Secrets to Survival: Skydiver

[labrys 0]

My Tivo picked this program up because I have a "skydiver" keyword list. It was a really entertaining program.

http://tlc.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=2&cpi=24897&gid=0&channel=DTC

In a few words, a couple of experienced skydivers recreated an incident in which someone got hung up on the step of a Cessna by the toe of his bootie and couldn't free himself. They made it clear in the beginning that he did survive, but they didn't say how.

Then they had some fun recreating the problem with real experiments hanging from the step and with a test dummy, showing different ways the pilot might have tried to help or could have hurt the situation.

Eventually, they showed video of what really happened. It was a fun show. A little goofy at times, but fun.

Owned by Remi #?

[airtwardo 7]

Is that the one where they dragged him on landing?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[labrys 0]

PM sent to try to avoid posting spoilers for others.

Owned by Remi #?

[labrys 0]

LOL... didn't mean to sound bitchy there!

I just kinda enjoyed waiting to see what really happened. Airtwardo made the point to me that the video of the incident has been around for a while and while I've never seen it, my experience is so limited that doesn't surprise me.

The show was fun because it wasn't just another "look what happens to those dumb skydivers" productions. The host of the show was a skydiver and a pilot and he had a little fun explaining how the problem might have been solved.

He got a rigger to build a harness with a tether attached to the step through the leg of his jumpsuit so that he could cut it away if necessary and jumped. That appeared to hurt a lot. We all now agree that dangling under a plane for 4 minutes sucks. The poor guy who really had the experience was there for 40 minutes...

They rigged up another harness that would give him a more gentle exit and he hung from the step for about 15 minutes while they tried to shake him off..

He also experimented with whether it was reasonable to think the pilot could have helped by trying to fly a Cessna and reach out onto the step at the same time (with another pilot behind him ready to take control if necessary)

They threw a test dummy out tethered to the step and tried some zero-g maneuvering to see if they could dislodge it....

Just lots of fun IMO

Owned by Remi #?

[airtwardo 7]

It's all good!

Sounds like they put an interesting slant to the story....I've got it marked so I can catch it next time.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[OSOK 0]

There's also a HALO show going on... look it up.

[DeNReN 0]

airtwardo deleted a post...not quite sure if I've seen this before...........if not.............BEER!!!!!......if not 1st post deletion..may I have a free beer plz

[airtwardo 7]

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airtwardo deleted a post...not quite sure if I've seen this before...........if not.............BEER!!!!!......if not 1st post deletion..may I have a free beer plz

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Wow...I think you're right!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Orange1 0]

I saw this on Discovery not too long ago (for some reason billed as a weather program, go figure). Not wanting to be a "spoiler" but I thought the program raised some interesting issues- pilot tried to dislodge him, eventually had to land with him under the plane because of fuel, took the landing in really really slowly (something like 30 or 40mph if i recall correctly), the guy let his rig take the brunt of the impact and survived.

What interested me too about this incident was that the pilot wasn't a jumper, and was too scared to lean too far over the side of the plane to try dislodge him. A skydiver will know that you can actually lean quite far over without falling out and it made me think that we are quite lucky perhaps then that a number of our pilots jump as well. Mentioning this to some locals, i was told a story of a similar incident at a nearby DZ where the pilot did in fact lean halfway out the plane and cut the guy free (our planes all carry knives because they're set up for static line).

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[NickDG 23]

>>Then they had some fun recreating the problem with real experiments hanging from the step<<

That was the former MTV host (and skydiver) Troy Hartman, Apex BASE's Todd Shoebotham, and Perris chief pilot Rob Caster. They went to do this at Elsinore at first, but one of the partner's in the Cessna they were going to use backed out. So they went to Cal City (you can do anything in Cal City.)

The hot tip they left out of the story, and something all should know, is in a similar situation where there's no knife, a pilot or jumper can just break the glass out of one of the instruments (best if it's one of the cheap ones) from the panel and presto you've got a knife . . .

NickD BASE 194

[airtwardo 7]

Have the pilot slip it right and PULL!

The 'bootie' will lost the tug of war!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[labrys 0]

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Not wanting to be a "spoiler" but I thought the program raised some interesting issues

Then why did you do it?

Owned by Remi #?

[mr2mk1g 10]

There's a guy on here who posts as "DanglesOZQld". He was involved in a similar incident involving a tandem IIRC and posted on here about it.

[Orange1 0]

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Not wanting to be a "spoiler" but I thought the program raised some interesting issues

Then why did you do it?

like i said.. because the program raised some interesting issues that i thought might be worth a bit of discussion. maybe someone reads this thread and then has a bootie-in-tow situation before they manage to track down the video... (ok, unlikely but, so is a double mal and we discuss those...). because until i saw this program (i'm new remember, but so are a lot of people who read here) it never even occurred to me you could get hung up by your booties (lesson: look before you leap) or that in the event you land under a plane, you twist to let the rig take the impact.

hey, you post in a public forum, you're not gonna control every reply you get!!!

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Trae 1]

Bootie hangups are not all that uncommon.
We've got the original bootie designers to thank for this as the design provides a built-in snag in an out of sight position under the foot. All for the sake of slip on convenience. Now some wingsuits have a similar built in Bootie.
There was one a while ago were the pilot just couldn't shake the victim off and no knife on board . As the fuel ran down their options reduced to landing with the person still connected. The pilot considered flying low over a lake to dislodge the jumper on water contact. A gravel rash touch down was another option. Thankfully the bootie tore off on descent and the jumper survived with minor injuries but badly shaken.

It mustn't have occurred to the jumper to simply dump out as another option. Perhaps a broken leg or ankle would result but sure sounds better than the gravel rash option.

The 'good ol' leather bootie strongly sewn to tough jumpsuits will no doubt continue to cause unlucky snaggy jumpers bother .
The boosters on inexperienced legs is another story.

[LuvToFly 0]

Anyone piloting skydivers should have both a regular or even a hook knife at arms reach. In a skydiving environment, there is little excuse not to. The jumper would have been cut away in no time as it was clear from the re-enactment that the pilot did have enough reach to cut him away (and the pilot said as much in the interview afterwards)

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky