10 Matches (out of a total of 833 incidents)

1. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   06/08/1996	Quincy, IL	CCOL,LOWT	47	387	Y/?
   Description: There was a canopy collision after a 4 way that the deceased was videoing. The collision was handled well, and Jim had the collapsed canopy of another jumper wrapped on his legs, but under control. Witnesses reported that he initiated a sharp turn into the wind below 20 feet. It is not known why he waited until then to turn (I've never seen him do a hook turn). It may have been a dropped toggle or he may have been avoiding an obstacle that he didn't previously see, we will never know. He did not survive the landing. Weak tracking may have been a factor, though they really haven't laid blame. He was jumping a Triathlon 160, and the canopy he was wrapped in was a Sabre 190. He may have had a Sentinel AAD, though this s not strictly relevant to this accident.
   Lessons:A camera at an unfamiliar DZ, followed by a canopy collision. Frequently more than one thing goes wrong before an accident occurs. It's important for a cameraman to have clear air when openning, typically, dumping a little high and in the middle is a good plan.

2. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   20/04/1997	Greensburg, IN	MAL	28	400	N/N
   Description: The deceased was videoing a Level I AFF, reached back to deploy and grabbed bridle instead of handle. She waited the requisite 3 seconds for the openning shock, felt nothing, reached back and pulled more bridle, this time dislodging the pin, letting the bag out, inducing a horseshoe malfunction. Insead of throwing out her pilotchute, or cutting away, she instead fired her reserve into the main, whereupon they entangled.. The result was fatal. She had jumped 3 different rigs during the day, with both ROL and BOC pilot chutes. This was also her first jump on a new jumpsuit. In addition, it had been a rough AFF dive which had gone low to start with, she was wearing thick gloves, and she was initially trained on an SOS systems.
   Lessons:Camera jumps are not your everyday skydive. Handles can be harder to see. Practice finding and grabbing your handles in a harness with your helmet ON! Using different gear and different deployment methods is a ticket to getting yourself into exactly THIS sort of trouble. This is another textbook example of multiple factors contributing to a fatality. Concerning the SOS (single point cutaway-reserve system), perhaps in time of stress she reverted to orginal training?

3. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   08/11/1997	Emerald Coast, AL	AIR	30	300	?/?
   Description: It was mid-day and 21 jumpers were filling the aircraft for its second load of the day. A 4-way was to exit first so they were boarding last. The deceased plans were to video a solo jumper that just boarded in front of the 4-way. As they waited to board, he and the drop zone owner were carrying on a casual conversation. Apparently the DZ owner needed to tell the pilot something about refueling , the DZ owner walks from the rear of the aircraft between the fuselage and the spinning props (very dangerous). For some unknown reason as if he forgot to tell the DZ owner something , the deceaced turned and started strolled toward him. Tthere's not a lot of space between the backdoor and props on a Twin Otter, so by the time it took someone to react and yell his name it was too late. He did not walk straight into the center of the props but to the left hand side. The props struck the right side of his head and threw him forward onto the ground killing him instantly.
   Lessons:Always intentionally and conciously give an the prop of an aircraft a very, very wide birth. By conciously deciding to take this action *every* time you approach an airplane, you greatly reduce the likelyhood of carelessness. Additionally, skydiving is dangerous. You cannot let eagerness, excitement, etc. get the better of you and cause you to make errors. You don't get a second chance with props.

4. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   29/11/1998	West Tennessee Skydiving, TN	LOWT	38	350	Y/?
   Description: The deceased executed a low turn under a 215 sq. ft. F-111 nine cell (a Falcon), and impacted with one toggle still buried. The extent of his injuries was such that he could not have survived had he landed in a trauma center, though efforts at resuscitation continued for over half an hour. From eyewitness accounts and the video that was recovered it seemed he was too high on final, turned around and realized he would be doing a very fast downwind, and used an aggressive toggle turn to go back into the wind. He didn't even begin to recover before impact.
   Lessons:Landing downwind is preferable to landing in a turn.

5. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   12/08/2000	Ravenna, Italy	MAL	35		Y/Y
   Description: This very experienced skydiver was making a camera jump, filming a student after an exit from 4500m. He had some sort of malfunction on his Stiletto, and either failed to or was unable to cutaway before having to deploy his reserve. The reserve tangled with the main, and he landed with the parachutes in this configuration. The container was a Mirage G3, which has hard cutaway housings. (Soft housings have been known to cause hard-cutaways.) One report indicates the three-rings might not have been routed correctly, with the fabric loop going through the second ring instead of the third; this would produce a pull force approximately 7 times that of normal. He, according to video, apparently tried to cutaway but failed.
   Lessons:Without more information concerning the type of malfunction or the equipment type (soft housings?), it's hard to guess what might have gone wrong. Clearly, cutting away before deploying the reserve is a preferred procedure.

6. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   03/03/2001	Maricopa, AZ	MAL,EXC	23	450	Y/N
   Description: This jumper was making his first skysurfing jump, using a borrowed small (~2 feet long) board, which is normal for beginners. It appears he received no formal instruction on it's use, and probably did not even watch the instructional video. He had a good exit from a Pilatus Porter, and was videoed in a good standup, doing turns, going inverted, and returning to his feet. At 5000, they broke off. Note that recommended deployment altitude for a first skysurfing jump is 5500. This would indicate a lower-than-appropriate pull. It is unclear what happened at pull time; one theory suggests that he accidentally deployed the pilot chute between his legs. In any case, he was found near to his cutaway board and main, suggesting they were cutaway quite low, probably below 1000'. He impacted feet first; the reserve was found with the slider halfway down. It is unclear if he had an RSL. His main was something smaller than a Stilletto 120. Friends report this jumper was generally calm and level headed, jumped regularly, and was a good canopy pilot.
   Lessons:This jumper appears to have taking up skysurfing without sufficient training or preparation. While he performed well on the board, he ran into trouble during the most important part of every skydive: deployment. Whether the reserve malfunctioned, or he just took too long handle the malfunction are secondary problems. If you're thinking of taking up skysurfing, be sure to get professional (or at least pretty-darned-good) instruction before heading up.
   USPA Description: This jumper was making his first skydive with a training skysurf board. There were no witnesses to the incident. The jumper was found face up with the reserve out of the freebag, but the degree of inflation was not known. (Paramedics had cut all the lines on the canopy). Damage to the body indicated impact with the ground at high speed. The skyboard and main canopy had been released. The main canopy was found 280 feet from the body. The freebag, cutaway handle and reserve ripcord were all within 30 feet of the body. The brakes were stowed on both the main and reserve canopies.
   USPA Conclusions:This evidence points to a low-altitude cutaway and reserve deployment. It is not known whether the jumper received any training on jumping with a skyboard. The main canopy wsa a highly-loaded tri-braced elliptical, probably not the best canopy choice for a first jump with a skyboard, much less for someone with 450 jumps. Jumpers who are making extraordinary skydives need to make sure that they are porperly trained and equipped for all aspects of the procedures invloved. Initiating emergency procedures at a higher altitude or a reserve static line may have changed the outcome of this skydive.

7. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   24/03/2001	Louisburg, NC	MAL	34	323	?/?
   Description: A four way and a videographer exited a twin otter from 13000'. The videographer filmed the 4-way, which went normally until breakoff. The videographer was supposed to pull from the center at 4000. Members of the 4-way observed him at 2500' with a bag locked main. On the ground, the main suspension lines were found entangled with the eyepiece on the helmet. The reserve pilot chute was entangled with the main, and (apparently?) both stows on the reserve were out. The reserve ripcord had been pulled, and was not found, indicating perhaps a high deployment of the reserve. The cutaway release was found near the hand of the deceased. He had made 55 jumps in the last month, most camera jumps, and was quite current.
   Lessons:A horseshow malfunction is the most difficult one to handle. Ideally, this jumper would have managed to release his helmet before cutting away or deploying the reserve. However, many helmets are quite difficult to release quickly, and when in the high-stress situation of a malfunction. It is unfortunate that the reserve did not escape the freebag, as the report seems into indicate the reserve lines were not involved in the entanglement.
   USPA Description: This jumper was videoing a 4-way formation skydive. The plan was for him to deploy at 4,000 feet. Members of the 4-way team observed him at 2,500 feet with a bag-lock malfunction. The deceased was found with main suspension lines wrapped around the eye piece of his camera helmet. The reserve had been delpoyed, and the reserve pilot chute was entangled with the main. The reserve ripcord could not be located, but the cutaway handle was near his hand.
   USPA Conclusions:The reason for the camera helmet-main canopy entanglement is not known. The evidence indicates that the main was deployed first. The jumper apparently deployed the reserve before the main was released. The main evidently was cut away very late. The correct actions would have been to attempt to clear the camera-canopy entanglement first, altitude permitting, then attempt to cut away the malfunctioned main before deploying the reserve. However, entanglements of this nature present a fast-paced, challenging situation. A jumper must keep altitude in mind to complete the recommended emergency procedures if the initial problem can't be rectified. Camera jumps involve many serious challenges that need to be considered by any jumper contemplating jumping with cameras or any special equipment.

8. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   26/05/2001	Lodi, CA	MED?	52		Y/?
   Description: After docking on the 20-way, this jumper was observed to go limp and drop out of the formation, spiraling downwards out of site. The video showed that he convulsed once, and then went completely limp. His arms and legs were scribing circles as he descended, indicating total loss of consciousness. His CYPRES fired, but he may have sustained a head injury on landing in a private backyard near the DZ. In any case, he passed away during the medical helicopter flight to UC Davis Medical Center. It may have been a diabetic seizure or he may have suffered a severe heart attack -- coroner information is not currently available. He had a history of both diabetes and hypertension.
   Lessons:It seems likely this fatality is due to some medical condition. [Note: I include incidents due to existing medical conditions in the fatalities listings, even though they are not strictly skydiving-related, because it both quells any rumors about particular fatalities and also illustrates that skydiving can be stressful to particular medical conditions.]

9. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   22/09/2001	Picton, Australia	DMAL	34	360	?/Y
   Description: After a camera jump, this jumper experienced spinning line twists on his Stilleto 135. He was unable to clear them and cutaway at perhaps 1800'. His reserve (an Airforce 120) opened (via RSL, though reserve handle was also pulled roughly simultaneously) slider-up with line twists, and he impacted in a spin still trying to kick out of the twists. The reserve was very highly loaded, at 1.7 lb/ft^2. Video review of the incident shows that the deceased may have been kicking the wrong direction to get the reserve to untwist, and was not observed to be pulling the risers apart to aid the untwisting.
   Lessons:There is some reason to believe that pausing briefly after cutting away from a seriously spinning malfunction can aid in reserve deployment. However, pausing also eats up valuable altitude, which is also an increased risk. An RSL removes your choice in this matter, but does insure a rapid deployment after a low cutaway. Note that this forum doesn't post the incidents where someone cutaway low, and their RSL saves them.
   APF Description: The jumper was filming a 2-way instructional jump. Iyt was his first jump of the day. The freefall portion of the jump went uneventfully, with th deceased videoing the student deploying his main canopy. He then paused, looking down prior to deploying his main position in a stable belly-to-earth position. From the deceased's video , his main parachure is seen twisted to the right, requiring a left untwisting drill, which the jumper made some effort to do. The cnaopy deployed initially with one twist. No action is seen for some time by the jumper. The twists build to four before the jumper's hands are positioned on the risers. The canopy then starts a left spiral turn - the brakes can be seen still set. The situation builds to five twists, with the canopy continuing to dive in a left-hand turn - obvious canopy distortion is seen on the left-hand side, the horizon appears vertical. The canopy is then seen to be fully developed with little or no distrotion, and appears to be flying straight and level. The twists have stopped building at five. As this is seen on the video, the main canopy is cut away. The jumper falls away on his back with the cutaway canopy and deploying pilot chute and freebag in view. The jumper is pulled face-to-earth at an estimated height of 1,000 feet. Imediately, a prial turn is evident and three revolutions occur before the jumper looks up. This time the twists are in the opposite direction, to the left, requiring a right untwisting remedial action. The deceased holds onto the risers with his cutaway and reserve handles in his hands until impact. The jumper died a few hours later at a hospital.
   APF Conclusions:Inspection of the parachute equipment showed that the parachute system was serviceable, less than one month old. The main parachute had separated cleanly, and the RSL functioned as designed. The brakes were stills et on both the main and reserve parachutes. The deceased cutaway from a main parachute onto his back, the RSL activating the reserve whilst the deceased was unstable. However, the video clearly shows the deceased also pulling the reserve handle whilst back-to-earth in a head-down posture. Whether it is pertinent in this case or not, jumpers are reminded that 'legs back' is the recommended drill during a cutaway to try and fall away face first. This was the deceased's first cutaway. He was jumping a very highly loaded 7-cell F111 reserve canopy at approximately 1.7 pounds per square foot. The manufacturer's recommended maximum wing loading for this reserve is 1.1 pounds per square foot.

10. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
    06/04/2003	Skydive in Paradise, CA	NOP,MAL	52	253	Y/Y		#441183
    Description: A 52-year old skydiver with 253 jumps died after deploying neither the main nor emergency chutes. His Cypress fired the reserve while he was spinning on his back. He had videoed a 2way on the jump. Both other jumpers opened at about 3,000-2500 feet agl and landed fine on the DZ. The jumper was found dead about 1/2 mile north of the DZ in a wooded area. An observer at the DZ had seen the reserve parachute open at tree top level.
    Lessons:
    USPA Description: This jumper was videoing a 2-way skydive that was uneventful until deployment. Apparently trying to open his main parachute at approximately 3,000 feet, he flipped onto his back and began to spin. He continued to spin on his back until his automatic activation device initiated deployment of his reserve parachute. However, the reserve did not fully inflate before he reached the ground.
    USPA Conclusions:This jumper was making his fourth jump using a new full-wing camera suit. His total number of jumps using video equipment was not reported. The wings of the jumpsuit may have made it difficult to find the deployment handle, located at the bottom of his main container. Hje apparently lost control whil attempting deployment and may have lost altitude awareness while spinning on his back. For whatever reason, he did not deploy a parachute in time. Full-wing camera suits can present stability problems such as this jumper experienced during deployment. Faced with this kind of situation, the jumper should maintain stability if possible, make no more than two attempts to locate the main deployment handle and then resort to the reserve parachute. If the main deployment handle can't be located after two additional attempts or, for those with B, C, or D licenses, by 1,800 feet, deploying the reserve - even if unstable - would be a better option. Jumpers using this type of suit should become thoroughly familiar with the suit and deployment prcoedures before jumping with a camera. The AAD initiated reserve deployment, and the reserve began to inflate without an entanglement, but the actual AAD activation altitude is unknown. One witness reported that the reserve appeared to hesitate between activation and deployment, possibly as a result of the jumper's back-to-earth orientation. The AAD is set to fire only a few seconds from the ground, and this reported hesitaiton could have made the difference in this case.