Malfunctions, 9 (2, 3, 6, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21,25)
Due to landing, 6 (1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 20)
Equipment Issues, 3 (11, 21, 23)
Accidents due to low/no pulls, 3 (8, 22, 24)
Bizarre, 2 (10, 25)
Canopy Collisions, 2 (14, 15)
Freefall Collision, 1 (13)
Medical Problem, 1 (17)
Unknown, 0
1. 1/4/2005 Deland, FL. 400+ Jumps
Hook turn Vengeance 120. Visiting Jumper. 28 years old.
Lesson: Don’t turn low.
2. 1/15/2005 Dallas, TX. 99 Jumps
Slider came down and trapped a toggle. Jumper may have not released his toggles due to line twists and a long spot till very late.
Lesson: A controllability check includes steering and should be done before the hard deck.
3. 2/6/2005 Hawaii, 170 Jumps
Malfunction cutaway low. Deployed main around 1500-2000 feet. Cutaway at about 400 feet went belly to earth before the reserve pull. Had lost a canopy about a year before. This may have made him try and stay with the malfunction too long.
Lesson: Loss of altitude awareness. An RSL might have helped, but following emergency procedures, to include not busting your hard deck, would have helped as well.
4. 2/14/2005 Hawaii, 3000+ Jumps
Hook turn by an experienced jumper under a smaller canopy than he normally jumped.
Lesson: Even experience jumpers can get bitten when they try new equipment.
5. 2/16/2005 AZ. 4000 Jumps
Jumper landing in a tight area. Panic turn at 40 feet to avoid an obstacle.
Lesson: Landing out and walking is always better to trying to make it over obstacles.
6. 2/23/2005 AZ. 163 Jumps
Malfunction with lazy cutaway pull resulting in only one side releasing. Jumper then delayed reserve pull until it was too late.
Lesson: Emergency procedures should be drilled until they are natural. Emergency procedures are a two-handle operation.
7. 3/5/2005 Snohomish, WA. 190 Jumps
Low turn under a high WL (1.3 to1.4 to one). Last canopy was a 210 Specter. Jumper then bought a HP Vision 168 at 150 jumps. Jumper had a good spot, but flew too long on his downwind leg. Turbulence may have played a factor, but a panic turn was the reason for the death.
Lesson: Don’t donwnsize too fast. It removes any room for error with dangerous results. Smaller issues such as turbulence can be handled well with a canopy you have experience with. Jumping in turbulent weather with a new canopy is not a great idea
8. 3/5/2005 Perris, CA. 54 Jumps
Normal 2 way skydive with normal breakoff. No pull situation unknown reason. AAD was set at home which was 1500 feet lower than DZ elevation.
Lesson: Read the manual. Know the operational parameters of your equipment.
9. 4/16/2005 Atlanta Skydiving Center, GA. 1000 Jumps
Hook turn 270 turn then double fronts till impact. May have been distracted by a camera crew. Katana 120, which he loaded at around 1.8. Recently switched to a Katana 107.
Lesson: New canopy and showing off. New equipment or skills should be learned before additional stress is placed on performance.
10. 4/23/2005 Deland, FL. Experienced
An Otter on descent hit the jumper.
Lesson: It is wise to try and avoid an active landing pattern. Jump pilots should stay well away from the parachute landing area.
11. 5/1/2005 Dallas, TX. 5000 Jumps
Jumper deployed and a line wrapped around his left main flap. This resulted in the main being in tow. Jumper then deployed the reserve and they entangled.
Lesson: Not much can be learned from this. Maybe packing was a factor, or maybe it was just a case of bad luck. There was not much the jumper could do. A perfect case of, “You can do everything right and still die”
12. 6/5/2005 Sky Knights, WI. 100 Jumps
Malfunction with cutaway and late, some reports say no, reserve pull
Lesson: Emergency procedures should be drilled until they are natural. Emergency procedures are a two-handle operation.
13. 7/2/2005 Skydive Wayne County, IN 2100 Jumps
Freefall collision between a cameraman and a Tandem pair. Video person flew into the area above the tandem pair. On opening the tandem canopy opened quickly and lunged forward and to the left. The video person hit the TI and the injuries were fatal.
Lesson: Getting the perfect shot is not the most important part of any skydive. Stay well away from the area above and below a Tandem.
14. 7/4/2005 Cross Keys, NJ 1500 Jumps
Canopy wrap at 150 feet. Jumper followed the left hand pattern rule with a 180. The other jumper was higher and performed a right 270 and hit the lower jumper. Mixing low performance, high performance and higher performance landing approaches is asking for trouble. Low person has the right of way.
Lesson: Not much can be said. This jumper was hit from a canopy that came from above doing a different pattern. Communication might have prevented this. But landing in an area where everyone else is trying to land might not be a good idea. Why have exit separation, and why track away at the end of the jump if you are just going to all try and land in the same spot?
15. 7/4/2005 Cross Keys, NJ 2100 Jumps
Canopy wrap at 150 feet One jumper followed the left hand pattern rule with a 180. This jumper was higher and performed a right 270 and hit the lower jumper.
Lesson: Clear your airspace before you turn.
1. Talk about what people are doing for landing.
2. Don't feel the need to land where everyone else is.
3. Build a stack and fly it.
4. If it is not clear you don't get to hook.
16. 7/4/2005 Cal City, CA. 400 Jumps.
3 lines broke on opening, no emergency procedures were performed. Possible the jumper was knocked out by the opening and died as a result of the landing.
Lesson: It is quite possible that a hard opening might have knocked out this jumper.
17. 7/22/2005 San Marcos, TX. 2 Tandems, 1 AFF Jump.
He was 72 years old and did not respond to radio contact. Brakes were unstowed, neck was found broken after landing.
Lesson: Old age can be a problem in high-risk sports. As the sport becomes easier, older people will jump. Other than imposing medical rules, or age limits; not much can be done to prevent this type of accident.
18. 8/06/2005 Rantoul, IL 4000 Jumps
Heavily loaded Vengeance, deployed at normal altitude, resulting in a spinning mal. Jumper rode it ~10 revolutions before cutting away at 800-1000 feet. He then took a fairly long delay before deploying his reserve at a very low altitude. Jumper impacted at reserve line stretch.
Lesson: The jumper lost track of altitude and rode a mal well below the recommended altitudes in the SIM. He then took a long delay after the cutaway. An RSL might have prevented this, but remembering that emergency procedures are a two-handle operation and maintaining altitude awareness would have fixed it as well. RSL’s will not help with altitude awareness. Establish a hard deck and PAY ATTENTION TO IT.
19. 8/10/2005 Rantoul, IL. 80 Jumps
Jumper cutaway and was in freefall for a few seconds before he went to his reserve. they are speculating he was around 1500 feet when he cutaway and 300 when he deployed. losing altitude awareness is not something an RSL can fix.
Lesson: The jumper lost track of altitude and rode a mal well below the recommended altitudes in the SIM. He then took a long delay after the cutaway. An RSL might have prevented this, but remembering that emergency procedures are a two-handle operation and maintaining altitude awareness would have fixed it as well. RSL’s will not help with altitude awareness. Establish a hard deck and PAY ATTENTION TO IT.
20. 8/13/2005 Ogden, UT. 1 jump (Tandem)
Gust of wind seems to have collapsed the Tandem canopy as they landed near a building.
Lesson: Land safe, not close. Turbulence is invisible and can take down airliners.
21. 8/21/2005 Marana Skydiving Center, AZ. 1 Tandem 2 S/L Jumps
On his second Static Line jump, the student exited well, but when he went to pull the Practice Ripcord, he instead mistakenly pulled his cutaway handle. The jerk from the release of the deploying main parachute flipped him on his back and when the RSL released his reserve in this position, the pilot chute shot between his legs and tangled around one of his legs. The pilot chute remained tangled around his leg until impact.
Lesson: Drill the dive till it is natural. This is a case where an RSL contributed to the fatality. On the whole RSL’s save more people than they kill, but they do have dangers and jumpers should know the dangers.
22. 9/11/2005 Monroe, GA. 6000+ jumps
He had serious medical problems (stroke) regarding cognitive and short-term memory loss. This jumper was a well-respected DZO and jumper years ago. However his medical condition resulted in his losing his FAA medical and not being allowed to jump. He also had his driver’s license revoked for accidents, and at least one DZ only allowed this jumper to do Tandems. D-license# D911, incident was on 09/11/05, possible suicide since the jumper had made 3 jumps that day and several that weekend according to some reports.
Lessons: This jumper had been grounded at several DZ’s, had his flying medical and his Drivers License taken away. Many people feel that this person should not have been solo jumping and some feel that this may have been a suicide. This is a tough call to make, but there comes a time when people should not be allowed to jump. The past medical history and personal accounts of his inability to handle complex situations makes me think that when a jumper is grounded by the people that love him…It might be for a good reason.
23. 9/30/2005 East Troy, WI. ??? Jumps
Wearing a camera suit. He attempted to deploy his main he pulled his pilot chute through the right wing of the suit resulting in a "horse-shoe" malfunction. His handles were found in place. Also, his hook knife was out and the main bridal was cut a few inches above the attachment point to the D-bag
Lesson: Proper care in picking a suit that will not allow a gap that you can reach through is important. More important is that you should never attempt rigging tricks in the air while you are falling at 120 MPH. Stop the skydive. Several people have survived two outs, but no one has survived landing just a pilot chute.
24. 10/16/2005 Skydive the Rockies, CO. 4000+
Low Pull, CYPRES fire with two canopies out resulting in an un-survivable landing.
Lessons: Know your gear. AAD’s are great, but as this accident shows they can add problems. Have a hard deck and do not ignore it.
25. 10/30/2005 Skydive Atlanta, GA. 2 Jumps
Disabled Student fell out of a harness. Student’s condition made it so they had to be helped to exit. The student slipped down on exit and then went into a “pike” position in freefall. Instructor tried to hold the student and deploy, but he was unable to hold him.
Lesson: Tandems are not normal skydives. Handicap Tandems are a world all on their own. Take every precaution to ensure that the TI will be able to control the skydive. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure that you will be able to control the legs of a disabled passenger.
26. 11/5/2005 Perris, CA. 100+
The jumper was observed flying straight and in control until about 2-300 ft. At that time he was over or a bit north of the hanger. He started a spiral and continued until impact. one toggle was stowed and one was unstowed.
Lesson: A controllability check includes steering and should be done before the hard deck.
Malfunctions are back as the number one killer in this sport. Nine jumpers ignored a hard deck, controllability check, and failed to perform emergency procedures in time to save themselves. Many of these might have been saved by an RSL. However, in most of these cases a jumper started their emergency procedures and failed to complete the second step. Reserve drills should be practiced until they are natural and BOTH handles are pulled all the time. RSL’s save more people than they kill, but jumpers should place more focus on proper emergency procedures and drill them until they are perfect.
Landing Issues are lower, but only by one this year. Education seems to be taking hold, but the problem still remains that the jumpers that need the education are the ones that will not take the classes. Even experienced jumpers make mistakes that kill them. The trick to surviving is to minimize the new things and try to control the situations where you try new equipment or stunts.
Equipment Issues are hard to fix. Only one death this year could have been prevented by a better selection of equipment (23).
Low/No Pulls have always been a problem to determine the reason. Loss of altitude awareness seems to be a major factor in two deaths this year (8, 24). Ironically an AAD might have saved the first one, and it contributed to the fatality in the second case. AAD’s are good, but jumpers should know the limitations and AAD’s do not fix altitude awareness problems. One no pull this year seems to be either a medical issue or a suicide (22). People who have been grounded should not be allowed to jump until cleared by a Doctor.
Bizarre accidents happen. Either party staying away from each other’s airspace could have avoided accident number 10 on this list. An accident of this nature is very rare but should remind us that the big sky theory does not work all the time and it should not be relied upon. Tandems are not normal skydives. Handicap Tandems are a world all on their own. Take every precaution to ensure that the TI will be able to control the skydive. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure that you will be able to control the legs of a disabled passenger. This is another accident that is so rare that it has only happened once to the best of my knowledge. Still every precaution must be taken.
Canopy Collisions. Lower jumper has the right of way. Obey traffic patterns and it is not necessary to land in the same place as everyone else. Why have exit separation, track away from each other to all pack into the same area and try and land in the same place?
Freefall Collision. Stay way from the area above and below a Tandem pair. There are more important things than the perfect shot.
Medical Problem. Possibly two, maybe three jumpers this year died either due to or in part due to a medical problem. This is a difficult area. As jumping becomes easier, older jumpers and impaired jumpers will participate. Maybe a medical for jumpers over a certain age, or with known conditions should be required. In one case a hard opening might have played a role. Maybe nothing else was wrong with the jumper until the opening. In another case an older man came to love and want to learn skydiving. The problem is that this sport is not easy, and maybe it needs more physical fitness to participate. In another case we had a very experienced jumper who some consider to be an icon of the sport try to continue jumping after some serious medical issues. This is difficult area and maybe no answer exists. However, a person who wishes to learn to skydive should be in shape, or get a medical for their safety. Jumpers with experience who have been grounded by people who love them…maybe should stay on the ground.
Difficult area. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
