Cutaway #8 - Skydive Houston - February 6, 2010

[ACorlett48]

Sure they SAY the chances of a reserve mal are lower than getting hit by lightning, but I don't go stand out in thunderstorms storms... mostly cause the risk not nearly as rewarding :)

[BadMotherbleeper]

Really? Did no one look at the horizon? I've kicked out of a worse line twist then that, but my main was still flying true. This guy was in a flat spin and speeding up. Smart move to cut away and jump another day :) Blue skies buddy!

[firemanflyer]

Nice job yanking on your risers so much that you turned a normal deployment into a mal.

[Spudst3r]

He was spinning pretty fast, and losing consciousness from such a thing is a real reality. Safest bet is to cutaway.

No parachute is worth risking your life over for.

[Nathan97432]

Sometimes it's better to cutaway than flying with a bad canopy ;) blue sky!

[TheNEMKE]

You can solve that "problem" pretty easy man,

there is no need to cutaway just because of a simple line twist..

Blue skies, fly safe.

[adamca12]

he could retrieve the chute if he watched where it fell on his decent.

[jaiharman1]

RIP headphoners.

[wzl46]

Well done Chuck!

[Jeffrey00088]

Why doesnt he/she take the braking toggles before full opening, I mean this isnt a mal, this is bad piloting isnt it?

[keeponwishin]

One thing I was told before I started flying a camera is a camera flyer better be prepared to loose about $2,000 or more in an instant at the cost of saving their life. Nice save.

[mckx5]

Looked like simple line twist to me. Cut away a perfectly good chute.

[TheeGoldenOreo]

@mckx5 no

[mckx5]

@TheeGoldenOreo

And...How many jumps do you have???

[TheeGoldenOreo]

@mckx5 450+

[mckx5]

@TheeGoldenOreo

Whatever dude. If that was true, you could have easily explained the malfunction, instead of your one word response of "no". Any experienced skydiver would have stuck with that canopy. Which is why I know you're FOS. Stick to your video games.

[nolifemerc]

the glass broke

[beardedswine]

did you see the glass shatter in the air when you cutaway?

[SwimmingMunky]

I bet you were pissed when you noticed you broke the camera.

[postulify]

hmmm, I dont know...I think it was only a couple twists. Maybe could have kicked/pulled out of it.

[Freeourmind]

@postulify I agree, I just jumped this weekend and I had the almost the same line twists, just a few back kicks with some added twists and I was out of it in no more then a few seconds flew it and landed it. But only the jumper knows the exact situation, so whatevs. Thanks so the vid post mate.

[postulify]

@Freeourmind true, and after reviewing the vid a couple times, he did seem to be in a pretty hard spin. maybe to much force to kick out. when in doubt, CUT AWAY :D

[ocrim16]

wow XD he crash the gla of the camera :P

[vzaimis1]

Hi. thanks for posting.

do you think that you would have gone out of the twist if you stayed with your main a little longer?

[CL10ANT]

When is doubt...whip it out! Nice Save brother!

Blue Skies!

[warfan179]

thats awesome

[FarceTheory]

looks like you pulled your left rear riser a bit more than your right. Other wise you might have been looking good.

[AntiStalinist]

It appears you had a hard pull. Do you have reinforcing cable housing on your riser setups? Nice decision when you did bthw.

[zF15z]

How many jumps have you had to total 8 cutaways?

If you do a "perfect" pack job and have a stable opening position is it very unlikely (over 1/1000) that you wouuld have a reserve pull?

[chuckakers]

@zF15z - Malfunctions that require the use of a reserve parachute are pretty rare. That was #8 out of 5,000+ jump, but I know people with that many jumps that have no reserve rides.

If you are asking because you are jumping or are thinking about it, don't let that aspect of jumping bother you. The incidents of reserve parachute failures are extremely rare. The chances of getting hit by lightening are better.

[zF15z]

@chuckakers ye, when I look at the dropzone website it seems that 90% of the fatalities are related just to people performing low hook turns. Many of that other 10% seem to consist of poor pre jump planning.

I am deciding whether or not to take my aff course. Deep down I really want to but my brain seems to think otherwise at times...

[therealbamlee]

@chuckakers if 1 in 1000 are the chances to have a failure the chances of getting hit by lightning are not better ;) its like 1 in 1000000

[SomeGuy7898]

@therealbamlee 1/1000 for your main. It's about 1/10000 for your reserve. Factor both together, and you're looking at 1 in 10,000,000... which is a better chance then 1 in 1,000,000.

[trustgirl99]

@chuckakers realy i thogt since there are alot of vidios is it rare to get a malfunction like this i mean i dont know

[hookitbigger]

@zF15z I have 3500 skydives over 10 years. First 800 jumps had zero reserve rides jumping a non eliptical wing. Since then I have 7 cutaways, 6 from line twist spinners and only one from a bag lock.

[zF15z]

@hookitbigger Are ellipticals significantly more fun than just standard squares? Are they far more likely to induce bag locks? What are the main causes of a bag lock? Personally I would never consider an elliptical if it meant having to deal with them more likely.

[hookitbigger]

@zF15z An eliptical wing is generally much more "twitchy" than a square canopy. With a square canopy line twists are generally not a big deal the canopy will fly straight and you have time to kick out the twists. On an elipitcal wing line twists usually result in what we refer to as a spinner. You can kick out the twist but during this time your canopy is flying towards the ground. Sometimes you dont have enough altitude to kick out of the spinner and you have to chop it.

[hookitbigger]

@hookitbigger A bag lock has nothing to do with the type of canopy you are jumping. The reason I had a bag lock was because of the packer. They used two thick rubberbands instead of one. Normally one would just break but the way they had the bands wrapped caused it to lock up. Bag locks are easy to clear and you generally know within 2 seconds you have a problem. I had pulled at 2,200 feet and was under my reserve by 1,000 feet. Pull higher and you have more time. Be Safe.

[procurbusa]

@zF15z

Lame,,,,You could of saved that..It wasnt even spinning that fast yet..You can tell you already planned on pulling your reserve before even trying to save it...

[skydiva67]

Good job buddy! Wow, shattering your lens. Thankfully you were okay.Lens replaceable, face and head, not so much :)