Hook turn horrors/Landing injuries

[Ron 10]

Some have said theat we need to have a bunch of pictures to show people that are in danger of getting killed/hurt the results of blown hook turns and landing problems.....

Dr. Kallend says we need more data on landing accidents.

So here we go.

If you have really screwed up and been broken. Please post your story. We will not yell at you, we will not point and say told ya so. But if we are going to do anything we need info...If you know people that have been hurt ask them to post. If it resulted in a fatality, we already have that info....

Don't let this become a debate. Just a place where people can put there stories....If you want to start a debate on it....Start a new thread please.

Include:

1. What happend
2. Canopy
3. Wingload
4. Experience (canopys)
5. Number of jumps
6. Damage done
7. Cost
8. Down time

Any other info you think applies.

Like I said Don't let this become a debate thread...If you want to comment on it...Start a new thread...Let this just be stories..Only thing here should be "There I was stories"....No peanut gallery coments

If people start debating here I will ask a greenie to delete the whole damn thing.

And the stories will be gone, and Dr Kallends data will go as well.

Thanks,
Ron

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

[Tonto 1]

1. What happend
Hooked it in. Was trying to impress my 1st jumper girlfriend.

2. Canopy
I forget. It could have been a Unit (220sq ft F-111 type 7 cell) or a GPI Wildfire (200 sq ft F-111 type 9 cell)

3. Wingload
0.85 or 0.93

4. Experience (canopys)
Some rounds (+-50 dives)
Viking superlight (+- 10 dives)
Cruiselite (+- 100 dives)

5. Number of jumps
159

6. Damage done
Smashed Left femur

7. Cost (This was 1987)
Around 5000 GBP

8. Down time
About a year.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[D22369 0]

this is an "inadvertant hook turn"

"There I was...."

1986 - approximatly 35 jumps........... been told I was a "natural" with the ego that comes from that statement ...........showed up at the dz, only to my surprise they were going .... elsewhere.

the day before they had balloon jumps in goldendale, (around 80 miles away) the pilot had forgotten his wallet at the bar.........NOW ....what was the pilot doing drinking??????
But to my surprise the dzo invited me to go with them and jump in at the airport while he jumped next to the tavern.....

we did a low fly-by and could tell the winds were around 10-15, not a problem...........

once we climbed to alt.......and I exited the winds were more like 45 mph ......'sheeeeeiiiiiitttttt' I would have been just as screwed jumping a round as I was jumping my interceptor 225.......exit weight 160.... hmmm..........there goes the airport..........( I pulled around 3500' ) going backwards sucks.... I even looked to see if the canopy was hooked up wrong...... I would have been just fine.............if their hadnt been this old rusty damned fence..........I did a low turn to avoid it...........360 deg.............all it would have took to miss it would have been to sashe or to float above it in brakes.... but NO.......stupid me.....young prodogy/natural..........decided to bury a toggle... boy the ground comes up **FAST** even under a very underloaded canopy when you pull that shit..... I only needed another 5 feet to pull this horseshit off.... unfortunatly I didnt have it..........the impact was tremendous.......I heard what sounded like two 22 calibre shots ring out.........bone conduction.......it was my tib/fib giving way ......... but once I came to rest........ uhhhh, not quite yet.......remember the 45 mph wind?........yep .... re-inflated my canopy..........now with damned near a compound break the canopy snapped open and drug me for 50+ feet, I had lost both toggles upon impact and instead of reeling in a brake line, I grabbed the entire left line group and began climbing untill I had the canopy in hand.......
lemme tell ya.......morphene is GREAT.................I would like to try it without a major injury preventing me from enjoying the full effect...

the cost was around 20k

the down time was one year..........of hell!!!!!!
In retrospect, I should have let them pin the bones....but decided to let it heal naturally......

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[evilivan 0]

OK, nothing broken but that was definitely due to being very lucky - an instructor on the DZ was watching me had already started dialing 999 (911 for you Yanks) as he saw me hit...

