These skydivers did a chill horny gorilla exit that was going pretty well... until it wasn’t. Once the back of their containers were exposed to the relative wind, one of the jumper's had a premature opening. As the pilot chute goes screaming past his head, he realized what was happening and quickly tried to clear the bridle. Either due to his efforts, or just naturally, the bridle slipped out from under his arm and the main canopy inflated without any issues.
This container looks freefly-friendly. So, the most likely cause of this incident is the pilot chute catching the relative wind. Direct exposure of the container to the relative wind during a horny gorilla like this one creates a lot of drag on any exposed surface of the pilot chute. And that small amount of exposure – which may not cause a premature deployment during a belly jump – can more easily cause one during a freefly jump.
In this video, we can’t see how the jumpers exited the plane and whether there was some incidental contact between the container and the aircraft. However, that is a very common way for a pilot chute to get dislodged just enough for the wind to then deploy it during a skydive.
On the ground, in the plane, and before exit: check your gear and have a buddy check it as well. Reaching behind to touch your BOC and see if your pilot chute is seated properly is NOT the same as having a friend look and make sure there’s no fabric peeking out that could catch the wind. The same goes for having someone check to make sure the elastic on your BOC is tight enough to prevent the pilot chute from getting dislodged.
Again, we can’t see anything in this video that suggests contact with the plane. However, it’s a common cause of this type of situation. We would be remiss to not consider it and note that – by rotating their container away from the doorframe and protecting it from incidental contact – jumpers can avoid bumping their BOC and accidentally dislodging their pilot chute.
A few seconds after exiting, this skydiver felt something hitting his leg — it was his main canopy in the d-bag! He knew his pilot chute was still in the BOC and realized he had a horseshoe malfunction, so he tried throwing his pilot chute but it wrapped around his leg. He kept attempting to clear the pilot chute — even removing his shoe to see if it would help — until his audible altimeter told him he was at 5,000 ft. He then went through his emergency procedures by cutting away and pulling his reserve. Fortunately, there was no entanglement between main and reserve and he was under canopy by 3,000 ft.
A horseshoe malfunction (and losing a shoe) makes for a very "exciting" 187th jump. Great job on keeping calm, trying to clear the wrap and following emergency procedures. Well done.
Everything that we see in this video is secondary to the fact that this jumper's main pin became dislodged. He noted that he believes it may have happened upon exit; he may have bumped up against the door of the aircraft.
The biggest takeaway here is to protect your pin, flaps and handles. Before you get on the plane, during the climb to altitude, and then immediately before and during exit, it's critical that jumpers remain aware that they're not rubbing their container against anything that could snag a handle or pop a pin.
The jumper said he did his gear checks on the ground and checked himself immediately before exit, including touching his main pin with his hand. However, he didn't get a buddy check in the plane. As such, it's possible he may not have realized that the pin had been bumped and become unseated while he was moving around. Having another jumper visually inspect his container may have prevented this incident.
When fully seated, a closing pin should have enough tension on it to prevent it from being easily dislodged. This issue combines a variety of factors: closing loop length, pack job density, proper container-to-canopy sizing, etc. This is something that should be taken into consideration every time a canopy is packed. If that closing pin slides around very easily because there's not enough tension, one of those aforementioned factors needs to be corrected.
One thing that immediately stood out to us was how the jumper never checks a visual altimeter. However, he was obviously aware of his altitude given that he fought the malfunction down to his pull altitude and then executed his emergency procedures promptly enough to be under canopy by around 3,000 feet. The jumper noted that he uses two audible altimeters and relied on them. However, there is a debate about whether relying on two audibles and not checking a visual is an acceptable practice.
This jumper did an excellent job remaining calm. The fact that he took the time to think "Hm... maybe I should try ditching my shoe..." was awesome. By remaining calm, thinking the incident through, and knowing to listen for his audible to go off, he did a good job maximizing the chances that he would walk away from this incident.
