| Date | Location | Category | Age | # Jumps | AAD?/RSL? | Dropzone.com Report | Dropzone.com Discussion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21/07/2003 | Skydive Miami, FL | BIZ,LAND | 46 | 11 | Y/Y | #578046 | |
| Description: After an apparent AFF jump from 13,500 feet, the student deployed his canopy at around 5,000 feet. The parachute opened properly and at some point after the opening, the canopy started to spiral. There is a report that the jumpers body appeared limp in the harness. The jumper died after a hard landing. The manufacturers of the harness subsequently posted a service bulletin reporting a Main Lift Web adjuster on a student harness shearing through securing webbing which may or may not have resulted in a fatality. | |||||||
| Lessons: | |||||||
| USPA Description: An AFF student had performed routinely during a Category D training jump. However, he dropped his left arm and shoulder as he deployed his BOC pilot chute, causing him to dive head first and roll to te left. The main canopy opened without malfunctioning but proceeded to descen in a tight, spiraling turn. The jumper landed hard while still in a turn. | |||||||
| USPA Conclusions:The student was jumping a parachute harness with an adjustable main lift web, commonly used by skydiving schools to accommodate different-sized people. Inspection of the gear revealed that the harness had failed where the left main lift web passes through the friction adapter adjustment hardware. Apparently, the failure of the left side of the harness caused the student to suddenly drop in the narness and catch his chin on the chest strap, breaking his neck. It is believed he was killed instantly. Hanging unevenly in the harness evidently caused his canopy to turn for the rest of his descent. The unstable deployment may have transferred an unusual amount of force to one point of the harness, but the exact reason for the harness failure had not been determined as of this report. The manufacturer has issued a service bulletin for any of the company's equipment with an adjustable harness. The bulletin advises that the assembly be inspected by an FAA rigger in the U.S. or a technician qualified in another country. The equipment hasn't been released by local authorities, nor has it been inspected in detail by the manufacturer or other knowledgeable source. |
|||||||