. We did a visual inspection and found carbon residue on the left wing of the wing suit as well as some minor damage to the suit. At about the same time manifest was able to confirm that all other jumpers on that load were accounted for. We relayed the information to the pilots in the air that the jumper was okay. The aircraft then landed without incident. Ground inspection of the aircraft showed some sheet metal damage and the decision was made to replace the entire tail section. During the disassembly process no structural damage was noted. The second question posed was the notification of the FAA. While I am not the one handling the communication on this one, we had another recent incident at Perris Valley Airport that did NOT involve our aircraft. In that case a twin engine general aviation aircraft had minimal contact with an ultralight aircraft. Both landed safely. When the local FAA FSDO office was contacted they said that a report was NOT necessary unless there was personal injury or major aircraft damage. While the circumstances of this incident are different, the same standard may apply. Once the communication with the FAA is complete I will try to post it on this forum. Now the question of what we are doing about this situation. First off I can tell you that the jumper refused medical attention and has not seen a Dr. since then, despite our recommendation that he do so. Second, we have begun a re-evaluation of our operation as it pertains to wing suit jumps. No, we are not going to discourage wing suit jumps. However we will be imposing new guidelines for line of flight for both the aircraft and the jumpers to insure that nothing like this can happen again. Our goal is to keep up with the sport as it develops. Last, anytime you have questions regarding Perris Valley Skydiving please feel free to contact me directly by email at [email protected] or by phone at the manifest office at (909) 657-3904. We try to be open and honest about everything we do here. I also try to respond to any postings on DropZone.com or rec.skydiving daily. Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

Perris Valley Skydiving will be doing night jumps this Saturday, April 27th. For more details you can email me at [email protected] or contact the manifest office at (909) 657-3904. Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

You can find the complete study on the pia.com web site http://www.pia.com/piapubs/dualsq.pdf.pdf Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

$14.50 Summer Jump Prices Wondering where to skydive this summer? Want to make the best use of your skydiving budget this summer? Wondering who will give you the best value in skydives this summer? Perris Valley Skydiving announces their summer special. All skydives out of their Super Otters and Super Skyvan are only $14.50 to 12,500’ AGL, specialty aircraft not included. All day, everyday, beginning May 25th (Memorial Day Weekend) and running through September 2nd (Labor Day Weekend) Perris Valley Skydiving will offer one of the cheapest skydiving rates in the USA. No, you don’t have to buy a block of tickets! No, it isn’t good just during the week! This includes weekdays AND weekends! This is a special that you can’t afford to miss! Perris not your home DZ? Not a problem! We have one of the friendliest DZ’s in the world! Most days over half of our jumpers are visiting from other DZ’s, other states or other countries. Our RW and freefly load organizing programs are designed to help introduce you to our local jumping community. We also offer cheap accommodations in our bunkhouse and IHOP (International House of Parachutists). Want to pitch a tent? Free camping and showers are available. We also offer RW training through Skydive University, Freefly training through the Flyboyz Freefly School, canopy control training through Jim Slayton’s Team Extreme Canopy School and skysurf training with Team Firestarter, Craig O’Brien and Tanya Garcia, the current World Champion Women’s Skysurf team. At Perris Valley we have it all! For more information please contact our Manifest office at (909) 657-3904 or go online at www.SkydivePerris.com or www.PerrisCam.com. Perris Valley reserves the right to modify this program at anytime. $14.50 rate not valid on night jumps or during competition events. Rate is only good on Perris Valley Skydiving three Super Otters or the Super Skyvan. Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

Due to the popularity of the helicopter jumps on Saturday, January 12th, we are bringing the A-Star helicopter back again this next Saturday, January 19th. Six jumpers to 5,500' in 5 minutes. This is part of the 4th Annual "Jack, Off to Perris Winter Boogie". This last Saturday we enjoyed a sunset load out of the DC-3 which will also be available this next weekend. Come on out to Perris Valley Skydiving for a great weekend of skydives. For more information please go to our web site at: www.JackOffToPerris.com Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

Today is the last day to get the reduced price of $25 for the "Jack, Off to Perris" Winter Boogie. Starting January 1st the registration goes to $35. What do you get for registering? Killer JOTP t-shirt, free banquet, $15 slots on Super Otters and Super Skyvan, reduced slot prices on helicopter jumps, free Kate and Tony big-way seminar and free Pat Works freefly seminar. Other events include: Regional SSL meet, Peckerhead Meat, 3-day Hit 'n' Chug event and lots of RW, VRW and CRW load organizers. If you want to have fun with your skydiving friends, come to Perris in January. For more information please check out our web site at: www.JackOffToPerris.com or call the manifest office at (909) 657-3904. Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

Jack Off to Perris Winter Boogie will feature jumps from an A-Star helicopter on Saturday, January12th. Jumpers registered for the JOTP Winter Boogie will also enjoy: $15 skydives - from Super Otters and Super Skyvan Free Seminars - Freefly Seminar with Pat Works, Big-Way Seminar with Kate & Tony Special Events - SSL Regional 4-way Event, Peckerhead Meat (5-way Speed Star), Hit 'n' Chug Competition, Big-Way Formations with Kate & Tony and Perris Speed Free-Fly Challenge. Load Organizing - Freefly, Relative Work & Canopy Formation This January Perris Valley Skydiving will host the 4th annual "Jack, Off to Perris" winter boogie, from January 11th through the 21st. Skydivers from around the US will gather for 11 days of special pricing, special events and special aircraft. Registration fee is only $25 (if registered before January 1st, or $35 after January 1st) and includes a T-Shirt, free banquet, admission to the two weekend parties and special pricing for all jumps. For more information, please go to our web site at: http://www.JackOffToPerris.com Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving

$15 skydives - Super Otters and Super Skyvan Specialty aircraft - A-Star Helicopter, Hot Air Balloon Jumps, Tailgate Aircraft Free Seminars - Freefly Seminar with Pat Works, Big-Way Seminar with Kate & Tony Special Events - SSL Regional 4-way Event, Peckerhead Meat (5-way Speed Star), Hit 'n' Chug Competition, Big-Way Formations with Kate & Tony Load Organizing - Freefly, Relative Work & Canopy Formation This January Perris Valley Skydiving will host the 4th annual "Jack, Off to Perris" winter boogie, from January 11th through the 21st. Skydivers from around the US will gather for 11 days of special pricing, special events and special aircraft. Registration fee is only $25 (if registered before January 1st, or $35 after January 1st) and includes a T-Shirt, free banquet, free seminars, admission to the two weekend parties and special pricing for all jumps. Tired of bad weather at your local DZ? Then come to sunny Southern California for some warm weather jumps in January! For more information, please go to our web site at: http://www.JackOffToPerris.com Jack Gramley General Manager Perris Valley Skydiving