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Chute malfuction when skydiving?

  • thavoice
    Can you imagine that 16 yr old girl falling 3500 feet and LIVING when her chute didnt come open?

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/teen-who-survived-parachute-malfunction-remembers-being-scared/

    Find that amazing.

    Anyone ever been skydiving and would this change your mind if you were thinking of it?

    I have been a couple of times.....had a slight malfunction and landed pretty hard and felt it for a few days. Still pretty fun!
  • dlazz
    I am deathy afraid of heights so I would never skydive.

    The scene in Ferris Bueller when they lean against the glass in the Sears Tower makes me super uneasy.
  • Mohican00
    I'm curious if she landed in something that might have buffered her fall, or if it was just one of those 1-in-a-million freak chances that everything was perfect for her to survive?
  • thavoice
    Mohican00;1580350 wrote:I'm curious if she landed in something that might have buffered her fall, or if it was just one of those 1-in-a-million freak chances that everything was perfect for her to survive?
    Like in a pillow factory a la the cartoons?

    Pretty sure it was just the ground.

    I belive that if you even hit water above a certain heigth, and it isnt that high, it is very close to like hitting the hard ground.
  • ernest_t_bass
    I've seen something like this on some sort of science show. Basically, your body goes into shock, and you go "limp," which allows your body to take impact.
  • thavoice
    ernest_t_bass;1580356 wrote:I've seen something like this on some sort of science show. Basically, your body goes into shock, and you go "limp," which allows your body to take impact.
    Yeah, I was reading tips on how to survive a fall and one of them was to let your body go limp......probably easier said than done and you are best if you do pass out!
  • Fab4Runner
    I went skydiving a few years ago, and it was the coolest thing I have ever done. I would love to go again.

    My brother and I actually heard a commercial on the radio while we were driving to Skydive Arizona that made us laugh and also scared us shitless. It was a company talking about having a bad day, and it used a parachute not opening as an example. They used the cartoon falling sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8ROhH3_vs) and everything. We were like uhhh, maybe this is a bad sign, lol. But we went anyway, and we both survived.
  • Mohican00
    thavoice;1580354 wrote:Pretty sure it was just the ground.
    even ground saturated with precipitation would be a more likely explanation for her survival than this pass out scenario
  • thavoice
    Fab4Runner;1580360 wrote:I went skydiving a few years ago, and it was the coolest thing I have ever done. I would love to go again.

    My brother and I actually heard a commercial on the radio while we were driving to Skydive Arizona that made us laugh and also scared us shitless. It was a company talking about having a bad day, and it used a parachute not opening as an example. They used the cartoon falling sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8ROhH3_vs) and everything. We were like uhhh, maybe this is a bad sign, lol. But we went anyway, and we both survived.
    It is pretty f'n cool that is for sure. I went to a place north of cincy, think in Lebanon maybe. Was a bit unnerving going through the beginning stuff of signing the waivers, watching a video from their lawyer saying that even if there is malpractice on their part you couldnt sue, etc etc. Seemed a bit chinsy. Then we watched a video on how to fix malfunctions to the chute and the VHS tape that it was on also malfunctioned (and this was like in '10 or '09.).

    I didnt expect a huge military airplane but thought maybe one big enough where you step out.
    NOpe. A small plane that you step onto a a small step, grab ahold of a bar that attaches to the end of the wing, and then shimmy your way out to the end of the wing and hang from it while you are flying! Was very odd!
  • Fab4Runner
    PS I would never want to do a solo skydive. I got a flyer in the mail after my first jump with details about their training program. After you do two tandem jumps, they encourage you to start training for a solo jump. You can do static line or have an instructor jump at the same time as you and they basically hold your hand and tell you when to open your chute, etc. even though they are not attached to you. It freaked me out just thinking about it. I had no problem at all with my tandem jump, but a solo jump scares the shit out of me.
  • thavoice
    Static line is pretty much kids stuff.
    Were you allowed to do to a static or freefall jump the first time with that company?
    This place I went to allowed you to. You could even do the free fall on your first attempt, for like $30 bucks more and just 90 min more of training.

    I passed on that and just did static.
  • Midstate01
    I went a few months back and will be going again in next few weeks with my brother in law who is coming to visit.
  • Fab4Runner
    thavoice;1580365 wrote:It is pretty f'n cool that is for sure. I went to a place north of cincy, think in Lebanon maybe. Was a bit unnerving going through the beginning stuff of signing the waivers, watching a video from their lawyer saying that even if there is malpractice on their part you couldnt sue, etc etc. Seemed a bit chinsy. Then we watched a video on how to fix malfunctions to the chute and the VHS tape that it was on also malfunctioned (and this was like in '10 or '09.).

