When it comes pull time, I often remember my first cutaway. It was an AFF Level VII dive in Deland, Florida in September 1991. I had done the previous six levels in one jump per level and was described by my jumpmasters (one of which was Craig Buxton) as a "better than average skydiver." I had a camera man (Marty Cooper - also one of my jumpmasters on previous jumps and probably the nicest person I have ever met in the sport) take video of my graduation jump. One the plane was my jumpmaster, Mike Johnston (the manager of Skydive Deland), Carl Dougherty (fun jumper) and Bob Hallett (flying the Cessena and DZ owner). I did not know who any of these people were at the time, I was just trying to have a good jump. The jump went fine, but having another skydiver (Marty) fly around me was startling. At pull time I turned my head too much looking for the rip cord and went into an unintentional freestyle rountine. Marty stayed right with me (since he was used to filming his girlfriend, Christina, during her freestyle routines) as I followed what was taught to me during student training. Make one attempt to get stable, if not, pull at the right altitude no matter what position you are in. I could not get stable quickly, so I had to pull while on my back at 4,000. The lines caught my hand coming out of the bag and I had a hard opening (all on video). During my canopy check, I pulled down the right toggle and watched it continue to spiral down to the ground. It broke during my hard opening. Everything else was working fine. I realized a cutaway was necessary since we were not taught to steer and land using the risers (however I quickly learned this skill moments later). I could not believe that I was going to have to cutaway on my 7th jump! Dammit! I just talked with several skydivers before the jump who had over 1,000 jumps without a chop. Why me? Why now? I am just a regular guy trying to get past student status. I grabbed the red pillow with both hands, locked the D ring, then pulled the pillow and then the D ring. I saw an all white round canopy over my head and then dropped both handles as I was taught. I did a beautiful PLF after using the risers to steer past a small shed and a bull dozer. I had a small cut on my thumb and a sore neck, otherwise I was fine. The worst part was I had flunked my own graduation! When I made it back to the DZ, Hallett was relieved I was okay but also said I was lucky to have a cutaway early in my skydiving career. What the hell was lucky about that? He said some skydivers have thousands of jumps without a cutaway and always wonder if they will recognize the situation and execute the cutaway procedures it at the right time, altitude and sequence. Bob said I had done all that correctly and now I have no doubts that I can do it again. It took me several weeks to get over the nightmares I was having about my 1st cutaway, but eventually I made it back to the DZ and completed AFF thanks to the help of another famous skydiver that is a story for another time. I have been skydiving for many years since without any doubt that I can take action in a parachute emergency.
