Partial Malfunctions - Teaching Students

[AFFI 0]

Learned a lot from the feedback of other instructors concerning totals, lets see how much stimulating communication this posting generates.

Students learn at varying rates, but we must know the fundamentals at some point, perhaps before acquisition of the A license?


Horseshoe Malfunction This is a High Speed Partial Malfunction.
The definition of a Horseshoe malfunction is that your container is open and the parachute is connected to your body somewhere other than the risers.
Out of Sequence Deployment:(Throw Hackey, if necessary-cut away, deploy reserve)
1. Don’t panic.
2. Do a rapid assessment of the situation.
3. Take immediate and appropriate action.
A Normal Deployment sequence is:
Step 1) Throw your pilot chute.
Step 2) Container opens and parachute comes out.
Step 3) Parachute opens and inflates.

In an Out of Sequence situation the container has opened but pilot chute is still in the pouch – essentially, Step 2 has happened (container is open) but Step 1 has not. Attempt to locate and deploy your pilot chute. The main container tray is opened and the parachute is potentially out so the bottom flap (where the BOC hackey handle is located) may not be where it normally is. Place you right hand on the back of your thigh and feel your way up your leg to the bottom of the container in an attempt to locate the hackey handle. Keep in mind to maintain an arched body position and your hand kept facing skyward to prevent a potential entanglement with the pilot chute bridal.

Remember, this is a high speed situation, you are loosing altitude fast.

The USPA SIM 2005 states: Premature container opening in freefall (hand deployment only):
I. Attempt to locate and deploy the pilot chute first (no more than two attempts or two seconds, whichever comes first).
II. If the pilot chute can’t be located after two tries or if deploying the pilot chute results in a partial malfunction, cut away and deploy the reserve.

a) Pilot chute bridle wrapped around arm/leg, the parachute is out.
Two attempts to clear the entanglement by presenting the extremity with the bridle caught on it skyward, away from your body and into the wind.
If you cannot clear the pilot chute, now you have to find out if the pin has been pulled or not to determine the type of malfunction you have. Total or Horseshoe (partial)?
Remember, you are loosing altitude fast.

1. Don’t panic.
2. Do a rapid assessment of the situation.
3. Take immediate and appropriate action.

If your pin has been extracted and the container is open you have a partial (Horseshoe) malfunction, Initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction, cutaway (making sure the 3 rings have released thus clearing a path for reserve deployment) and deploy your reserve.
<< A couple of students have inquired about the RSL>>

This is a totally preventable situation by maintaining good body position and keeping your hand skyward during the deployment of a throw-out pilot chute BOC system.

3) Partial Malfunctions (Cut away, pull reserve handle)
1. Don’t panic.
2. Do a rapid assessment of the situation.
3. Take immediate and appropriate action.
There are two types of parachutes, GOOD and BAD. A GOOD canopy can be landed safely, a BAD one cannot. Some BAD canopies can be fixed and made GOOD, some cannot – learn the difference! In an unfixable partial malfunction situation, you must fully release the main parachute before deploying your reserve to avoid a potential entanglement. Whenever you initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction it is important to look at your emergency handles as you take corrective action Take your eyes off of the problem (the malfunctioning parachute) and put them on the solution, (your emergency handles).

The proper way to initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction:

I. RELEASE anything that may be in your hands (like your toggles).
II. LOOK at your red cutaway pillow and firmly grasp it with your right hand (your right hand is the “push” hand) wrapping your fingers around it, place your left hand over your right and firmly grasp the red cutaway pillow using both hands. This will decrease the chance of an out of sequence procedure and in the event of a difficult extraction (hard pull). Maintain an arched body position by pushing your hips forward.
III. PEEL the Velcro from the bottom of the red cutaway pillow toward your sternum. The reason you peel from the bottom is because there are two yellow cables leaving the top of the pillow and going into the hard housings. At this point your eyes should already be fixed on your silver reserve handle. Maintain an arched body position by pushing your hips forward.
IV. PUSH the red cutaway pillow straight toward your groin until you are at full arm extension, your triceps muscles should be flexed and your hands should be close to your bodies groin area. After both risers are released simply let go of the red cutaway pillow (no need to throw it). The reason you PUSH straight down towards your groin is because there are two yellow cables leaving the top of the pillow and going into the hard housings. Think of the mechanics involved, if you punch away from your body (perpendicular) you may create a bend in your yellow cable potentially resulting in a hard extraction. Maintain an arched body position by pushing your hips forward.
V. Looking at your silver reserve handle (located over your heart) insert your left thumb through the ring of the handle and grasp it firmly (thumb through to prevent the handle slipping from your hand, now your left hand is the “push” hand). Place your right hand over your left and firmly grasp the silver reserve handle using both hands. This will decrease the chance of an out of sequence procedure and in the event of a difficult extraction (hard pull). Maintain an arched body position by pushing your hips forward.
VI. PUSH the Silver Reserve Handle straight toward your groin until you are at full arm extension, your tricep muscles should be flexed and your hands should be close to your bodies groin area. The reason you PUSH straight down towards your groin is because there is a silver cable leaving the top of the reserve handle and going into a hard housing. Think of the mechanics involved, if you punch away from your body (perpendicular) you may create a bend in your silver cable potentially resulting in a hard extraction. Maintain an arched body position by pushing your hips forward.
VII. ARCH, take your silver handle and stow in your jumpsuit, grasp the red steering toggles and land your reserve canopy in an area free of obstacles.

