Recipe for disaster

[Ron 10]

Many years ago I had a very good, and much more experienced buddy ask me this one question:

"What do you think is the #1 cause of people dying in skydiving?"

It sounded really simple I told him sudden impact trauma.

He said yes, but what *caused* the SIT?

I said Something that sounded good to me, but was wrong.

Then he told me the answer:

People trying new things.

He then said that when something goes wrong they don't know how to handle it since they are not experienced.

He brought up many examples of this:

A guy he knew that got killed jumping his sons GI Joe doll when the dolls canopy got tangled with his pilot chute.

A bunch of examples of guys bouncing due to jumping cameras (Which I almost did 100 jumps later)...

Guys jumping Demo gear,

Changing from ROL to BOC.

The list goes on.

I was reminded of this due to this weekend....If you are looking for an accident report you might as well stop reading now....I lived.

A buddy of mine asked me if I would video his 4way team this weekend.

1. I have around 3,000 jumps, but less than 50 are video even though I do have a camera setup. Now 50 jumps is NOTHING. So lets not say I was nervious...just *Really* aware.

The problem started with me doing something that I don't have a lot of experience...Now lets add in the other cool stuff:

2. I was sick. In fact I didn't jump last weekend since I had some sinus "crud" (thats the technical term BTW). I really was not at 100%, but I didn't want to let my buddy down, and frankly its fun to do new things.

It was simple I check all my gear to make sure I was not going to bounce and got on the plane. The ride up I felt great (Side note...Its the ride down that hurts BTW).

On the exit they had a little timing issue and one guy is a little off, but that just gives me time to peal and fly to my slot. The pressure starts to build in my sinus cavity...

They start turning points..The pressure is building in my head, and now its a little bit painful.

They really start to go pretty good...Its a good group of skydivers. An organizer, Sunpaths owner, and two really good 4 way guys from non US National teams. So its kinda fun me being a 4way guy to just watch the action from above....Even with the visual distraction the pain is starting to become worse...Its not "OH GOOD GOD GET THAT WHITE HOT ICEPICK OUT FROM INSIDE MY HEAD!" painful....But I am now very aware that it could get worse. I am now thinking if I can get another video guy for them...since I should not go again.

Now they brake off and I get to deploy..Did you know that the last 1,000 feet is the worst?

Still the pain was managable.

#3. In a rush.
We land a little off, so by the time we get back we are on a 5 min call. I yell to my buddy to ask if he can take over and just use my gear...But he is not packed and he can't.

#4. So my dumb ass decides that I will do one more, and I will let him take over when I land. I should have called it right here. But hey I have 3,000 jumps, and I was not in pain. Plus I don't want to let my friends down.

#5. We are doing a back to back, so I have to use a second rig....But it's not even MY second rig I borrowed one from a packer. Oh yeah its also a pullout and it does not have a CYPRES.

So lets just recap my stupidity:

1. Doing something I am not experienced at.

2. While sick.

3. being rushed.

4. Not stopping when I had the chance knowing I was not at 100%. And risking injury.

5. Borrowed a rig that had a different deployment system (That I had only jumped three times ever), A pillow reserve handle (I like metal handles) And no AAD even though I don't require one to jump.... But hell with all this going on it could not hurt.

But the show must go on right?

Well we start to climb to altitude...Then it hits me...Hey dude this is a recipe for disaster!

So I *really* start thinking about the possible issues.

Now we get to add in that we didn't get altitude, and I have to rush getting my helmet on.

We leave the plane....The pressure starts to build...then stops. I notice that I seem to be discharging a good bit of snot from my nose....Cool, I will be cleared out!...Then I notice the blood on my goggles...Damn thats not cool.

The rest of the dive is not important...I did great camera work and they team flew like Airspeed. (OK maybe not).

When I landed...I got an instant headache and until today I have been blowing blood out of my nose all weekend.

The lesson is simple.

Don't do more than one new thing at a time. And when its not right, don't do it at all.

