Fatality - tail Strike -

[ChrisD 0]

Ya for some of you this is a troll looking for a problem or whatever that saying is.

I did a search on this subject and the other subject line I wanted to point out that was something like: AFF and the time to the A license, or heck the B lic....

"But that's the "beauty" of AFF: you finish the course but you still are not qualified for an A license. How much supervision you get between AFF "graduation" and your A license varies significantly between drop zones."

And this killed someone....

It's my point that as a group we do a really shitty job of overseeing students in this period of time.


My differing opinion with MM, God love em...is that what if every other jumper on that load knew that the aircraft may not have been configured optimally for a overexcited student?

Again work on the skydiver and their environment.


Here is the vid, again of the door falling off...I'm spinning the tale a little to point out how can a bunch of jumpers not know how to lift the door as compared with releasing the top ramp latch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYXA8WsJoFw

You can blame them, or you can understand that this time period including our attitudes twords new enviornments sucks....


What if instead of a tail strike we had a plane load of jumpers that refused to get off?

What message would this send to a poor DZO operator?

This is what I mean about personal responsibility and how to foster it, or you can just go along with the crowd and pretend you know everything that is going on around you. We don't foster speaking up in this business but we sure are fast on the trigger to blame others...



Here is something that I posted in the past:

MM makes a very heartfelt and passionate point regarding the pilots perspective. It is a real big brother view point that so many people share that frequently is rebutted with the personal freedom point of view. The pilot literally is fixed to their seat, they can do nothing to help the hapless jumper that gets into trouble.

They can do what they can regarding the configuration of their aircraft and in some aircraft this is critical. On the other hand this may indicate pilot error in this case?

But even if, and I hesitatingly use the if word here, this does not absolve the jumper from his or her responsibilities regarding a proper exit for the conditions at the time.

MM's passionate appeal is long overdue but on the other hand it may support the generally held idea that someone else may or may not be responsible for your safety.

Coddeling jumpers by reassuring them that the pilot is in command is sending the wrong message.

C

Having a safe jump aircraft configuration is something that every jumper should be aware of, there is a shared responsibility here...


To illustrate my point we are not even using the words "jump" in speaking about exits. The terminology in use is "proper presentation to the relative wind," as far as exiting: "leave the door and drop." "Arch, Drop, look up."

How many have experienced a student that jumped out the door with such force that the tail of the aircraft moved sideways, a little more than normal? I don't even like the idea of wingsuiters on a King Air. These are things that the pilot can do nothing about.

MM is spot on, and I am so sad that again a needless incident has taken the life of a wonderful person.

But the pilot can not and is not able to ensure your safety.

Only you and those around you can save your ass when the shit hits, and those around you are more important than you think!!!

But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

[Pacific 0]

Are you reporting an incident?

[Gnat 0]

Pacific

Are you reporting an incident?

See Incidents forum, "Fatality - Tail strike - Skydive Hawaii, 23rd July 2013".

[ChrisD 0]

Pacific

Are you reporting an incident?

No not per say, but a trend in jumping to pass the buck....


I got a little heated in another forum area and may have used inappropriate language to illustrate my point.

This is my point:


Regardless of any particular aircrafts configuration, I can hit the tail, or other parts if and when I chose. It's relatively easy to strike the tail of any 182, 206. It's relatively easy to hit the tail of a King Air or PAC, if your determined to do so. A little harder to hit a DH-6 tail, but its realativly easy to do so if you jump hard enough.

It's up to you.... not the pilot...or the aircraft configuration.

Bring wing suits into the picture and you can see how ineffective the subject of aircraft configuration becomes. The pilot can do nothing for you in the majority of these situations.

But humans being what they are trade safety for blaming something, anything, over thinking whenever they get a chance.

Making statements that the pilots are going to ensure your safety by making sure the aircraft is properly configured is something that jumpers want to hear! It then becomes one less thing that you don't have to think about. And then someone either forgets to tell a student don't do this or that, or the worst case we have jumpers that think this isn't something they have to worry about.

The incidents continue to show that jumpers were unaware of their responsibility exiting an aircraft. They sure as "heck" didn't do what they did on purpose?

So what is going on?

IMO: as a group and in large numbers we are failing each other to teach, (Because it's politically incorrect to tell or open our mouth's.) or we are failing to look out for each other because this skill isn't being taught anymore. We are responsible for each others safety in so many areas, weather we realize this or not....

But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."