This jumper was exiting from an antenna with multiple cables running off it. While he managed to exit and (barely) not clip one of the cables, his body turned. An on-heading opening kept him from turning into the antenna but, finding himself in a precarious situation, he decided to do the worst thing he could think of: turn low and not finish his flare. He (probably) got lucky that there was a bush in his way that cushioned his landing and prevented an injury.
The jumper looks pretty nervous and it’s likely that either nerves or inexperience resulted in his body position turning before deployment. Fortunately, he was still able to avoid the cables running off the antenna and his body position only rotated approximately ninety degrees.
One highly experienced BASE jumper who reviewed this video noted that it appears that this jumper didn’t really have a plan in place for when he didn’t have a perfect deployment. "Preplanning every outcome is the plan in BASE. It rarely goes well when you’re inventing it as you go. BASE jumpers always think they will rise to the occasion. What we know is that we rise to our level of training."
This skydiver, with around 250 jumps, was working on head-down exits and flying in different head-down styles. He was flying solo, wasn’t checking his altimeter, couldn’t hear his audible, and – as a result – opened dirty low. So low that his AAD fired and gave him a two-out, which he promptly chopped so that he could land safely on his reserve.
This jumper was having a blast on this jump and that made him forget about the fact that he should keep track of his altitude. That issue, combined with the fact that he was relying on his audible, led to this incident.
It’s been said a million times, but an audible is typically a back-up device and should not be relied on as a jumper’s primary altimeter. This jumper ran into issues because he wasn’t checking a visual altimeter, couldn’t hear his audible, and by - the time he used his eyes - the ground was rushing up at him.
This jumper had recently started wearing earplugs and never checked to see if he would be able to hear his audible through them at the volume settings he was using. When you make changes to your gear you should check to make sure those alterations won’t affect the usability of that equipment.
A lot of dropzones get nervous about folks who start working on head-up or head-down skydiving solo and this video demonstrates one of the reasons why. In addition to not having a reference to know if you’re drifting up or down jump run, jumping solo takes away the visual cue of your buddy breaking off and letting you know that it’s time to pull.
Some folks may question whether the jumper needed to chop their main but hey, he landed safely without any issues. He did what he thought he had to do to ensure a safe landing -- we're not going to play armchair quarterback here.
This skydiver had a sketchy off-DZ landing into a small residential backyard surrounded by fences and trees, which was a little more excitement than he was hoping for with only 230 jumps under his belt. So, what happened? This jumper was at a dropzone where there are assigned jumpmasters who check the spot and approve the exit location. Trusting the jumpmaster, he and his buddy didn't check the spot and exited as directed.
Once under canopy, the jumper realized how far he was from the dropzone and that he was flying into the wind. From 3,000 ft to 2,400 ft,, he kept trying to figure out if he could get to the DZ. At 2,400 ft he picked an off-landing site, but at 1,800 ft realized he couldn't make it and chose somewhere else. At 900 ft he realized he wasn't going to make his second choice and he was forced to make a last second attempt to land in residential backyard (let's call it a small garden).
He had a rough landing due to an early flare, but he just sprained his ankle. Whew!
The jumper was fixated on the dropzone and really wanted to land there. As a result, he ignored how much push he was getting from the wind and made a few bad decisions as he got lower and lower. This fixation was so strong that it also made him forget his landing priorities.
The individual said, “the jumpmaster misread the wind by about 180 degrees” and that there was “some miscommunication with the pilot” resulting in the “airplane flying downwind relative to the landing area and quite far away from it.” If that’s the case, it sounds like two experienced individuals both made a mistake when they checked the winds.
The jumper didn’t check the spot and must not have known the winds aloft because – if he did – he should have said something about getting out in a spot on the wrong end of the dropzone.
This jumper admits that he was focused on getting to the dropzone and landing into the wind. Effectively, he prioritized the fourth landing priority (land into the wind) ahead of the second landing priority (land in a clear area)! He would have been far safer turning around, aiming his canopy at the massive open fields behind him and sliding in a downwind landing.
Before you get on the plane, you should check the winds aloft to have an idea about how strong the push is going to be.
Before you get out of the plane, you should check the spot – never trust someone else.