1. What happened
Had been jumping at another DZ with very different landscape/features for a week, and progressing from 90 to 180 front riser hooks. Had been doing OK with them (although knowing what I know now, I was probably low). 1st weekend back at my home DZ, and tried a 180 WAAAY too low and hit just coming out of the turn: left knee/right knee/face. I can still clearly remember - with all the visuals - coming off the riser and realising that I had f*cked up big time. Very horrible moment.
Somehow I didn't break anything (I dug a lump out the ground about 8'' deep with my left knee...).

2. Canopy
Spectre 150

3. Wingload
Approx 1.5

4. Experience (canopys)
+/-300 on a PD190
+/-50 on various 170's & 150's
+/-100 on the Spectre

5. Number of jumps
+/-450

6. Damage done
Very stiff and bruised for a week or two; aggravated a prolapsed disc in the base of my spine.

7. Cost
Osteopathy bill £450 (for immediate treatment - still seeing the Osteopath every 6 weeks or so now).

8. Down time
I was booked on a Airspeed Big Way camp 6 weeks later... so I was seeing the Osteopath twice a week for the 6 weeks - and to his credit he got me OK enough to go.

I think my story is very representative of the issue. 500-jump-wonder thinks he knows more then he does, and hasn't learned to respect very definite boundaries in the sport.... (Un)fortunately, if you hit the ground hard enough, the lesson gets learned. Just very very lucky that the ground was wet and the damage was not whole lot worse.

"If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation."
David Brent

[Staso 0]

> I did a low turn to avoid it...........360 deg.............

sorry to hear about what happend, but how would 360 degree turn would help you to avoid it ?
wouldn't you face the same direction after the turn ? or is it just bad wording and you were
trying to lose some altitude ?

stan.

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[Ron 10]

please read why I started this and the part about not speculating...PM them or start a new post

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

[ianmdrennan 2]

1. Low 180 degree turn into the ground.
2. Heatwave 135
3. 1.2
4. Skymaster 290, cruiselite 210 (1 jump), zp 150 (about 50 jumps), Heatwave 135
5. at the time 123 (was on heatwave from 90 jumps).
6. Compressed vertabrae, torn intercostal muscles, torn spinal muscles.
7. Dr visit.
8. 2 weeks. Was jumping WAAAAY before I should have been (In a lot of pain I might add) - obviously not the brightest thing I've done.

Biggest contributing factors:
1. Jumping something I wasn't ready for.
2. NO knowledgeable high performance canopy pilots at the dz so poor technique was learned (whipping toggle 180 one way followed by the other direction 180 toggle).
3. My ego.


Friend of mine a year and a half later:
1. Low 180 into the ground.
2. Bladerunner 135
3. 1.4
4. Skymaster 290, cruiselite 210, zp 150, bladerunner 135
5. About 250.
6. Amnesia. Mild brain damage. Significant loss of short term memory and broken femur.
7. Unknown - but a lengthy stay in hospital.
8. 1.5 - 2 years. Did a few more jumps and hasn't jumped since.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[billvon 3,108]

>If you want to comment on it...Start a new thread...Let this just be stories..

Good idea. To keep the size of the thread manageable, let's keep it to posts of an incident you had or were in a position of responsibility for (i.e. you were the S+TA at the DZ this happened at.) I'll try to keep it on track, which means that posts that don't meet the above criteria will be deleted or started as a new thread.

[Miami 0]

1. Doing a night jump, had been jumping demo canopies all day long. Had a demo triathalon 99 in my rig, but didn't get to jump it before we shut down to prepare for the night jumps, so made the incredibly unwise decision of jumping it on the night jump rather than wasting the pack job and jumping my triathalon 160 (Owned the 160 mainly for the ability to do crw and demos, still liked jumping the little fast canopies though).
Jump went uneventful, but on landing depth perception was crappy, wound up thinking I was a lot higher than I really was. Had prepared myself to do a nice conservative landing, turn in plenty high and fly it in straight. Well with the depth perception off I though I was a lot higher than I was, did a light front riser turn to get myself set up on final (less than 90 degrees) and impacted the ground while still holding a couple inches of front risers. Came to rest about 100ft or so from where I hit.