    I didnt expect a huge military airplane but thought maybe one big enough where you step out.
    NOpe. A small plane that you step onto a a small step, grab ahold of a bar that attaches to the end of the wing, and then shimmy your way out to the end of the wing and hang from it while you are flying! Was very odd!
    Ours was not fancy either. We just slid down a bench and jumped out the door when it was our turn.



    The pilot was an older lady who looked like a school bus driver. She was wearing a hoodie and was literally driving the plane like it was a bus, lol. There were two pedals and what looked like a normal steering wheel. I was like wtf is this?! But at the same time, I felt safe because I was strapped to an instructor with a chute on. So if she crashed, I think we would have been okay.



    Boop.
  • Fab4Runner
    thavoice;1580368 wrote:Static line is pretty much kids stuff.
    Were you allowed to do to a static or freefall jump the first time with that company?
    This place I went to allowed you to. You could even do the free fall on your first attempt, for like $30 bucks more and just 90 min more of training.

    I passed on that and just did static.
    I am really not sure. I never even considered anything but a tandem jump, so I never looked into anything else.
  • thavoice
    Fab4Runner;1580372 wrote:Ours was not fancy either. We just slid down a bench and jumped out the door when it was our turn.



    The pilot was an older lady who looked like a school bus driver. She was wearing a hoodie and was literally driving the plane like it was a bus, lol. There were two pedals and what looked like a normal steering wheel. I was like wtf is this?! But at the same time, I felt safe because I was strapped to an instructor with a chute on. So if she crashed, I think we would have been okay.



    Boop.
    Did you have to hang from the wing? That was the part where I was like....WTF. That bar from the base of the plane out to the wing....we had to grab ahold of that and slide out as far as we could and then hang there until the OK was given to let go!


    You can do the static..it is nothing. Stop being such a girl
  • Fab4Runner
    thavoice;1580374 wrote:Did you have to hang from the wing? That was the part where I was like....WTF. That bar from the base of the plane out to the wing....we had to grab ahold of that and slide out as far as we could and then hang there until the OK was given to let go!


    You can do the static..it is nothing. Stop being such a girl
    No hanging. We just jumped out the door and did a backflip. The lady who had the camera went out before us and she held on to the wing so she could get pics while we were in the door/jumping out.
  • thavoice
    Fab4Runner;1580376 wrote:No hanging. We just jumped out the door and did a backflip. The lady who had the camera went out before us and she held on to the wing so she could get pics while we were in the door/jumping out.
    So next time you can do the static.........

    My brother is HALO qualified and is trying to talk me into doing the free fall.....not so sure...
  • Midstate01
    Our driver was all chill too. He ate fruit will be ascended and then waited for us to jump. Are there fancy planes for skyjumping? Our plane they said was brand new and it was the exact same thing that fab referenced.
  • Midstate01
    Thinking about paying the extra 50 bucks to jump from 20k feet. Longer free fall and can see the whole island that way.
  • friendfromlowry
    I probably would never go just because of that chance the chute malfunctioned and wouldn't open.
  • thavoice
    Midstate01;1580394 wrote:Our driver was all chill too. He ate fruit will be ascended and then waited for us to jump. Are there fancy planes for skyjumping? Our plane they said was brand new and it was the exact same thing that fab referenced.
    No idea. They all had to be better than the one we jumped from. Seat looked like something from the junk yard they found and crammed it in there. I was actuallyh happy to jump out of that piece of shit!!

    Lowry there is a reserve chute to pull if the first doesnt work. I found it funny in the small print, that I didnt catch but a friend did, that states you get charged like 50 bucks if you dont keep ahold of the metal pull thing if you have to use the reserve chute.
  • Tiernan
    Did it a few times back in 70s with the old static line system. Went again last summer doing the tandem jump method. Love it every time I've done it.
  • Glory Days
    thavoice;1580399 wrote: Lowry there is a reserve chute to pull if the first doesnt work. I found it funny in the small print, that I didnt catch but a friend did, that states you get charged like 50 bucks if you dont keep ahold of the metal pull thing if you have to use the reserve chute.
    obviously that didn't work for this girl!

    I think I saw there are about 20-30 deaths per year skydiving.
  • hang_loose
    Fab4Runner;1580376 wrote:No hanging. We just jumped out the door and did a backflip. The lady who had the camera went out before us and she held on to the wing so she could get pics while we were in the door/jumping out.
    So, whats next on your "Bucket List":RpS_w00t:???