In case I ever thought about taking up skydiving:

Right into the taxiway. Ouch. So much grass around and he hits the asphalt. So, can anyone explain what happened? Did he do anything wrong or did the chute get packed wrong? Or do these things just happen? Yeah, I never really wanted to do this anyway but thought flying jumpers might be fun as a part time post retirement side gig.
 
DE727UPS said:
Right into the taxiway. Ouch. So much grass around and he hits the asphalt. So, can anyone explain what happened? Did he do anything wrong or did the chute get packed wrong? Or do these things just happen? Yeah, I never really wanted to do this anyway but thought flying jumpers might be fun as a part time post retirement side gig.
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His main didn't separate completely and caused the reserve had a nasty line twist.

He got it mostly under control by the end, but still hit really hard.
 
DE727UPS said:
So, can anyone explain what happened? Did he do anything wrong or did the chute get packed wrong? Or do these things just happen?
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The full description is with the video on YouTube. Gives a good technical explanation of what happened.

The quick summary is that the jumper bought the rig used. It was an old rig from the early 2000s with a known safety issue. The rig had been modified to address the safety issue, but was modified incorrectly. This incorrect modification caused the malfunction.

This would be the equivalent of buying a Cessna from the 1960s which had some kind of AD issued, the AD was not complied with correctly, the new owner either didn't get a prebuy inspection or the mechanic doing the prebuy inspection didn't catch the improper repair, then as a result, the wing breaks off in flight one day.

Do these things "just happen?" Yes and no. They happen about as frequently as wings fall off airplanes. Super rare and usually after a lack of maintenance, inspections, and/or training. It's not much different from flying.

If you use modern equipment, inspect and maintain it properly, get good training, and use good judgement, it really minimizes the chances of something like this happening. Start cutting corners on any of those areas and, ehhh...you never know. Might be ok, might not.

Skydiving has truly been a life changing experience for me and I wish more people got to experience it. Can't wait to get jumping again after the 'rona fades away.
 
jrh said:
The full description is with the video on YouTube. Gives a good technical explanation of what happened.

The quick summary is that the jumper bought the rig used. It was an old rig from the early 2000s with a known safety issue. The rig had been modified to address the safety issue, but was modified incorrectly. This incorrect modification caused the malfunction.

This would be the equivalent of buying a Cessna from the 1960s which had some kind of AD issued, the AD was not complied with correctly, the new owner either didn't get a prebuy inspection or the mechanic doing the prebuy inspection didn't catch the improper repair, then as a result, the wing breaks off in flight one day.

Do these things "just happen?" Yes and no. They happen about as frequently as wings fall off airplanes. Super rare and usually after a lack of maintenance, inspections, and/or training. It's not much different from flying.

If you use modern equipment, inspect and maintain it properly, get good training, and use good judgement, it really minimizes the chances of something like this happening. Start cutting corners on any of those areas and, ehhh...you never know. Might be ok, might not.

Skydiving has truly been a life changing experience for me and I wish more people got to experience it. Can't wait to get jumping again after the 'rona fades away.
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I’ve never jumped, but have probably 500-750 loads under my belt. It really is a fun culture and 99.9% of the folks I came across were extremely safety oriented.
 
Flew jumpers out of Redbud (should have been my first clue) Illinois in the mid 80’s for two weekends. What a crazy bunch, and the worst 182 you can imagine. NOTHING worked on that airplane except the airspeed and altimeter. You had to shut the master off after starting it because the alternator didn’t work. The compass was frozen in place. I figured I had to get out before I either got violated or killed. It was an eye opening experience.
 
Skydiving is like sex. But not in the way you think. Women act surprised they get pregnant when they do one thing that will get them that way (granted, it's a team sport).

By that same token, people act surprised when skydivers go splat.

Duh.
 
My skydiving was at well-operated DZs with good instructors, jumpasters & riggers, but those jump planes were pretty ratty. It was before I started flying so I never knew to look at things like avionics, instrumentation or W&B. I can't imagine W&B was EVER in the envelope except maybe the DC-3s.
 
Itchy said:
Flew jumpers out of Redbud (should have been my first clue) Illinois in the mid 80’s for two weekends. What a crazy bunch, and the worst 182 you can imagine. NOTHING worked on that airplane except the airspeed and altimeter. You had to shut the master off after starting it because the alternator didn’t work. The compass was frozen in place. I figured I had to get out before I either got violated or killed. It was an eye opening experience.
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Yeah, I've heard stories of how crazy things got back in the day. I suppose it's that way for a lot of things in life.

It's not so much that way anymore. Can't say you won't find that type of thing anywhere, but it's definitely few and far between.

I started jumping in 2008 and I've seen a noticeable culture shift even in the past 12 years. There's not the appetite for risk or tolerance of risky behavior like there used to be.
 
jrh said:
The quick summary is that the jumper bought the rig used. It was an old rig from the early 2000s with a known safety issue. The rig had been modified to address the safety issue, but was modified incorrectly. This incorrect modification caused the malfunction.
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I’m surprised to see a used rig that old being bought up, though I r just pilot. When I got into aerobatics I was looking at a couple of used Softies and the consensus I heard from every aerobatic pilot (both leisure and competitive) I talked to was it was worth it to buy new.
 
Boris Badenov said:
*Double take*

*Checks screen name*

Wait a minute, weren't you just telling us how unacceptably dangerous it is to fly around *inside* an airplane when you *need to go somewhere* because it doesn't have enough engines???
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No, not at all. I thought I made that clear several times. I have thousands of hours in single engine airplanes and wouldn't hesitate to fly one tomorrow if you asked me to.

I don't think single engine airplanes should be used ***in scheduled airline service*** because the passengers don't have a good enough understanding of the risks involved. I was making an argument about what risks a naive person should be subjected to, not claiming single engine airplanes are always too dangerous all the time. It's a big difference and somehow got lost in the chaos of people jumping up and down about how awesome the PC-12 is.

Skydivers definitely understand the risks and make choices accordingly.
 
JeppUpdater said:
I’m surprised to see a used rig that old being bought up, though I r just pilot. When I got into aerobatics I was looking at a couple of used Softies and the consensus I heard from every aerobatic pilot (both leisure and competitive) I talked to was it was worth it to buy new.
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Old-ish rigs are common in skydiving, but as I said earlier, jumpers need to take reasonable precautions before buying such equipment. This usually means having an experienced rigger inspect all the components before buying it.

When it comes to bailout rigs, I'm no expert, but it might have something to do with how they're stored and the conditions in which they're used. I wouldn't want to jump a rig that had been sitting for years in a hangar or closet, going through who knows how many cycles of heat, cold, and humidity. I certainly wouldn't want to do it after having a catastrophic aircraft failure and having no reserve canopy along with it.

That's not to say I'd hold a lower standard for sport skydiving rigs, but it is slightly different knowing a rig has been jumped/inspected on a regular basis and there is a reserve canopy if something goes wrong with the main canopy.
 
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