1. Don’t panic.
2. Do a rapid assessment of the situation.
3. Take immediate and appropriate action.

a) Streamer This is a high speed partial malfunction.

When your parachute comes out of the deployment bag it looks a lot like a streamer malfunction and can be very deceptive because it looks like the beginning of a typical opening, but it is stuck. The slider is stuck high on the suspension lines, not allowing the parachute to inflate fully with air. This is a high speed situation so it is important to recognize promptly and take corrective action.

Right when you throw your pilot chute, start counting:

One Thousand, Two Thousand, Three Thousand, Four Thousand, Five Thousand – Six.

You should definitely have a recognizable parachute over your head (image of a streamer compared to a mostly opened parachute) by the time the word “Six” comes out of your mouth.

If you have a Streamer malfunction, Initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction promptly as this is a high speed situation.

b) Line over This is a medium to low speed partial malfunction.
The line(s) will come over the top, pinching and distorting the canopy and dividing it into two separate lobes. Careful to not saw lines back and forth across the canopy during any malfunction correction attempt as the friction heat could cause severe damage to the canopy.

Initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction.

c) Bag lock This is a high speed partial malfunction.
The bag lock will typically stand you up vertical, reducing the drag of your body to the relative wind and you may even go faster than a stable belly to earth terminal velocity, a bag lock is a high speed partial malfunction.
1. Don’t panic.
2. Do a rapid assessment of the situation.
3. Take immediate and appropriate action.
Initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction immediately.

d) Structural failure that you cannot steer or land
There are varying ideas as to how to handle structural damage to your main canopy. The key in this description is that your canopy is not controllable.
Q: How many parachutes do you have? A: Two.
Q: How many lives do you have? A: One.
This is simple mathematics. Trust your reserve…

4) Unusual Openings that may require you to initiate emergency procedures (cut away, deploy reserve)
a) Broken line(s)
After deploying your main canopy, something isn’t right. Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter and establish your priorities based on your altitude. Ask yourself, can I safely land this canopy? Perform a control check, if you can safely land it remain traffic aware and proceed to your holding area. During the visual assessment you notice that your canopy has a broken line. If you are above your hard deck and your canopy passed the control check, fly your canopy gently with no performance maneuvers, navigate toward your holding area whilst remaining altitude aware; continue to test the controllability of your canopy. This way when you reach your decision altitude you will be making the best informed decision you can. If you have multiple broken lines or you are in doubt, trust your reserve. Remember, if you have your toggles in your hands; RELEASE them before you initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction.

What if the line that is broken is a control line? First off, what would be happening to the flight characteristics of your canopy? It would be turning and diving much like a premature brake release. Remember that when you turn and dive there is a pendulum effect and you may no longer have the canopy above your head. So you grab both toggles and flare, one of the toggles is not connected to the canopy as a result of the broken control line. Remain ALTITUDE aware! You may be able to control your canopy using your rear risers but your practice time is altitude dependent, remember your decision altitude. If you are in doubt, trust your reserve. Remember, if you have your toggles in your hands; RELEASE them before you initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction.
Learn how to control your canopy using rear riser input because one day you might be faced with such a scenario.

b) Severe line twists with canopy spinning
Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter!
Pull risers apart, twist body and scissor kick in the opposite direction of the twists. When grasping your risers do not grab high on the risers near the suspension lines because the canopy may not be finished spinning and you do not want to get the risers wrapped around your hand or forearm (have seen videos of this happening). Grasp your risers around forehead level with your palms facing outwardly; this will keep your altimeter in view so you can monitor your altitude continually whilst you deal with this situation. DO NOT un-stow your toggles until you are out of the line twists because this can worsen the situation. If you begin to spin and become horizontal, you look out beyond your canopy and see the horizon zooming by; it is very unlikely that you will be able to recover. The more time passes, the more altitude you loose, the faster you spin! Trust your reserve.


