BREAK the chain... the making of a non-incident.

[fcajump 164]

Its easy to be the arm-chair quarterback, discussing what people did wrong and how they could have broken the chain of events that lead to an incident.

Its also common for conservative decisions to be criticized, second-guessed and ridiculed. Today I'd like folks to recognize that pushing someone to continue a jump when they think they see an issue is to keep them from breaking that chain...

You want to help break the chain, recognize and support a jumper's decision to stand-down.

This last weekend a jumper at our DZ chose to ride the plane down. He'd made 6 back-to-back loads, taken a quick break for dinner, packed and gotten right back on. A little fatigued, it occurred to him on the way up that he was less than 100% sure that the kill-line PC was cocked... Of course it SHOULD be, he'd packed them hundreds of times, never missed one... But what about _this_ time... you sure, or are you tired?? The rig (Racer) has no kill-line window to check. Either it is, or it isn't... Are you riding it down and wasting time/money, or are you going to trust that you can't have done it wrong? Flip a coin. Either all is well, or your dealing with a PC in tow, reserve ride... two-out?... cutaway...? lost gear? entanglement? The possibilities might be right outside that door. Flip a coin... forge a link or break it??

I'm sure others have faced this situation.
This time it was my turn.
After 25 years of jumping, it was an annoying but easy decision to make.

Having planned to be first-out on a low pass it was inevitable that the entire Otter load would know when I decided to stand-down. The concern expressed as to what would be so wrong as to get me to ride-down was gratifying... but more so was the general concurrence that it was 'better to ride down and check the gear, than get out and chance it'.

I don't tend to bend to peer pressure and press on with something I've deemed unsafe, but it was great to see that there was none. Mostly because others on the plane with less resolve and/or experience, having seen the support for a safe choice, might feel better about making the right call when its their decision to forge the next link, or break the chain.

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[wasatchrider 0]

good choice my friend rode the plan down because the zipper ties on her wing suit came undone and she did not want to worry about her handles getting sucked in.
So was the pilot chute cocked?

BASE 1519

[fcajump 164]

wasatchrider

good choice my friend rode the plan down because the zipper ties on her wing suit came undone and she did not want to worry about her handles getting sucked in.
So was the pilot chute cocked?

In the end... yes it was.
JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[Boomerdog 0]

Good decision.
On a similar note, was on a load with my wife and another up to 10.5 in C-182 this past weekend. At 7.5 we could see some clouds moving in and determined that by the time we got on jump run and to the initial spot, we'd have clouds to consider. We asked pilot to radio down to manifest to give them the situation and our decision, the S&TA concurred we jumped a little lower but a good jump nonetheless.

The clouds did move in. Everyone made a good decision. As for the OP, great job, good thinking and when in doubt, don't!

[riggerrob 643]

Better decision than mine.
Many years ago, I was flying a Cessna 182 full of jumpers. Shortl after take-off, I noticed a fog bank on the far wide of the River, maybe 4 kilometers from our airport/DZ.
As we climbed, I noticed how fast the fog bank was approaching the airport. I drooped the jumpers from 10,000 feet and they were in the clear the whole way, but by the time I turned onto final approach, the North half of the runway was covered in fog. Fortunately the runway was 7,000 feet long. I landed in the clear, but taxied back to the hangar in the fog.

[grimmie 186]

It amazes me when someone is ridiculed for riding the plane down or chopping a canopy "others could have landed safely".

A nice reminder to never get complacent.

[daffes 4]

Thanks for sharing this story. I had been discussing this with a friend and we were wondering how to get into the right mindset of passing a jump whenever we don't feel 100% and we came up with a weird idea, to draw a random number before each jump, with a small probability like 1 - 50, and if it happens to be your number, you should not get in the load. I believe this would help to say no when a "I think I'll be fine" goes through the mind.

In a side note, Brian's way of packing the pilot chute can't be done if it's not cocked, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCeYlY_6io, and is one of the main reasons that I stick with it.

[chuckakers 426]

fcajump

This last weekend a jumper at our DZ chose to ride the plane down. He'd made 6 back-to-back loads...A little fatigued, it occurred to him on the way up that he was less than 100% sure that the kill-line PC was cocked...

The cowboy in the saddle has to decide whether to ride.

Good call.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[riggerrob 643]

When new variables (new airplane, new DZ, new suit, new helmet, new altimeter, new camera, new jump buddies, new canopy, new dive plan, etc.) add up to 3, I start to thinking about staying on the ground.

For example, last weekend, I was helping another DZ by doing a few tandems. Several things had changed since I last jumped there a decade ago: new pilot, new landing field and a tandem rig that I had not jumped in 20 years, so I left my hand-mounted camera on the ground.

[wmw999 2,589]

I remember my first weekend with a new-to-me rig (with noticeable design and canopy differences). Of course I got a call from a friend about the 20-way competition that weekend

There are just about always other weekends, events, competitions. If it's truly unique, then either put yourself in a position where it's safe, or consider that you're even more unique.

Wendy P.

[billvon 3,120]

>I don't tend to bend to peer pressure and press on with something I've
>deemed unsafe, but it was great to see that there was none.

One of my "learning" moments concerning peer pressure:

We had a group of lower experienced jumpers at Quincy. Winsor and I were LO'ing. The Otter turned onto jump run very close to a building cumulus cloud. We might have been clear; we might not have been. We decided to not jump. At Quincy this is always painful because you land with the plane - no second jump runs or second chances. It meant our decision would lose everyone their ticket.

Winsor yelled back to the rest of the plane "we're not jumping! Clouds."

A TM from the back of the plane yelled "Just GO! You'll be OK!"

Winsor yelled back even more loudly "I said we are NOT JUMPING! You can go if you want!"

TM said "Look, I have over a thousand jumps and I say you'll be fine! Now GO!"

We stood up to make room for everyone else rather than continue the argument. Most of the load jumped. The TM made sure to knock into us on his way by, cursing the whole way. We sat down and closed the door.

"Hey" said the pilot "do you want another jump run? North jump run is still clear I think."

"Uh - sure!" I said. I didn't think that was an option with all the dire warnings we had gotten.

We did a 360, turned onto the north jump run, and jumped. Jump went fine. (Well, as fine as they ever do in tent 4.)

About half an hour later I saw the TM's student walking by. He was soaking wet and had rain bruises on his neck. Glad he was OK though.

Whenever someone tries to pressure me into doing something now, I think about that TM, and how dumb we would have been to follow that guy's advice.