2. Triathalon 99

3. About 2.1-2.2/1

4. Owned and primarily jumped a triathalon 160 but was constantly demoing other hp canopies (stilleto 97-150, sabre 97-150, tri 97-135, batwings, etc.)

5. 7 or 8 hundred or so? Not really sure off hand.

6. Not as much as you would think. Thank you soft Mississippi mud!!! Bad abbrasions on both lower legs, both ankles badly sprained. I still marvel at how lucky I was that my stupidity did not kill me.

7. Totaled my jumpsuit, dirtied gear...so nothing major.

8. Almost as stupid as jumping the unfamilier, highly loaded gear in the first place...there was no down time. I bandaged my legs, laced up some very supportive boots, and continued to jump all weekend while doing butt landings (which I continued for about 3 weeks).

Yup, I was a young bulletproof idiot. (Dunno if that got better as I got older)

Miami

[livendive 8]

Canopy: FX-99
Wingload: ~2.4:1
Experience: 900ish jumps
Cost: Tough to quantify as it caused the 2nd of 3 surgeries, but appr. $36,000 including subsequent surgery that likely wouldn't have been necessary without this one.
Downtime: Off & on for 2 years
What happened: Was showing off after having just taken a friend on his first tandem. He raced around our landing area on his crotch rocket to show me how fast he could go down here (as opposed to the drogue fall we'd just experienced.) I said "that's nothing, watch this", and went up to do a hop & pop. Did a 270 right hook, realized I was too high, so did a front riser "sashay" to take the dive lower. Got too low, stabbed the toggles to plane out & picked my feet/legs up. My butt hit the ground (not that hard) & momentarily unloaded the canopy, causing it to tip a bit. I came off the ground & reloaded the canopy & would have had a decent swoop left, but the tipping caused my left hand to touch the ground at somewhere around 50 mph, and my shoulder dislocated. Slid it out w/ no bruises or anything, got the shoulder back into socket, but as this was about 9 months after my first surgery for dislocations, I ended up tearing back through the repair & compression fracturing my humerus from the force of the dislocation. Had to get a bone block harvested from my pelvis bolted in on my shoulder to prevent future dislocations.

Lesson learned: I knew better. In all my previous hooks, if I was too high, I'd just accept it & try again next jump. This time, despite knowing better, I was trying to show off and it bit me. Won't happen again.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[skymama 37]

1. What happend
I was going downwind, the plane was taxing towards me. I freaked out and hooked it into the runway from about 30 feet up.

2. Canopy
Not quite sure...one of those large student canopies, 230 or over

3. Wingload
less than 1:1

4. Experience (canopys)
It was probably my first downsize, I can't find that little student log book to check for sure.

5. Number of jumps
11

6. Damage done
Broke my big toe, my nose, badly bruised my butt, had severe road rash on my hands, some on my face and places where my jumpsuit tore from being drug by the canopy on the runway.

7. Cost
Not sure, insurance paid for it. I had an ambulance ride, emergency room visit and a few doctors appointments.

8. Down time
8 weeks

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[skybytch 273]

This is my ex's story.

1. Setting up for landing he saw tandems coming in. To avoid getting in their way he turned away, which ended up being downwind. Wouldn't have been a big deal except where he was going to land - an abandoned runway in the process of being removed. Downwind into chunks of concrete = broken tib/fib.

2. Sabre 135

3. 1.25

4. Mantas (12), Fury 220 (150), PD170 (150), Sabre 135 (100)

5. 350-ish

6. Broke left tib/fib, non-compound. A rod, some pins and some screws.

7. Not sure. Ambulance rides alone were over $2k; since he was an unemployed and uninsured student at the time they found a county/state program that took care of most of the hospital bills.

He had just graduated from A&P school and had job interviews scheduled that he obviously couldn't make. Started working about 6 months after the accident.