5) Common Openings that need to corrected before 2500ft. or initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction.
Altitude Awareness whilst dealing with a potentially fixable partial malfunction is absolutely essential. It is easy to loose track of altitude when adrenalin levels are high (clearly indicated by the poop in your pants) and temporal distortion can take place. Altitude Awareness is a top priority! If you cannot correct the situation before reaching your decision altitude - initiate emergency procedures for a partial malfunction. <>

a) Line twists with canopy flying straight
Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter!
Pull risers apart, twist body and scissor kick in the opposite direction of the twists. When grasping your risers do not grab high on the risers near the suspension lines because the canopy may not be finished spinning and you do not want to get the risers wrapped around your hand or forearm (have seen videos of this happening). Grasp your risers around forehead level with your palms facing outwardly; this will keep your altimeter in view so you can monitor your altitude continually whilst you deal with this situation. DO NOT un-stow your toggles until you are out of the line twists because this can worsen the situation.



b) Slider hang-up (needs to be near the risers with full control of the canopy)
Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter!
Flare twice to bring slider down; the slider should come at least halfway down the suspensions for the canopy to be controllable. Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter and establish your priorities based on your altitude. Ask yourself, can I safely land this canopy? Perform a control check, if you can safely land it remain traffic aware and proceed to your holding area.

c) End Cell Closure –
Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter!
Flare twice to open, perform a control check. By the time you are finished with your control check the problem will likely be corrected (Pascal’s Principle).

d) Pre-mature brake release (turning with no line twists) –
Remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter!
What if one of the toggles (brakes) release and become un-stowed during deployment? First off, what would be happening to the flight characteristics of your canopy? It would be turning and diving because you have asymmetrical drag along of the trailing edge of your canopy. Remember that when you turn and dive your canopy there is a pendulum effect and you may no longer have the canopy above your head. Release both toggles and flare twice; you have just correct your problem, you should now be flying straight when at full flight. If you are not flying straight, remain ALTITUDE aware by visually checking your altimeter and establish your priorities based on your altitude. Ask yourself, can I safely land this canopy? Perform a control check, if you can safely land it remain traffic aware and proceed to your holding area.

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[GravityGirl 0]

I always thought there was no such thing as a "Partial Malfunction".

You either have a malfunction or not. Everything else is just an "Issue".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[mark 107]

Wow! That's like major information overload. Is there a way to simplify and still get the reaction you want?

Mark

[kelpdiver 2]

  Quote

I always thought there was no such thing as a "Partial Malfunction".

You either have a malfunction or not. Everything else is just an "Issue".

My instruction had "high speed" and "low speed" malfuctions, with stress that the HS ones needed to be dealt with immediately, generally by cutaways. Can't recall how quickly we were supposed to deal with the low speed.

But the distinction probably served me well when I left the first DZ and discovered that canopy openings don't result immediately in open square chutes. I thought I was having a rash of stalled sliders and/or end cell closure issues, and was pumping the toggles to 'fix' it.

[dropzonefool 0]

Post:
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In Reply To
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I always thought there was no such thing as a "Partial Malfunction".

You either have a malfunction or not. Everything else is just an "Issue".

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My instruction had "high speed" and "low speed" malfuctions, with stress that the HS ones needed to be dealt with immediately, generally by cutaways. Can't recall how quickly we were supposed to deal with the low speed.

But the distinction probably served me well when I left the first DZ and discovered that canopy openings don't result immediately in open square chutes. I thought I was having a rash of stalled sliders and/or end cell closure issues, and was pumping the toggles to 'fix' it.
--------------------------------------------------------

What I was taught was there are tow types of mals.
1. total
2. partial

these two type fall in to 2 categories High speed and low speed. Either needs to be corrected by 2500 feet, or E- procedures by 2000 feet. So it is the altitude that determines if it is a high speed or low speed.

[kelpdiver 2]

  Quote

What I was taught was there are tow types of mals.
1. total
2. partial

these two type fall in to 2 categories High speed and low speed. Either needs to be corrected by 2500 feet, or E- procedures by 2000 feet. So it is the altitude that determines if it is a high speed or low speed.