Combine your knowledge of the winds with the spot you’re looking at and think about where you’re getting out. Ask yourself a few questions. Are you on a huge canopy? Is getting out going to result in you getting pushed so hard that it’s impossible to get back to the dropzone?
One additional possibility is that the winds shifted while these jumpers were in the air – some dropzone locations are notorious for this. Given that both the pilot and an experienced jumpmaster evidently didn’t realize how strong the push was, we think there’s a possibility that this may have been the case here.
This was a two-stage 8 way hybrid that was seemingly going well, but it exploded on the second stage just before break-off. Most of the jumpers did a decent job tracking off but when this jumper deployed, they see their buddy plummet past them at a dangerously close proximity. Fortunately, there was no impact, and the jumper was able to fly his canopy away from the other jumper.
The jumper whose POV we're viewing told us that he didn't realize one of the other jumpers had tracked above him. This opens a big can of worms but, ultimately, the lower jumper has the right of way and the individual above him should have altered their track to not be on top of him. Why that didn't happen is conjecture but the most common reason for this type of incident is that the higher jumper was simply not paying attention to what was below him.
Obviously, had the higher jumper paid closer attention to what was occurring below him, they could have just adjusted their vector to get away from the jumper below. Being above someone during breakoff is a bad idea given that - if they deploy suddenly - you could end up eating their canopy and impacting at high speed.
The jumper whose POV we're viewing didn't check their airspace. That's an issue because, while he was able to see where 5 jumpers went after breakoff, there were 2 jumpers whose positions he did not know. This group wasn't THAT big, and everyone was on level at breakoff, so knowing where everyone went shouldn't be that hard.
The reason that we are taught to wave off is so that, should someone accidentally be right above us, they know that we are about to pitch and potentially deploy a canopy into their face. Admittedly, the jumper above them shouldn't be in that space in the first place, but if they see someone waving off, they at least know that they are in a very dangerous spot and can try to either deploy immediately or get the heck away.
If you happen to be in a situation where you’re tracking away from everyone and see that one of your buddies is directly below you – AND you know for a fact where everyone else went/know that there is no way that someone is above you – pitch right then and there! In that situation, deploying immediately – if you’re already at an appropriate altitude and know for a fact that no one is above you – is a safe move that will immediately create vertical separation between you and the jumper beneath you, as well as give them time to continue tracking away from you to create horizontal separation.
While jumping with an experienced coach, this skydiver had a premature opening in close proximity to the coach as he was fighting an unstable body position to stick his sit fly. The preemie was caused by a loose BOC, but the canopy deployed cleanly -- albeit a little snappy -- and the jumper landed safely.
During a very quick inspection on the ground, a rigger said the spandex in the BOC looked fine. A few weeks later the same coach saw the jumper boarding a plane in a tracking suit and thought their pilot chute was sneaking out of their BOC. He relayed word up the plane and had the jumper perform a gear check. During this gear check, the jumper found their pilot chute almost completely out of their BOC. A closer inspection of his BOC after the second incident confirmed that it was loose.
As a container is used, jumps are going to take their toll. Jumpers are taught to look for certain signs of wear-and-tear but, during ground school, that’s largely limited to major items such as closing loops. However, loose BOC’s are a relatively common factor in premature deployments. It’s an issue that skydivers are not really taught to look for and, unless someone takes the time to tell a jumper to look out for it, it may go unnoticed.
There is no way to tell if, before the jump in this video, the jumper did their gear checks properly. However – while on the plane on the next jump – the coach witnessed this jumper’s pilot chute sneaking out of the BOC. We don’t believe in coincidence, so this suggests that this jumper was performing poor gear checks. The alternative is that they were not aware of their container rubbing against various surfaces (e.g. door frame) and on multiple jumps their pilot chute was dislodged while they were boarding or exiting the plane.
A tangential kudos goes out to the jumper who, when the preemie happened, immediately went to their back and tried to get the hell away from the group. They probably reacted to an emergency by wanting to create distance from the rest of the group; not a bad move. Alternatively, seeing someone deploy may have made them think that they had lost altitude awareness. Either way, they didn’t screw around and made a smart move. Even more impressive however, when they realized that they were not at breakoff yet, that jumper went into a stand to try to get back on level with the rest of the jump. They appear to have wanted to ensure that, when the group hit breakoff altitude, everyone would be on level. Nice work!