8. First jump back was about a year after the accident. He did two and hasn't jumped since. Accident happened in 1995.

[chopchop 0]

OK, this was me at about 120 jumps.. under a Safire 209 loaded at about 1.3... Probably 90 jumps on the Safire after the student canopies.. Cost - not much.. probably around $100 after insurance. Couldn't jump for about 6 weeks. Broken left fibula about 6 inches above the ankle. To save you all some reading, it was a no-flare landing because I didn't have my toggles in my hands..


So, with Byron closed, a couple of friends and I made the trek to Lodi. We hooked up with 3 belly-fliers and planned a 6-way RW jump. I was a diver. The 4-way base exits and the other diver and i are right behind it. It funnels as we float above watching them rebuild it. Ok, rebuilt, we swoop in and start turning points. YAHOO!! so much fun, everyone is flying their slots perfectly. Planned breakoff is 4,500 feet. Nice and high. Now - a little background. My ProTrack has been in the shop for a month and I am jumping with a friend that I have jumped with at least 80 times. She is always altitude aware and I have been getting lazy with her on most of my jumps and usually having a dytter. Anyway, 1st mistake - I wasn't altitude aware and assumed we had broken off at 4,500 and did a nice long track. Well, apparently we had burned through 4k turning the last point. Long story short I was in the saddle at 1,200 feet looking at a landing area quite a bit away. OK, 2nd mistake, I can make it if I let go of my toggles and hang on my rear risers all the way home. So, 500 feet comes and goes and I still don't have my toggles in my hands and I still think i can make it so 3rd mistake, not getting my toggles in my hands with plenty of altitude. 200 feet - 4th mistake, just a little further and I'll turn in. 50 feet - 5th mistake, I'll turn flat using my risers, then grab my toggles and speed up a little to flare. Should have never let go of my rear risers at that point. Missed my toggles and had a no-flare landing at which point I made my 6th mistake and failed to PLF. So, feet, knees, feet. Ah, standing - hope no one saw that. Hmmm... been a long time since I made that OOOMPH sound when landing. Probably gonna be sore a while. Well, let's stow the brakes, and daisy chain the lines, get back in and pack. Wow! look at the grass stains on the knees and lower legs of my RW suit! OK, start walking. Hmmm... something feels strange inside my left leg. like the bones are moving independently. Uh-oh, I think I broke a bone. Ok, only 50 more yards - this feels really strange - starting to hurt. OK, 10 more yards - hey there is someone from my jump, maybe if I tell him my leg is broken he'll help me into the hangar. OK, he's helping me but this is hurting. In the hangar - they are all telling me where to sit - Fuck it - the floor right here looks really good Right NOW! As I sit there, this guy starts de-breifing the jump - What the Fuck!? My leg is broken - let's gather my shit and go to the hospital. Yep - broken left fibula. Nice clean break. Anyway, I could have made a better decision 6 times that would have not let this happen. Boy - do I feel stupid. No skydiving for I don't know how long and these damn crutches are hurting my armpits!

chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

[BikerBabe 0]

1. Low 90 degree turn. I was taking the canopy control course out at Perris and definitely had the "I've got to do this right" attitude going on. The vast majority of my turns had been too high in the past to maximize the landing performance of my canopy, so I'd lose the benefit of the turn and have to come in on double fronts anyway. So This time I over-compensated by a few feet (probably about 10 feet or so too low...otherwise I wouldn't be here). I was already flaring when I hit, but it was too late. Hit on my knees, took one small bounce, then stopped. Looking back, if I had just done what I normally did on landing, I would have been fine.

2. Canopy: Jedei 105
3. Wingload: ~1.5 (maybe slightly less)
4. Experience: 200 jumps on this canopy, 835 jumps total.
5. Damage: broken right femur, mid-shaft.
6. Don't have the bills yet....
7. Ask me again in a few months...