But it could have been bad. It does not really bother me, but it is still a good lesson and I thought I would throw it out for people to nitpick and ignore.

Ron

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Scrumpot 1]

Glad we're here to talk about this WITH YOU Ron, with you ALIVE, rather than the other possibilities ...And in the incidents forum otherwise!

Man, wouldn't SOME people have had a field day with THAT!! You going in, without a Cypres on & everything!!

It takes CHARACTER and FORTITUDE to share your mistakes with others. An example that should not be overlooked by just those very same alluded to above IMHO. Hope you've also got your asbestos keyboard station suit on though!

Blue Skies,
-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[Ron 10]

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Glad we're here to talk about this WITH YOU Ron, with you ALIVE, rather than the other possibilities ...And in the incidents forum otherwise!

Like I said it really didn't bother me that much...But the thing is I did know that I was not doing anything that was my normal type of skydive....If I didn't know, and didn't take the time to run a bunch of situations in my head on the ride up...Well if something had gone bad, it might have gotten VERY bad.

I can just imagine the sinus pain being really bad...And me wanting to deploy. The pain could have made it so I didn't think very well, and the PUD could have made it hard for me to pull while I was in pain. Add in the cool fact that my reserve was not my favorite metal handle....and that could have made the reserve pull interesting.

The pain was bad...but managable, and its not the first time I have jumped with a sinus issue...so I knew what to expect.

But I have seen some people really freak out over something small...I saw on guy look down and freeze at 7 grand. He just looked down and started orbiting around a bit. When we landed he looked white as a ghost. He saw a cloud below us and just freaked out. I have seen others freak out from having a leg strap come undone.

But knowing all of this made it so I could handle the situations...So like I said...not very smart, but not uber dangerous either. In fact I was ready for everything to go wrong...and almost everything did! I even had my left leg strap come out on this one...Hell, other than the malfunction and camera main entaglement I imagined, almost every damn thing I thought of did happen.

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Man, wouldn't SOME people have had a field day with THAT!! You going in, without a Cypres on & everything!!

Yeah but not nearly the field day if I had needed an RSL....Now if I had an AAD fire and just ignored it...well that would be a flame fest!

But this actually shows you don't need any cool toys if you can think, and plan out all possible outcomes.

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It takes CHARACTER and FORTITUDE to share your mistakes with others. An example that should not be overlooked by just those very same alluded to above IMHO. Hope you've also got your asbestos keyboard station suit on though!

Nah, I just want people to learn from my mistakes so they don't have to learn them on their own. Hell Im the first guy to tell people when I screw up. I want people to learn.

Anyway the only really dumb thing I did was get back on the plane when I knew it was going to hurt....All the gear crap was fine, I knew all the differences and drilled them into my head on the ride up...But I did risk injury when I got back on that plane....That was not smart and does show an error in my thinking.

As for the flame fest....I did stop by the store and get some marshmellos so I can make smores when the flames start.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Chrisky 2]

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So lets just recap my stupidity:

1. Doing something I am not experienced at.

2. While sick.

3. being rushed.

4. Not stopping when I had the chance knowing I was not at 100%. And risking injury.

5. Borrowed a rig that had a different deployment system (That I had only jumped three times ever), A pillow reserve handle (I like metal handles) And no AAD even though I don't require one to jump.... But hell with all this going on it could not hurt.

Glad you're still there.
Apart from no.1 everything in fact was stupid, any 1 combo or single of them, too.
But that's what you say, so you know... Just don't do that again, will ya?

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

[Ron 10]

Actually 5 is not that big of a deal....As long as you know about it and drill the hell out of it. 5 is just really an addition to doing new things....But I always tell folks not to add more than one new thing at a time.

But if you add 5 and any of the others...well it becomes stupid.

But jumping while sick still ranks as the #1 stupid thing for the weekend.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Chrisky 2]

Guess that qualifies as lesson learned. /noseup

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...