This skydiver noticed he was dangerously close to the group ahead of him (now below him), so he pitched while trying to throw on the brakes with his body. The deployment was messy and the bridle wrapped around his foot. He then, “went directly to reserve without chopping because I figured the main was still in the d-bag in the container and I wanted to prevent a snag hazard with the risers.” The reserve deployed clean, he tried to cutaway the main, but it was still snagged on his foot. He then tried to use a hook knife to get rid of it, but he dropped the knife. With the main dragging behind him he had too much drag to get to the dropzone, and having lost altitude awareness, the jumper was forced to try to land in a wooded area with a small clearing. Fortunately, he was able to land between the trees and was, ultimately, uninjured.
As this jumper points out, upon seeing the group beneath him, he “applied deep brakes with my body to prevent entering their airspace. That set me up for a deployment with my feet very close to the rig.” This body position likely created a burble, which prevented a clean deployment and tossed the bridle into his feet.
The jumper was wearing a Flysight and stated that the data showed that his group didn’t move much other than due to wind drift. He also stated that his video shows that, on a day with 4-6 seconds of separation, his group gave 8 seconds. That suggests that the group before them likely moved into their air space because they weren’t paying attention to whether they were moving up or down jump run.
By not following the intended sequence for emergency procedures (cutaway first, then pull reserve) this jumper may have contributed to the process through which the main entangled around their foot. Having the reserve out, before cutting away, eliminated the possibility of the main having a chance to unsnag itself when the jumper went back into freefall for a moment.
Every packer in the world is going to be nodding their heads to this, but in this situation the body position was very likely to blame. We understand that the jumper was panicked due to his close proximity to other group below him, but had he gotten back into that good, stable, belly deployment position, this incident would have simply been about groups tracking into each other's air space, and not about the bridle wrap.
This jumper lost all altitude awareness and didn’t look at his altimeter once while fighting through this malfunction. He stated that, “I tried to go for the dropzone but I had too much drag behind me to reach it.” However, based on the video, it looks like he thought about that aspect of the situation pretty far into the incident. Had he maintained altitude awareness he could have, potentially, made the decision to aim for the DZ earlier and been able to make it.
While deploying the main canopy, this skydiver realized they were at a higher altitude than expected and decided to hold on to their pilot chute for a few seconds to burn some altitude before completing the deployment. The bridle wrapped itself around the pilot chute as it danced in the wind and the pilot chute was unable to fully inflate once they finally released it, which briefly caused a pilot chute in tow before catching enough air to deploy the main. During the deployment, it appears the jumper panicked and almost entangled themselves in the lines, followed by a hard opening. Ouch.
This incident was due to the jumper holding their pilot chute rather than just letting go of it. Once they pulled it out of their BOC, that also pulled out quite a bit of the bridle. With all that bridle flopping around it was almost inevitable that the pilot chute would entangle and kill itself.
Once you’ve pulled your pilot chute out of your BOC, don’t hold on to it. And, if “for some reason” you’re going to do this, don’t let it go in the small of your back (lower back); at least extend your arm out and get it out of your burble. Letting your PC go in your burble is just asking for trouble.
We added a caveat about “for some reason” because we have seen one or two experienced jumpers on very high-performance canopies who do this on hop and pops. The argument could be made that they do so to ensure perfect body symmetry during deployment. Notably, when they do it, they keep their arm out and away from their burble. Either way, unless you’re at that level, there’s no reason to hold on to your PC.
Many military static-line jumpers can tell you about the horror that is a degloving injury. It’s what happens when a line wraps around a limb, a canopy deploys, then the line pinches down and leaves nothing behind but the bones. As this jumper’s canopy was deploying, they rolled over and got caught in the lines, making this type of injury possible. Just one more reason to make sure you do everything you can to have a clean deployment.