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[jceman 1]

1. What happened -- Low hook turn (180 toggle) WFFC Quicy 1998

2. Canopy -- Spectre 210

3. Wingload -- loaded at 1.38:1

4. Experience (canopys) -- 150 jumps on skymaster 290, demoed numerous canopies ranging from Sabre 230 to Triathlon 190, at least 5 jumps on each, approx 120 jumps on the Spectre

5. Number of jumps -- 371

6. Damage done -- shattered right femur, reuired 14" plate held in place with 9 screws, 2 2 1/2" screws in head of femur, two "cable ties"; also required bone graft 7 weeks post accident

7. Cost -- approx $150,000

8. Down time -- 3 1/2 months off work, 9 months, 1 week, ! day on the ground

Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money.

Why do they call it "Tourist Season" if we can't shoot them?

[alain 0]

My tells are not incidents if you consider you need to hurt yourself in oder to become a statistic. But I know I really fucked up twice and I reckon i've been lucky to walk away free of charge.
'hope this helps...

1. pull at normal altitude (3000') but quite far away from the DZ, flew back down wind on rear risers for too long: I stupidly boke rule #1 : I did not stick to the original plan which was to land somewhere near by the end of the runway, for some dumb reason I thought I could make it closer and flew towards the beer line. Somehow I realised I was coming low and I initiated a low turn to get into the wind: wrong idea, I should have landed down wind. Anyway, as soon as I gently pull the left toggle I realise my mistake and manage to reduce the screw up by doing a flare turn. touched the ground briskly and slided for 5 meters.
lesson learned: I had maybe 5 off DZ landings at that time, but all of them were so off that there was no question whether I could make it back or not. being close to the DZ but not close enough is a trap i've steped in that day...
2. safire 135
3. 1,3:1
4. sabre 220:4 - sabre 210:11 - safire 189: 20 - electra 190: 15 - springo 160: 30 - safire 135: 130
5. 210
6. nothing more than a bruised bum, i've been very lucky on that one.
7. none
8. none

6 weeks later with the same canopy:

1. lost concentration during canopy flight, do not plan anything nor fly a proper approach and landing patern. I start a 90° front riser hook without really thinking of what I am doing (I had done many double front and quite a few 90° at that time), I am too low -of course- and I'm lucky to realize that just in time. I dig the canopy out of the corner, fly maybe 50cm above the ground with enough speed to brake my self into pieces, and then surge at least at 2.50m above the ground. Obviously, the canopy has no more speed and stalls, I end up doing a sort of plf and pound in my left knee, nothing broken. I walk back towards packing room, my face is like white like a ghost and i shake like leaves for hours.
lesson learned after thinking for the rest of that day to what I had done: allways focus on a proper approach and landing patern. do a plan, fly the plan.
2. safire 135
3. 1,3:1
4. sabre 220:4 - sabre 210:11 - safire 189: 20 - electra 190: 15 - springo 160: 30 - safire 135: 180
5. 260
6. not much, just a sore knee for a couple of days. I can tell you that i've blessed my lucky star that day.
7. none
8. none

last thing, now that I have 400+ jumps on that canopy and that I know it very well, I realize how stupid it was to fly it at jump #80 and how little was the margin for error untill jump #350

[Zenister 0]

nice idea, but other than collecting more accounts of "failed landings" your not getting any effective data on the incidence of landing injuries, unless you also ask people to post all the landings that they made successfully..

1. What happend : improper flare on a "new to me" canopy I pulled high (5k) but didnt really practice finding the flare point at altitude, I just flew it like the last 30 or so jumps. and pounded in on flare without even attempting a PLF.
2. Canopy : Sabre II 190
3. Wingload : approx 1.1
4. Experience (canopys): several navigators & larger 200+ Spectres pre-A license
5. Number of jumps: 35
6. Damage done: fractured one ankle and sprained the other
7. Cost: 60$ to me in co=pay for office/therapy visits approx $2000 in total med bills
8. Down time: 3 weeks

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Rdutch 0]

Low turn
Stilletto 135
1.4
Student (of course something big) saber 170, 100 jumps stilletto 135, hooked it in on my 300th jump.
Shattered Femur, not enough bone left to compound.
$10,000
6 months, a nasty limp for life.

