Friday Freakout: Skydiver's Legs Get Caught Around Parachute Lines

Zej Moczydlowski
ago
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What happened

While doing a hop 'n pop from 3,500 feet out of what looks like a REALLY cool helicopter, this jumper – for some reason – decided to deploy while on his back. Whoops. The deployment resulted in a mess with his leg going through his lines. After fighting this for a very long time, he finally realized it wasn’t salvageable and cut away – albeit with out-of-sequence emergency procedures, but fortunately the reserve didn't get entangled with the main canopy.

Why did it happen

Exhaustion

In this jumper’s own words, he “had 8 jumps in two days with no sleep, (then) traveled to another dropzone to jump the 9th and… was so sleepy and tired (that he) even had a nap (on the way to altitude.)”

Deploying on His Back

This jumper flipped from his belly to his back before deploying, sending the pilot chute into the space between his legs, and ultimately creating a mess of a malfunction that required him to chop.

How could it be prevented

Prioritize The Jump!

To us, it kind of appears that this jumper really wanted to get a shot of the – admittedly super cool – helicopter he was jumping from and so he went to his back while pitching. He knew that he was jumping from a low altitude (3,500 feet) and needed to deploy rather quickly, but we think he also really wanted to take a look at the aircraft.  We totally get it. However, on every jump the number one priority needs to be deploying your parachute at a safe altitude in the most stable way possible.

Sleep!

This jumper was the first to admit that he probably didn’t have enough rest to be jumping safely. Every jumper who has ever been to a boogie is probably guilty of doing the same. However, it’s still an unsafe practice that can result in very dangerous consequences. This skydiver is very lucky that his decision to jump while super tired didn’t result in anything worse than a cutaway.

Additional Notes

Out-of-Sequence Emergency Procedures

When watching this video, most experienced jumpers will notice that this jumper pulled his reserve before cutting away. He’s very fortunate that his out-of-sequence emergency procedures didn’t result in a nasty mess where his reserve entangled with his main. However, the jumper addressed that factor in his description of the video. He said, that he tried to chop but that the “cutaway handle (was) stuck because the riser was under my container pressure.” That said, again, the issue wouldn't have arisen had he not deployed on his back in the first place.

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What happened

While doing a hop 'n pop from 3,500 feet out of what looks like a REALLY cool helicopter, this jumper – for some reason – decided to deploy while on his back. Whoops. The deployment resulted in a mess with his leg going through his lines. After fighting this for a very long time, he finally realized it wasn’t salvageable and cut away – albeit with out-of-sequence emergency procedures, but fortunately the reserve didn't get entangled with the main canopy.

Why did it happen

Exhaustion

In this jumper’s own words, he “had 8 jumps in two days with no sleep, (then) traveled to another dropzone to jump the 9th and… was so sleepy and tired (that he) even had a nap (on the way to altitude.)”

Deploying on His Back

This jumper flipped from his belly to his back before deploying, sending the pilot chute into the space between his legs, and ultimately creating a mess of a malfunction that required him to chop.

How could it be prevented

Prioritize The Jump!

To us, it kind of appears that this jumper really wanted to get a shot of the – admittedly super cool – helicopter he was jumping from and so he went to his back while pitching. He knew that he was jumping from a low altitude (3,500 feet) and needed to deploy rather quickly, but we think he also really wanted to take a look at the aircraft.  We totally get it. However, on every jump the number one priority needs to be deploying your parachute at a safe altitude in the most stable way possible.

Sleep!

This jumper was the first to admit that he probably didn’t have enough rest to be jumping safely. Every jumper who has ever been to a boogie is probably guilty of doing the same. However, it’s still an unsafe practice that can result in very dangerous consequences. This skydiver is very lucky that his decision to jump while super tired didn’t result in anything worse than a cutaway.

Additional Notes

Out-of-Sequence Emergency Procedures

When watching this video, most experienced jumpers will notice that this jumper pulled his reserve before cutting away. He’s very fortunate that his out-of-sequence emergency procedures didn’t result in a nasty mess where his reserve entangled with his main. However, the jumper addressed that factor in his description of the video. He said, that he tried to chop but that the “cutaway handle (was) stuck because the riser was under my container pressure.” That said, again, the issue wouldn't have arisen had he not deployed on his back in the first place.

Coming Soon

Hang tight, our new comments system and community features will be live soon.

to join the conversation.

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