But isn't a total defined by the dbag never leaving the container? Bag Lock or a streamer are both partials, and bag lock may be the fastest of them all.

[riggerrob 643]

KISS

Keep
It
Simple
Skydiver

I am not sure why you waste time with item
"1. Don't panic"
?
?
?

First of all, it is a double-negative ... a concept guarranteed to confuse me.

Secondly, if students only hear half of what is said to them, - first time through - how do you know which half they heard?
Also remember that the percentage of correct listening drops dramatically if english is not their mother tongue.

Thirdly, "1." mentions an action that you do not want a student to do. If you simplify training by never mentioning "1." that concept will never cross the mind of half of your students. If "1." never crosses the mind of half of your students, what percentage of them will do "1?"

KISS

[AFFI 0]

1) Stay Calm (in lieu of don’t panic?)

I only have around 500 actual student skydives as a USPA instructor and ground train for anyone who might be busy (ground training is the most important part), so still a work in progress as an instructor. I was fortunate enough to be taught by some very experienced and very good instructors - I stood beneath them and caught their drippings. There is no way I expect an early jump student to know all the information, some can take in more than others, have yet to see a student “get it all” right away. I DO expect them to know the difference between a Total and a Partial, and the difference between a “Good” and “Bad” parachute and what to do about it. Sadly, most A licensed skydivers are not proficient in emergency procedures either (I know I wasn’t). So far in my experience most students get their A license and continued training goes out the window so to speak and the freefall and social aspect becomes what skydiving is all about. Fortunately I work at a very busy DZ with a 20 jump program, students who graduate our program should be able to TEACH malfunctions once they complete our program. I have seen people die and become seriously injured (potentially) as a result of a lack of continued training. The vast majority of injuries and deaths occur at landing, perhaps landing is overlooked as a safety aspect? I know instructors who are afraid to stall their parachute at a safe altitude, isn’t much scarier to do it at 30 feet AGL? I have seen many instructors take students out before they were thoroughly and/or properly trained and in poor weather conditions. The law of averages dictates that the student will be alright irregardless on that jump, but what about tomorrow, next week or next year? I do not train a student (human being) because I want to make jumps but rather I want to teach people how to engage in skydiving activities safely. To plant seeds of safe, sound fundamental practices that they will use throughout their careers. Teaching people how to jump out of an airplane and land safely is serious business; at least I take it seriously. That is why I make these postings, so ideas and conversation can take place – the collective genius makes those of us who are open-minded better. So I thank all who participate for making me a better USPA instructor.

Any USPA instructor who teaches there is no such thing as a partial malfunction is doing an injustice to their students…

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[AFFI 0]

  Quote

I always thought there was no such thing as a "Partial Malfunction".

You either have a malfunction or not. Everything else is just an "Issue".

I do not understand the philosophy. Is this what you teach your students?

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[Liemberg 0]

What I teach from jump one on and how to discern between types of malfunction can best be described as a decision-tree.
With any type of student training there is a point that the opening of the parachute is supposed to happen, be it through a hand-deployed thrown, a ripcord pulled or a Static-line pulling the direct bag from ones back.
(Most of you know the feeling…)
Here comes decision nr. 1: once I have counted – one thousand, two thousand, three thousand there are two possible outcomes:
I’m either stopped or I continue falling.
When I continue falling – given the historical lack of successful freefall rigging – my options are both limited and beautifully simple: start pulling handles (in the right order) until you are under a parachute or out of handles…

Most of the time, at the first fork in the road, we are stopped.
Now we look up and see if that what is stopping us is landable.

Looks like the second decision to me…
“Is it a parachute or is it a Kevin?”
The parachute – for the time being – seems to function (hey, it stopped my freefall didn’t it?) but does it so, wholeheartedly? Now you may call that semantics, but close to the ground there may be turbulence, obstacles in the way and one thing is for sure: if I cut this thing away I would better do so at an altitude that leaves enough time for my reserve to open – otherwise …†

That’s what I teach about the partiality of the phenomenon.

Once the second parachute turns out to be a Kevin -
as we have seen happen recently - all bets are of but let us not make the mistake of landing a Kevin when we have enough time to get rid of it. And since an ounce of precaution is better than a ton of cure, lets not turn perfectly good parachutes into Kevin’s.

