When things go wrong...

Parachute malfunction caught on tape.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Malfunction
• skydiving
• accident
• freefall
• parachute

[Acpens]

Do I miss something here, or is the only problem in this vid that the cords are twisted? I'm on a beginners course right now, supposed to jump on next thursday, and we're being taught that when that happens you just pull the cords apart and kick until the twists unwrap, unless you're lower than 600 meters (=2000 ft). My mate jumped last week, and this happened to him as well.

[vidjumper]

Hi performance (elliptical) canopies behave different in line twists. They have a tendency to spiral very hard, making it difficult if not impossible to kick out of twists. I estimate I was pulling more than 3G's. If you look closely you can see the sun go by at about 2 revs per second.

[svasontnoef]

That canopy looks like an old Perche. They stopped producing many years ago. You can see the risers are asyemtrically, which is not the fault of a line trim.

[vidjumper]

Yes, it was a Perche...I have a few thousand jumps on them. We found the lines to be out of trim and shipped it back to the manufacturer. If you know anyone who has specs on the Perche, please let me know...I have a 135 I'd like to get line trim specs for.

[wwwnk]

Hilarious! so, i guess it's safe to say 'its not a packing error'.

BTW, why did the student have their goggles in the hand?

[vidjumper]

It turned out to be a manufacturing error. The lineset was not evenly tensioned during cutting. Consequently during the deployment loading, one side stretched causing the linetwist. My wingloading was about 1.8 No way I could kick out of them. The students goggles started coming off early in the skydive.

[Mr8cman]

Youre a fuckin stud i would have shit my pants and died

[rrr1sportrider]

@vidjumper How many jumps can you put on the reserve chute??? Dozens, hundreds, if so be????

[skitique78]

You pay your money; you take your chances.

[CL10ANT]

@vidjumper I would have chopped that mess to. When in doubt "Whip It Out" I fly a 215 main so my line twist aren't anything compared to that. I look forward to downsizing as I progress. Blue Skies!!!

[tj987654987654Andrew]

excellent video.

[cdp11132009]

any canopy that ugly deserves nothing less than to be chopped...

[TheWASTEDPRODUCTIONS]

lesson learned... just use the white one first lol

[MattGiasson]

Did that canopy just pack different or what? I mean 2 cutaways in two weekends. What did the rigger conclude? Just curious.

[neomuttley]

You'd rather risk blindness over a few welts? My first skydive? I wore a heavy hunting shirt w/those plastic reinforcing tabs on the collars. I'd pulled them up because it was really cold. Those tabs proceeded to beat my jaw mercilessly @120MPH... For her instructor to allow that was inexcusable. A couple of marks on your cheek will heal. Corneal transplants are only temporary, & decidedly unpleasant. Major eye trauma is irreparable. You decide.