Re: Tandem Fatality- Drowning Hawaii Jan 06,2006

[Deuce 1]

There appears to be no evidence that this has ever happened before. From an actuarial or statistical point of view there is no point in changing anything. Those are the cold hard facts.

I read the article in Skydiving for the first time today. I applaud the tandem master for being so candid. Two things in the article really got my attention. 1. that the exit and setup were planned with a "healthy" skydiver and not the physically challenged one, and 2. that the harness "felt" wrong and the passenger "felt" low, but a visual inspection seemed to counter the "feeling" and the TM went anyhow.

I have great respect for this TM, but the first rule of spotting and being a tandem master (in my very humble and newbie 600 or so tandems) is ignore the people shouting from the front of the plane. If it feels wrong, go around and re-check everything. I did that when I was a probie TM (less than 100 tandems). I got asked why when we landed, and the owner wasn't happy, but the other TM in the 206 was about my size and I just couldn't see and feel everything I needed to when I was at that experience level with another big tandem master right next to me.

Telling a Skyvan at a boogie to go around would be a very hard thing to do, just because something didn't "feel" right.

The article was very well written, and communicates that the result of losing the student was much, much harder.

Again, thanks very much for the very well written article.

JP

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

There appears to be no evidence that this has ever happened before. From an actuarial or statistical point of view there is no point in changing anything. Those are the cold hard facts.

I read the article in Skydiving for the first time today. I applaud the tandem master for being so candid. Two things in the article really got my attention. 1. that the exit and setup were planned with a "healthy" skydiver and not the physically challenged one, and 2. that the harness "felt" wrong and the passenger "felt" low, but a visual inspection seemed to counter the "feeling" and the TM went anyhow.

I have great respect for this TM, but the first rule of spotting and being a tandem master (in my very humble and newbie 600 or so tandems) is ignore the people shouting from the front of the plane. If it feels wrong, go around and re-check everything. I did that when I was a probie TM (less than 100 tandems). I got asked why when we landed, and the owner wasn't happy, but the other TM in the 206 was about my size and I just couldn't see and feel everything I needed to when I was at that experience level with another big tandem master right next to me.

Telling a Skyvan at a boogie to go around would be a very hard thing to do, just because something didn't "feel" right.

The article was very well written, and communicates that the result of losing the student was much, much harder.

Again, thanks very much for the very well written article.

JP

Umm, wrong fatality.



Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com