After a “very chill solo jump," this skydiver had a stable deployment which they initially thought was fine, until it started spinning up on them. They weren’t sure what the malfunction was, tried to clear it by pulling on the risers, but then cutaway because they could feel the G’s increasing and were concerned about blacking out. Their RSL deployed their reserve before they got to their handle and they landed safely. They noted it was their first cutaway… we all know what that means!
The jumper wasn’t sure what happened, but it appears to be a line over. As for why it happened, it’s hard to tell. Most of the time, line overs happen because of body position or packing errors. This jumper appears to be stable on deployment so it’s more likely that something happened during the packing process, for example, a line could have gone over the nose while they were rolling their canopy.
It’s been said a million times before but it’s something that jumpers always need to be reminded of: never get complacent. Attention to detail is critical on every pack job. Every step needs to be taken meticulously without rushing and without getting distracted. Too often jumpers are trying to catch the next load or chatting with friends while going through the motions, and that’s when mistakes happen that can cause a serious malfunction.
This appears to have been a newer jumper and it should be stated that they did a pretty good job remembering their EP’s and cutting away immediately after they decided that they would not be able to safely fly their main. One item to add, however, is that their attempt to clear the issue by pulling on the risers was going to be ineffective because it doesn’t create any slack on the line causing the issue. In this situation, one remedy which can help is pulling hard on the brake line to almost collapse the canopy, which can create enough slack to clear the line causing the issue.
After a “very chill solo jump," this skydiver had a stable deployment which they initially thought was fine, until it started spinning up on them. They weren’t sure what the malfunction was, tried to clear it by pulling on the risers, but then cutaway because they could feel the G’s increasing and were concerned about blacking out. Their RSL deployed their reserve before they got to their handle and they landed safely. They noted it was their first cutaway… we all know what that means!
The jumper wasn’t sure what happened, but it appears to be a line over. As for why it happened, it’s hard to tell. Most of the time, line overs happen because of body position or packing errors. This jumper appears to be stable on deployment so it’s more likely that something happened during the packing process, for example, a line could have gone over the nose while they were rolling their canopy.
It’s been said a million times before but it’s something that jumpers always need to be reminded of: never get complacent. Attention to detail is critical on every pack job. Every step needs to be taken meticulously without rushing and without getting distracted. Too often jumpers are trying to catch the next load or chatting with friends while going through the motions, and that’s when mistakes happen that can cause a serious malfunction.
This appears to have been a newer jumper and it should be stated that they did a pretty good job remembering their EP’s and cutting away immediately after they decided that they would not be able to safely fly their main. One item to add, however, is that their attempt to clear the issue by pulling on the risers was going to be ineffective because it doesn’t create any slack on the line causing the issue. In this situation, one remedy which can help is pulling hard on the brake line to almost collapse the canopy, which can create enough slack to clear the line causing the issue.
