[Previous entry: "Wedding Ring Lost in Freefall/Pell City Reopens"]
[Next entry: "Class III FAA Medical/North American Aerodynamics"]

A new TV show called “Worst-Case Scenarios” featured a skydiving mishap in its first episode that ended okay, but the story failed to bring up a solution that could have saved a lot of trouble. I too was involved in a similar “worst-case scenario” four years ago. In the TV show report, a skydiver was climbing out on the wheel of a small Cessna with two other skydivers to exit a 3-way. On exit, the jumper’s bootie got snagged on the step and he was left dangling from the aircraft as his two buddies fell away. The dangling jumper was unable to shake his jumpsuit off the step or reach up to pull it off. The jumper also did not have a hook knife to cut his jumpsuit off. The pilot tried maneuvering the plane in different attitudes to shake him off without success and finally decided to land the plane on the grass. The jumper survived by allowing his rig to take much of the initial landing blow although he was still shaken, scratched and banged up.

In a similar event in 1998, I climbed out on the step of a Cessna 182 at Atlanta Skydiving Center with three of my friends to exit a 4-way meeker. On go, the exit absolutely blew apart as the bottom of my bootie was caught under the step and I was left dangling. The pilot, Mike Rhodes (in his first week on the job), immediately looked out the door as I checked my handles and tried to shake my jumpsuit loose. I also tried reaching up to the step with no success and then pulled out my hook knife to begin cutting the leg of the jumpsuit. Mike then flashed his pocket knife out the door and I paused to see what he had in mind. Over the next few minutes, he would lean out the door to cut and then hop back in the seat to fly. After 3 or 4 tries, he finally cut enough to free me and I fell away, deployed and landed far, far off. Obviously being careful as you climb out is the ideal way to prevent this accident, but pilots of our small planes should carry a knife for a problem such as this. Thanks again, Mike!

Research and development is a key aspect to staying in the skydiving business as most experienced jumpers are interested in the latest and greatest canopy, container or any type of new skydiving gadget. Some of the most notable recent developments have been cross-braced canopies, enhanced audible altimeters, assorted varieties of camera helmets and many advancements in “freefly friendly” rigs. Near the top in that department has been Mirage Systems with its G3 container. For a rigger I have admired the Mirage reserve container, freebag and pilot chute for ease of closing and making it look good, strength of the reserve pilot chute and an easy-to-fill freebag. For the freefly jumper, the main riser flaps stay closed in freefall, the pin cover protection is excellent and there is almost zero main bridle exposure. Some drawbacks have included price and sporadic issues with customer service. Still, the G3 is one of my favorite rigs. Last week, the company released the G4 container. We had a test G4 at Atlanta Skydiving Center that was jumped by members of Team Method as well as Adam Wheeler of Skydivegear.com. They all remarked on the extra comfort. According to Mirage, this is due to the following improvements. “At the top of the reserve, a new yoke/pin cover design provides a simpler structure over the shoulders, resulting in a more flexible and comfortable fit,” Mirage claims on its site. “The yoke is narrower and the outside edge of the yoke has been softened, for comfort and flexibility. The backpad itself has been redesigned with an attractive look and better padding. Elastic lumbar support has been added at the hip to comfortably snug the rig to your lower back without cutting into you.” In addition, a new crisscrossing elastic strap system is available to keep your leg straps from moving around in freefall. The price remains steep for the Mirage, but their R&D is arguably worth it