When the beer light comes on, the dum-dums come out to play. What do you think: incredible or imbecile?
This scary double malfunction occurred due to a fellow skydiver helping a friend connect new gear albeit incorrectly and the gear not being inspected close enough before jumping.
Long story short, the main parachute was connected backwards. The 3 rings were also routed incorrectly, which, at first glance from the front, appeared to be connected correctly. Once the jumper realized the situation under canopy, she cutaway. Due to the misrouted 3 rings, she didn't have a clean cutaway and the RSL fired the reserve into her main canopy, causing an entanglement.
The result was a double malfunction, a very hard landing, two shattered ankles, a compound tibia fracture, several surgeries and a long road to recovery. She's lucky to be alive.
Please remember that this footage was graciously shared so we can all learn from a (nearly) deadly mistake. We've all made mistakes. The purpose of posting this is not to publicly humiliate anyone, but rather to serve as a reminder for proper gear checks before every jump.
Complacency kills in our sport. Please don't become another statistic.
I'm going to assume that when they were dirt diving this Mr. Bill exit, they didn't plan on his left leg getting stuck over his left riser, or her hands getting stuck under his cutaway/reserve handles, or hanging from her leg as she gets ejected off of him. Mr. Bill's are fun... until they're not.
An angle/tracking jump gets a little too close for comfort when one of the jumpers who sinks out of the formation makes his way back up and nearly collides with the leader.
Ever heard of a "very-last-SECOND" gear check? It's not like a typical gear check that happens before you climb out. No, this one happens in the door and is usually performed by a friend who sees your d-bag and lines trailing out of your container. It consists of someone yanking you back in the plane and saving your ass from a very sticky situation. Take notes, and please remember to check yourself before you wreck yourself.
LMAO! This reaction is priceless. Lesson learned: Pulling low as a student BASE jumper leads to a "shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." moment, followed by a Homer-esque "woo-hoo!"
A pilot chute in tow on AFF Level 7 would scare the hell out of me, too! It looks like a little flailing fixed the situation 🙂
That moment when you realize you're not going to make it back to the DZ, so you prepare to land off. That moment when you lose forward drive while crossing over a highway under canopy. That moment when you spot your landing area and notice the power lines running along the road, but don't notice the lines running across the road until it's far too late to do anything. Talk about an electrifying canopy ride! (Does anyone know if these are live wires or just tension wires?)
What was intended to be an angle jump turned into a zoo dive on exit and the group breaks apart quickly. One of the lagging jumpers tries to catch the leader, resulting in a nearly fatal collision that knocks Lucho out cold. Luckily his Vigil worked as advertised and saved his life. He has fully recovered now from the rough reserve landing, but more importantly, hes alive! This is a great reminder to wear an AAD and know the people and their skill level -- youre jumping with.