(A word of warning against Canopy Relative Work? Nah…)

Of course, before cutting anything away that is stopping our freefall we could try to convince the parachute to do its job. The twist might come out (easier when we jump docile canopies) once the twist comes out the slider might come down, stimulated to do so by our nice control-line massage and those end cells may open when we fly the canopy a couple of seconds in deep brakes.

Then again, all this might not happen – but hey, time flies when you are having fun, so I would better keep track of it by glancing my altimeter when my parachute still isn’t square, stable and steerable. And remember: the lack of success of under canopy rigging is only surpassed by …
I always conclude my lecture with the advise to err on the side of caution – if you don’t like the colors of the first parachute you have a perfectly good and viable reason to get rid of it. But never get rid of anything that is supporting you in midair, without first reading your altimeter. And I’d rather discuss with you why you cut away a perfectly good canopy than with your loved ones why you didn’t perform - or postponed to long - the cut away of a perfectly bad canopy that obviously wasn’t doing its job.

I have the feeling most of my students understand what I’m saying. Hey - I more or less explained it to my kid this way and he seems to understand. (solved a minor problem on one occasion and cut away a bag lock on another occasion...)

PS: Of course, to keep things simple I have decision-altitudes built into the decision tree. But that is not the scope of what I have been writing here...

"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

[GravityGirl 0]

The philosophy is that what some people call a partial malfunction, I choose to call an issue. It doesn't raise the heart rate as much.

If you have a malfunction, cut away and pull your reserve. If you have an issue or problem. Try to fix it until your predetermined altitude. If you cannot fix it. Cut away and pull your reserve.

Some issues are Slider partially up, line twists, and closed end cells.

My origianl post was somewhat sarcastic. Sorry for that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[lewmonst 0]

  Quote

The philosophy is that what some people call a partial malfunction, I choose to call an issue. It doesn't raise the heart rate as much.

If you have a malfunction, cut away and pull your reserve. If you have an issue or problem. Try to fix it until your predetermined altitude. If you cannot fix it. Cut away and pull your reserve.

Some issues are Slider partially up, line twists, and closed end cells.

Terminology varies from school to school. Similarly, we call line twists, slider-up and closed end cells a "Problem". Problems can be solved or fixed. A "Malfunction" is something that cannot be fixed, and should call for emergency procedures.
We don't classify malfunctions in the FJC as high speed vs. low speed, total vs. partial, as the terminology is not as important as how they are dealt with. The students only need to decide whether it is a "Problem" or "Malfunction". If it's a problem, try to fix it or determine if it cannot be fixed before the decision altitude. If it's a malfuntion, decide to go to emergency procedures.

Beyond that, my understanding of a "Total Malfunction" is when nothing is out, like a hard/no pull. A "Partial Malfunction" is where anything is out of the container. A "Total" is obviously a "high-speed" mal. A "Partial" can be high-speed or low-speed depending on what it is. PC in tow, bag lock, ball-o-crap are high-speed mals. A line-over (depending on the canopy and how bad it is), or toggle malfuntion, or tension knot, are usually low-speed mals. Again, that's just how I understand it, and terminology can vary, what's important is that we have a safe, landable parachute or decide how to deal with it otherwise.

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[Liemberg 0]

Since one of you asked in PM "What is a Kevin? Why did Saskia call this a Kevin?" while probably others only wondered but didn't want to look stupid:

"Name this malfunction..."

I thought that was funny AND significant for what I was trying to say...
KEVIN (tm): 1. A parachute that stops your freefall but in all likelihood will not bring you back to the ground without hurting you bigtime. 2. Unreliable but handsome looking lover who promises you the world and eternal love, yet leaves you pregnant and without your virginity (??? Yes - I make this up 'on the go'...)

"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

[dropzonefool 0]

But isn't a total defined by the dbag never leaving the container? Bag Lock or a streamer are both partials, and bag lock may be the fastest of them all. ----------------------------------------------------------
A total mal is not being able to pull the main deployment handle. IF......... you have pulled the mian deployment handle and the result is a bag lock or a streamer it is a partial mal. IF you have pulled the main deployment handle and have a contianer lock(D bag does not leave the contianer, handle will not compleatly release) then it is a total mal. Regardless, high speed or slow speed, IMO or in my course: If the main deployment handle has been pulled, a cutaway before reserve deployment is taught. Also IF e- procedures has not fixed the problem, or can not find the cutaway handle the RESERVE handle musy be pulled no lower than 1000 AGL.

[dragon2 2]

Peter, your link acts funny (Firefox sends me to Microsoft.com?! ) so here's Kevin, take two:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1474381;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

ciel bleu,
Saskia