Basically I should be DEAD! one second Im having a fun jump, a second later thats it. It taught me a good lesson, I have said it, but what I learned and preach.

Its better to take a year to learn how to do something right, instead of wishing you had for a lifetime. O can fly the shit out of my canopy now, but I took 2 years after my accident to even attempt a hook turn. Now I understand everything a lot better, and to add, I see a lot of the old me in a lot of the new skydivers.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[douwanto 22]

What Happened: WFFC 2002; 180 hook main landing area, transition from rear risers to toggles waited to long right ankle smacked the ground which snaped my femur.finished surf going man that hurt. No landing gear when I shut it down.

Canopy: Xaos 88
Wing loading: 2.0
Exp: sabre 170 100, pro 135 200, batwing 134 220,
Xaos 88 250

Total jumps: 772

Damage: Broken right femur, knee fracture, torn ACL and PCL and brusing to right ancle.

Cost: Around $80K if you count lost wages

Downtime:I broke it Aug 6TH 2002 did my first Tandem Oct 11 2002 and have made over 300jumps since half of which were Tandems. My doc hasent returned me to full duty at the real job yet. Doesnt want me jumping for another 6 months.hehehehe

Side note: The rod comes out Sept 23 and will cost 5.5k I will be down for another 5 to 6 weeks.

Peace
Chris

Uncle/GrandPapa Whit
Unico Rodriguez # 245
Muff Brother # 2421

[skymick 0]

1. Accuracy comp, wasnt where I wanted to be due to having to go around a slower canopy on finals. If I did that exact same jump over and over I would of landed off windline and away from the pit but I did a snap 180 to get to the target..didnt even consciously think about it. Dunno why I really did it, maybe I was subcounsciously just thinking about my accuracy and nothing else...

2. Canopy:Sabre 150

3. WL: 1.35

4. Experience: Had gone from X300 (SL) to 280 to Raven 228's on student status. Then got a sabre 170 for first canopy and at about 170ish jumps got the 150.

5. Jumps:249

6. Damage:Crushed and fracturred L1 vertabrea and I reckon I must of fractureed or badly bruised my tailbone acuse it hurt like hell to sit on it for a while. Had a bone graft from my hip fused with L1 and had rods and screws yet pput in (will be taken out in 1 yr)

7. Cost: dunno, have insurance so only paid for TV hire at the hospital and pain killer sonce i got out. Ambo ride was $600 but was covered for that. Reckon considering the length and complexity of the surgury (3hrs +) the bill would be in the 10,000s (AU)

8.Down time: Dont know yet...Ideally will be once I get the metal out but could be back in 3 months at the least.

[quack 0]

1. What happend

Getting cocky (around jump 250) and started doing more radical hooks, including 360's. I was heading downwind fairly low and I'd be damned! if I was not going to land into the wind. Pulled front riser to come around the corner, never let go of it until impact.

2. Canopy

Lightning 126

3. Wingload

Approx. 1.6

4. Experience (canopys)

ZP 145, Stiletto 120, Lightning 126

5. Number of jumps

255 is the one that did me

6. Damage done

Landed on face at the main landing area at Eloy and bounced. Took off most of the skin on my face, sprained my neck (cervical sprain), bruised my femur, nothing broken (although given the response of the spectators, they thought I'd bought it).

7. Cost

My pride. The rest (about $4000) covered through insurance.


8. Down time

One week, believe it or not. Jumped (very carefully!) on New Year's Day.

I was very, very lucky that day. I see similar things happen at every dz I've been to and I still remember the pain. I learned from it and hope that those watching did as well.

But you have to understand, mental illness is like cholesterol. There is the good kind and the bad. Without the good kind- less flavor to life. - Serge A. Storms

[dropdeded 0]

Now that Im jumping again, Im a little more comfortable posting in other than Talk Back

Jump # 26, lots of time between jumps, several recurrencies. A money thing

25 jumps on a 280 student rig, jump#26 on a 260.

