A pilot chute in tow malfunction is never fun, especially when you try to manually deploy your main parachute and end up flipping onto your back with a mess of lines wrapping around your leg. That’s exactly what happened to this skydiver. He pulled his cutaway, deployed his reserve and crossed his fingers that the reserve would clear the ball of $#!t above his head.
The pilot chute in tow malfunction was a result of human error — this jumper forgot to cock his pilot chute. Once he realized what had happened, he tried to grab the bridle and pull the bag out manually. Unfortunately, as he did that he got unstable and flipped onto his back. When it came out it wrapped itself around his leg and got super messy super fast.
Every time you pack, take your time and hit every step of the process. Don’t get complacent, don’t rush, don’t get distracted, and don’t cut corners. Some people cock their pilot chute as the first step in their packing process, some people do it after they lay down their canopy, whatever works for you do it… and make sure to do it that way every time.
You know that moment where you’re like “Shit... did I cock my pilot chute?” That’s the perfect moment to turn to your buddy and ask them for a gear check. No one is too experienced to ask a fellow jumper for an extra set of eyes.
This was a really messy scenario. Once the jumper realized his pilot chute wasn’t going to work he tried to get the bag out manually. It wasn’t a terrible idea but, by flipping onto his back to attempt that maneuver, he made the situation a LOT worse. If you’re not able to try to get the bag out while remaining stable just follow your emergency procedures for a pilot-chute-in-tow: cut-away and pull reserve, or go straight to reserve (that debate has been raging for a long time and we are NOT going to get into the pro’s and con’s of those options.)
Watching a pilot chute fly out of a plane door is one hell of a way to get your heart rate going. This skydiver was sitting on the floor when his hacky got caught on the plane door as it was being opened. Whoa! Fortunately the d-bag didn't come out and his canopy didn't inflate while he was still inside the plane.
The plane door had a bungee cord connected to it, which helped make it easier to open and close the door. Since the jumper was sitting beside the door, his hacky got stuck between the door and the bungee and as the door was opened, it pulled the pilot chute out.
Once the hacky was out and flapping in the wind, the jumper behind him helped reel in the bridle, handed it to the jumper and then he exited the plane.
Check your gear and protect your handles, especially when you're moving and shuffling around in the plane or resting against objects in the plane.
It's also worth discussing emergency procedures in a situation like this. What are your emergency procedures if there's a premature opening in the plane door?
This skydive was a 13-way "triathlon jump" -- a BFR to a sit round to a tracking jump -- and one of the jumpers had a premature opening while tracking away, which turned into a bag lock followed by a quick cutaway. A zoo dive just wouldn't be complete without a sketchy premie 😉
A gear check was performed prior to boarding the plane, but when it came time to exit, there were a lot of people jammed in the door. This jumper was pushed against the back wall of the plane just before their exit, which he thinks caused the pin to dislodge from the closing loop -- a horseshoe malfunction in the making, but the pilot chute was extracted once the d-bag came out of the container.
While climbing down to hang from the helicopter skid, a skydiver's D-ring got caught on the skid and it deployed the reserve pilot chute while she was still hanging under the heli! It's hard to communicate under a noisy helicopter through full-face helmets, so it took a few seconds to process the seriousness of the situation before she let go.
Lack of awareness of the snag hazards on the skid while climbing down. In this incident, it was the connection points on the skid used for ground handling wheels.
These jumpers were briefed prior to the jump and it's easy to rehearse the climb out in your head on the way up to altitude, but we can sometimes feel rushed and forget about snag hazards as we climb out -- especially if it's your first heli jump.
Be mindful of any snag hazards -- not only your handles, but your chest strap as well like this other heli incident.
Heli jumps are super fun, but the safety briefings can sometimes be a little too brief and basic, and an incident like this might be one of those “you don’t know until you know” situations. If this wasn’t a scenario you’d previously considered, now you know and can remind other jumpers during the safety briefing before your next heli jump.
A skydiver has a snappy premature parachute opening at 7,000 feet while back-flying on a 2-way freefly jump. Ouch! 😲 Luckily the other jumper wasn't above him or that he wasn't flying head down when the premie occurred.
The rig was inspected and nothing noticeable was found, so perhaps the pilot chute just wasn't tucked deep enough into the BOC and the exposed fabric caught just enough air while he was on his back to cause the premature opening.
Just a friendly reminder to double check your gear -- heck, even triple check if you're OCD -- and make sure you have a tight BOC to keep you pilot chute firmly in place until deployment.
One of the skydivers on a big-way angle jump corks out, loses control and flies through the formation. Another jumper at the 0:47 mark gets a little unstable and balls up, which causes them to stop flying their slot and they fly across the formation just before break-off.
Fortunately there was nobody else in the path of the meat missile, because a collision at these speeds can be very dangerous and possibly fatal.
The jumper who was flying on their back was off level -- he was low and too far ahead of the formation -- so he tried getting closer to the formation by changing his angle of attack (flatter) without slowing down to get back into position behind the leader. As he picked up more speed closing the gap to the formation, he got scared and balled up, which caused him to cork through the group.
We all know the importance of "level, slot, dock" and that applies to any flying orientation/discipline in the sky.
When angle flying, skydivers flying on their back should be slightly behind the leader and skydivers flying on their belly should be slightly ahead of the leader.
As mentioned above, this jumper was back-flying and off level by being too far ahead of the formation. Before changing his angle of attack to get closer to the formation, he should have slowed down by applying some brakes to get back on level behind the leader.
Never stop flying your body! Ever. Balling up might feel like the safe thing to do to prepare and protect yourself for an oncoming collision, but it's much safer to keep flying to avoid a collision. You will have more control and awareness if you keep flying compared to balling up and closing your eyes.
Stay safe out there everyone! If I've missed anything or you have other suggestions to add to this list, please comment below.
Wait for it.... wait for it. Yup, that's a human meat missile. Luckily there wasn't a collision, but this is how fatalities happen. Don't be a meat missile!
At 6,000 feet, this skydiver had a premature opening while sit flying. As the canopy opened, the left riser pulled his left leg above his head and pinned his left arm between his body and his leg. He attempted to get out of this human-pretzel situation, but since he's not a contortionists, a yoga instructor nor a magician, he couldn't clear his leg over the riser so he cutaway and the RSL deployed his beautifully twisted reserve.
After clearing the reserve line twists, he followed his cutaway canopy down and landed off DZ in the same field where the main canopy drifted.
This might have been caused by a loose closing loop, a loose BOC or the bridle was exposed and caught too much air in freefall.
The end result was cuts and bruises on his leg, sore muscles and a broken slider. All things considered, he's pretty lucky to walk away with such minor injuries.
#GearChecksGearChecksGearChecks
