Another skydiver killed in Lodi, CA

[BravoHotel]

57-year-old Watsonville woman killed in Lodi skydiving accident

RIP to the deceased.

While this jumper was an experienced skydiver, I don't get how this place is still in operation.

I haven't jumped in over two years and am unlikely to jump again. Call it getting older? The thrill isn't wasn't what it used to be?

 

[Sculprit]

Between Jerry and this place, I wonder what has got the Sacramento FSDO so busy with other crap.

 

[mshunter]

57-year-old Watsonville woman killed in Lodi skydiving accident

RIP to the deceased.

While this jumper was an experienced skydiver, I don't get how this place is still in operation.

I haven't jumped in over two years and am unlikely to jump again. Call it getting older? The thrill isn't wasn't what it used to be?

She had both chutes tangled, and 2000+ jumps. Seems like the odds caught up with her.

 

[Richman]

She had both chutes tangled, and 2000+ jumps. Seems like the odds caught up with her.

Was at a field when a jumper had a riser (?) snap and somehow it whipped back and broke his neck.

 

[MikeD]

Curious how this would be the fault of the jump center? Especially on jumps where it’s found to have been jumper-error?

 

[jrh]

She had both chutes tangled, and 2000+ jumps. Seems like the odds caught up with her.

Not at all. Odds don't catch up with jumpers any more than "there are those who have and those who will" land an airplane gear up. Equipment maintenance and jumper training/proficiency play huge roles.

Both chutes out may or may not be intentional. It may or may not help the situation, depending on what's going on.

In some cases, having the main and reserve out are what cause the fatality (they are unintentionally entangled due to equipment malfunction and/or jumper error) and neither is inflated or controllable.

In other cases, having both out might be what saves the jumper's life. I'm thinking of a fouled main canopy that can't be cut away for some reason. In such a scenario, the jumper should get as much fabric over their head as possible, meaning go to their reserve even if it tangles with their main, and keep working the problem all the way to the ground.

Like airplane accidents, it's hard to draw conclusions based on what a witness saw in the last few seconds.

 

[jrh]

Was at a field when a jumper had a riser (?) snap and somehow it whipped back and broke his neck.

Jumpers do have risers. Risers are the straps connecting the canopy's lines to the container. So you have the container (backpack looking thing) then the risers (flat pieces of heavy nylon webbing about two feet long) then the lines (usually 16 of them, usually look about like a literal clothesline).

It's theoretically possible for a riser to snap, but incredibly unlikely. Then to cause a broken neck...I don't think you heard much of an accurate story.

 

[jrh]

Curious how this would be the fault of the jump center? Especially on jumps where it’s found to have been jumper-error?

Lodi has a reputation in the skydiving industry. They break all sorts of industry norms. While the specific fatal jump might be blamed on the individual jumper the way a pilot is blamed for a crash, which is technically fair, one shouldn't ignore a culture of shady behavior that seems to permeate the operation at Lodi.

It's kind of like saying the pilot is responsible for the crash, but the sketchy south Florida 135 freight company with crappy maintenance and pilot pushing management might have had something to do with it as well.

Here's an article about Lodi I dug up with a quick Google search:

Fitzgerald: Bringing law to a deadly drop zone

If there’s one local outfit that enjoys a dangerous exemption from regulation — somehow, in this over-regulated state — it is the

www.recordnet.com

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Curious how this would be the fault of the jump center? Especially on jumps where it’s found to have been jumper-error?

Are operations that employ certificated riggers subject to regulation beyond air ops?

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Curious how this would be the fault of the jump center? Especially on jumps where it’s found to have been jumper-error?

The NTSB also more or less accused the FAA of neglecting the regulation of parachute jump operations in the King Air report that came out earlier this week, as well.

Culture, once broken, is near impossible to fix.

 

[MikeD]

The NTSB also more or less accused the FAA of neglecting the regulation of parachute jump operations in the King Air report that came out earlier this week, as well.

Culture, once broken, is near impossible to fix.

True. And it also assumes that there was a culture in place to begin with and break, in this case. Some cowboy operations keep cowboying along, until the house catches up with them unfortunately

 

[Roger Roger]

Lodi has a reputation in the skydiving industry. They break all sorts of industry norms. While the specific fatal jump might be blamed on the individual jumper the way a pilot is blamed for a crash, which is technically fair, one shouldn't ignore a culture of shady behavior that seems to permeate the operation at Lodi.

It's kind of like saying the pilot is responsible for the crash, but the sketchy south Florida 135 freight company with crappy maintenance and pilot pushing management might have had something to do with it as well.

Here's an article about Lodi I dug up with a quick Google search:

Fitzgerald: Bringing law to a deadly drop zone

If there’s one local outfit that enjoys a dangerous exemption from regulation — somehow, in this over-regulated state — it is the

www.recordnet.com

It’s like any other area of aviation-maybe you can drill down a particular incident to something that could happen anywhere, but when a particular operator collects a lot “could happen anywhere”s in a short period of time there’s something going on. Or put more succinctly, “• happens, but • sure happens an awful lot around here”.

 

[mshunter]

Not at all. Odds don't catch up with jumpers any more than "there are those who have and those who will" land an airplane gear up. Equipment maintenance and jumper training/proficiency play huge roles.

We're all always playing the odds.

 

[Richman]

We're all always playing the odds.

True, but if you are trying to beat the odds, be sure you can survive the odds beating you.

 

[MikeD]

True, but if you are trying to beat the odds, be sure you can survive the odds beating you.

 

[Bob Ridpath]

Someone has to say it.

”May the odds be ever in your favor.”

 

[moxiepilot]

Only 1 0 and no 00?
Better than most roulette wheel odds..

View attachment 58891

 

[ajm757]

Serious question:
Is it possible to survive a fall from this high? Like if you were to land a certain way or on certain materials/terrain, could you get it just right and stand up and walk away?

 

[knot4u]

Serious question:
Is it possible to survive a fall from this high? Like if you were to land a certain way or on certain materials/terrain, could you get it just right and stand up and walk away?

A think a guy jumped without a parachute into a net a while back...

 

[guywhoflies]

Serious question:
Is it possible to survive a fall from this high? Like if you were to land a certain way or on certain materials/terrain, could you get it just right and stand up and walk away?

It's been done before. Here is one example of a British tail gunner that survived a fall from 18,000 ft in WWII.

The Indestructible Alkemade | Blog | RAF Museum