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Fatal parachute fall from 20m


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Just bad luck, general conditions were pretty good, winds were well within limits only 12 to 18 kph. Just as they were setting up for landing a strong willy willy suddenly spun up and shut down one side of their canopy and span them into the ground. The TM only had time to try and reduce injury to the passenger. The following tandem were a hundred feet above also starting to set up on 'final' saw what was happening and turned away avoiding most of the turbulence and landed OK. Just a case of wrong place wrong time.

 

Defiantly not a matter of time.

 

 

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Hmm. Just found out that "Tony" was well known to my son and all of his Afganistan Vet mates. They are all feeling a bit low tonight. RIP Digger. Your service mates are all having one for you tonight.

 

 

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Tragedy indeed - especially when carrying a child as a paying passenger.Doesn't seem to have stopped them making money today though - they're back hard at it...

You have hit the nail on the head! I am sure the family of the deceased and the maimed innocent will be greatly comforted by the ongoing earning.

 

A most interesting couple of questions to ask are these : was everything reasonably practicable done to avoid this accident? Could the possibility of such events have been reasonably foreseen?

 

There have been a number of serious injuries which preceded this, and countless unreported near misses.

 

It is only a matter of time until there is another fatal.

 

 

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You have hit the nail on the head! I am sure the family of the deceased and the maimed innocent will be greatly comforted by the ongoing earning.A most interesting couple of questions to ask are these : was everything reasonably practicable done to avoid this accident? Could the possibility of such events have been reasonably foreseen?

 

There have been a number of serious injuries which preceded this, and countless unreported near misses.

 

It is only a matter of time until there is another fatal.

Very odd perspective on parachuting or in fact any sport.

Yes, people have and will continue to die in parachute accidents, as they will when flying ultralights, GA, riding horses, motorbikes, skateboards and even just bushwalking.

 

Your last sentence is nonsensical unless you are implying that the serious incidents and unreported incidents applied to either or both of this instructor and jump operator. If you believe that there is unreported unsafe behavior from this instructor or jump operator PM me and I will give you the appropriate telephone number to make a confidential report - if its just generic words about how dangerous this sport is then I am not interested as you are just scare mongering and belong with tabloid journos ... over to you on which camp you belong in

 

 

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You have hit the nail on the head! I am sure the family of the deceased and the maimed innocent will be greatly comforted by the ongoing earning.A most interesting couple of questions to ask are these : was everything reasonably practicable done to avoid this accident? Could the possibility of such events have been reasonably foreseen?

 

There have been a number of serious injuries which preceded this, and countless unreported near misses.

 

It is only a matter of time until there is another fatal.

Cannot control weather events like this. What do you do sit on the ground for a month just in case another willy willy comes through?

 

Answer to question one is yes. There are limits to conditions they can jump in. Jumping was canned the day before because wind was over limits. Conditions on the day accident occurred was well within limits. None of the preceding loads experienced any adverse wind conditions

 

If it was an OPERATIONAL problem then they would not operate until that issue was fixed. It is a requirement that all incidents are reported even an off drop zone landing with no injuries is considered an incident and is documented with reason why. Some reasons as to why they landed off may be contributed to is bad spot due to pilot or GPS error, bad canopy handling or high or low opening. etc.

 

Any injury no matter how trivial or how it was obtained is documented as an incident.

 

How can you state the above "countless unreported near misses". I am sure Brent would like to hear your reason.

 

Yes it will be 'just a matter of time until another fatal.' It is not a game of chess. Some times shit happens.

 

The APF has one of the best safety operational systems in the world. Other countries look to them for advise in regulating the sport and commercial operations. The APF have never had any audit problems with either CASA or the FAI. EVER! Unlike other regulatory bodies in Australia.

 

All incidents are reported no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. It is the DZSO's and the CI's job to make sure it happens. Prompt and correct reporting is the reason the sport is as safe as it is. If you believe that there is a problem at that drop zone then by all means contact Kym Hardwick at the APF she will most readily take your information and investigate.

 

 

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It'd be nigh on impossible to make the statement "the weather was not suitable" and have it proven in a court of law - you'll get as many in the affirmative as you will in the negative. So i'm feeling that nothing will come of this catastrophe apart from a family left with no father/husband and a young boy currently sitting in an induced coma.

 

The Avdata recordings may make interesting listening - there was a lot of chatter between the pilot and the ground on every load that went up including a fair bit of talk regarding the conditions. Video footage from a couple of locations is also available. Unless there was some form of technical malfunction though then I can't see there being any outcome other than that mentioned above. Some might be a little more cautious when assessing weather conditions?

 

Of interest is the local pilots who chose to pack up at midday (some didn't fly at all) due to the turbulence.

 

 

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I have been spanked a few times over the years due to thermal generated turbulence. Corowa at the Christmas National Boogie was a cow of a place, ground was made out of concrete and a bit of wind to chop it up. A few serious injuries over the years, one that sticks is from the seventies, was a girl that landed under a round canopy and did not bundle it up straight away and talking to a friend had her canopy picked up and yanked her off the ground, over a fence then slammed onto the ground. Busted pelvis and shoulder. Another flew low over the taxi way and had their canopy shut down dropping them onto the ground. He is still in a wheel chair, (owned that German marked Storch). Have even seen tents ripped out of the ground and contents spread around the country side. Destroyed C182s, Nomads and Otters picked up and danced with. Inland in summer can be a deadly place.

 

 

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I got slammed on the ground from 100 feet on climb out at Rutherford one hot afternoon, in a Tiger Moth when the sea breeze made it in from the coast . An instant wind reversal with rotor. At one point the wings were beyond vertical. Motor stayed on full power. Practically NO airspeed.

 

In the same area but at more altitude, I was over the top joining circuit on the Shark spotting C-150 that had over 60 knots air speed fluctuation and the broadcast radio set went through the rear window and the cigarette ash tray came out of the RH door and lots of ominous creaking from the airframe. Big "G" loads. I expected it to break up. These were both hot thermally days in late mid afternoon, with a sea breeze.. You can't see it coming. Nev

 

 

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I got slammed on the ground from 100 feet on climb out at Rutherford one hot afternoon, in a Tiger Moth when the sea breeze made it in from the coast . An instant wind reversal with rotor. At one point the wings were beyond vertical. Motor stayed on full power. Practically NO airspeed.In the same area but at more altitude, I was over the top joining circuit on the Shark spotting C-150 that had over 60 knots air speed fluctuation and the broadcast radio set went through the rear window and the cigarette ash tray came out of the RH door and lots of ominous creaking from the airframe. Big "G" loads. I expected it to break up. These were both hot thermally days in late mid afternoon, with a sea breeze.. You can't see it coming. Nev

At least this wasn't posted in the 'confidence issues' thread:sweat:

 

 

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Have seen it many times and experienced it a few just up the road at Elderslie. Around 3 in the afternoon. A light westerly when you take off for a jump and under canopy you notice the windsock showing 15 to 20 kts from the east. Get to around a 1000ft or a bit lower and you are into it. Learned to pick it's pending arrival with the windsock doing small swings to and fro about 30 minutes before it barrels in and you can see the salt haze as well towards the east. Amusing watching the young guns totally miss it and either attempt a turn into wind to low or just blast in downwind. Sometimes they just have to learn on their own.

 

 

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No I didn't think it would be appropriate there, but I'm still around. There are particular conditions when these things are more likely to happen, though I didn't anticipate them. I have encountered others , but I mentioned these as appropriate to the parachuting outcome. Nev

 

 

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