1000 ft., right spot, 700 ft., right spot, right turn.
On just about every previous jump, I made a final turn into the wind at 300 ft., always at just about the same spot. I was looking at where I usually was for the final turn and was nowhere near it when I realized I was way low. Right turn, to get into the wind, figured I'd just land short of the pea gravel. As soon as I turned, I was dropping FAST. Thats when I thought I would bury the right toggle and complete the turn, and flare.
I was told I was at about 60ft. max when I made that turn. I hit, still in the turn, snapped my fibula in 2 places.
I have to admit I was very surprised that what I was trained about low turns was EXACTLY right. When I saw the ground coming up to meet me, it was FAST. Even on a big ol dumb and slow 260.

I learned an excellent lesson, VERY cheaply.

As far as the downtime,physically, I was capable of jumping after a few months.

dropdeded

------------------------------------------
The Dude Abides.
-

[bclark 0]

1: What Happened? I executed a low 270 front riser turn. I left myself with no outs and had to choose between finishing the turn or impacting into the fuel farm on the airport. I finished the turn and then stalled my canopy when I realized that I was FUCKED!

2: Canopy? Stiletto 120

3: Wing Loading? 1.5 : 1

4: Canopy Experience: 100 Pegasus 120, 200 Sabre 170, 700 Stiletto 135, 50 Sabre 120, 25 FX 104, 150 Stiletto 120.

5: Number of Jumps: 1400

6: Damage Done: Spraigned Ego, Sore Back

7: Cost: My Pride

8: Down Time: 1 day

Lesson Learned: I had been getting very agressive with my swoops, doing fat 180's and starting to experiment with 270's. I had become so sure of my own abilities that I stopped thinking about outs, and had gotten in the habit of making the turn even with a bad setup. I learned that the earth is big and hard, and no matter how much you try you cannot fit the whole planet up your ass.

[jerry81 10]

1.I was one of the only three jumpers in the air and we basically had the sky and the landing area to ourselves. I had just begun to experience the rush you get from a riser turn and was trying to get the most out of my canopy. So I did a hard left 90° hook into the wind and impacted still at a slight angle...grass stains on the pants prove it. I was trying to dig myself out like crazy, but of course nothing happened, because

2.my canopy was a beat-to-shit Falcon 215,

3.true, loaded at only .9 or something, but still.

4.I had about 60 jumps on that canopy, 80 on student Skymasters (270) and around 20 on an Impulse 150

5.About 160 jumps altogether.

6.As I said, I put a long grass stain on my left pants' leg, a smaller one on the right, scraped some skin, walked with a slight limp for a day and deflated my ego a bit.

7.Cost: a long moment of fear as I bounced from the ground, thinking "Shit, don't let my leg be broken, not when there's another ten days of jumping ahead of me!"

8.Down time: until the next load.

Lesson learned: Always listen to that little voice telling you it's too low for a turn. Respect any canopy you fly, not just the ones that demand it loudly.

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[ChileRelleno 0]

(1) What happened:
I was visiting a new DZ and making my third jump there and first of that morning.
I was doing my usual 90 front riser turn onto final after having chose a secondary area due to my first choice being overly occupied. Everything looked and felt good so on with the show... And then disaster!
The secondary area I'd chosen was deep gravel not a hard surface with a thin layer of gravel on top, when I landed my right foot bit into the gravel, it stopped whilst I kept going. Snap! Crack! goes the tib/fib.
The moral to the story is
"Always check your LZ at a new DZ very thoroughly!"

(2)Canopy: Hornet 210

(3)Wingload: 1.2.1

(4)Experience: Various canopies ranging from 288-190

(5)Jumps: 290 jumps

(6)Damage: Severe spiral fractures of the Tib/Fib requiring surgical internal fixation in the form of two (2) plates and fourteen (14) screws along with soft tissue damage and some permanent nerve damage.

(7)Cost: $21,000+ I've good medical insurance, my out of pocket was only $3,000

(8)Downtime: Four (4) months, once again, I've good disability insurance to pull me thru (barely)

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868