I had a wire strike last night...

[Gus937]

Last night, on my 113th jump, I had a wire strike. The canopy wrapped around the wire, hung there for a few seconds, then somehow unwrapped itself, reinflated itself, flew away from the object and I landed completely uninjured.

Troll 265 MDV, Gargoyle, 38 inch unvented zp pc, large mesh slider, indirect control only, 6 second delay.

This was a solo jump from a 1000 ft antenna with 3 sets of wires. The conditions were great, barely even 1 mph of wind at the top. I completely nailed the exit and got straight in to my track, I was having an absolute blast eyeballing the ground and watching the antenna lights go past. Life was sweet. I don't do many jumps from this kind of altitude so I took a fairly conservative delay and dumped at not much past 6 seconds. I dumped in full track but my body position felt sound, this was the technically most perfect jump I'd done in ages. The canopy opened hard and immediately spun 270 degress to the right, maybe a bit less (235?). My body was still facing forwards so there was now 3/4 of a twist in the lines. I kicked myself out of the twist and as I was coming around to face the direction of flight I grabbed a riser and tried to turn away but at that moment I hit the wire.
Judging by the state of my lines (they're now covered in grease :( ) I hit the wire about 2/3 or 3/4 the way up the lines. The canopy collapsed in to a bag of **** and suddenly everything stopped and I just hung there. I stared at the canopy, not really believing what I was seeing. I looked at the wire, it was too far away to grab. I stared at the canopy again. I decided I was stuck here and that I was going to have to phone the police. Then the canopy started to move and I changed my mind. Now I was going to slide all the way down the wire. If I was lucky I'd survive the impact with huge injuries and I can't really describe how little I wanted that to happen. Then, before I could really tell what had happened, I was back under an inflated canopy flying away from the object. I was in the wrong setor (ie I'd passed through the wires) but the canopy seemed to be flying ok and I even stood the landing up.
Once I'd landed I just sort of stood there, still not really believing what had just happened. My hands were shaking. I collected up the canopy and started walking out but was in such a state that I wasn't really paying any attention to where I was going and got a bit lost. When I eventually got back to the car (probably half an hour later) I called my BASE pappa and babbled down the phone for a bit. Thanks Craig! Then just sat there trying to calm down before driving home.

To say that I got lucky would be a major understatement. People have suffered far worse consequences from far less severe accidents. This is a good example of having done everything right (the packjob was good, the conditions were good, the jump was good) and still things can go very wrong.
When I landed, apart from being suprised at being alive I was really angry that I'd "let" the whole thing happen. I felt that I'd reacted really badly and that I should have been able to avoid the strike but now I don't really know - I don't have a clear memory of exactly what happened.

I'm resigned to the fact that I've trashed the lineset, they're covered in grease and in a right state. But even if I've trashed the whole canopy you won't find me complaining.

Gus

[Colm]

Last night, on my 113th jump, I had a wire strike. The canopy wrapped around the wire, hung there for a few seconds, then somehow unwrapped itself, reinflated itself, flew away from the object and I landed completely uninjured.


Holy cow man, let me be the first to say congrats on walking away. Do you think you will find any probable causes? And though you mentioned you were upset at yourself for not avoiding the situation, what specifically do you wish you had done?

Colm

[Gus937]

I'm not expecting to find an obvious cause. I will give everything a thorough examination tonight but I think this may get chalked up to the black death factor.


what specifically do you wish you had done?

I have this idea in my head that I could have turned the canopy away or stopped it on the risers before I kicked the twist out (ie whilst I was facing the opposite direction to the canopy). But my memory is all pretty confused. I also have a vauge memory of there still being a twist even when I'd turned my body to the canopy's direction of flight and just as I hit the wire. I don't know. I have no real concept of how long there was between opening and strike so it's difficult to analyse my reactions.

Gus

[Outrager]

This was a solo jump from a 1000 ft antenna with 3 sets of wires. The conditions were great, barely even 1 mph of wind at the top. I completely nailed the exit and got straight in to my track, I was having an absolute blast eyeballing the ground and watching the antenna lights go past. Life was sweet. I don't do many jumps from this kind of altitude so I took a fairly conservative delay and dumped at not much past 6 seconds.

I am really glad you are ok! :)

No-wind conditions are the most deceptive and the most dangerous for a tower jump - worse then the wind down the wire. In such conditions you must track well and pull low, ideally low enough to land before you hit an object. A conservative delay is actually the worst thing you can do here, short of no pull at all.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[Gus937]

Yuri I think you are probably right about that. I like to jump in nil winds because it's so calm up there, but in the event of a 180 you're much better off with enough of a tailwind to stop any forward movement towards the tower.

Gus

[unclecharlie109]

Glad you walked away m8 :)

Did you factor in cable position when you decided your delay?

At least it gives you a good "no sh1t, there I was..." story :p

J

[Gus937]

Did you factor in cable position when you decided your delay?

Not really but I've been thinking about it since. I noted where the cables were on the climb up but my choice of delay was more down to me being soft than anything else.

Gus

[DantheMan]

So, you get video or what?
That will be sure to make the carnage section of the next Team Crank video.

Dan-the-Man.

[Mac]

Whoa! glad you are ok mate............ that sucks! glad everything went well dude in the end.............

Can you humour me and meet for a beer / or call me and discuss the techie side with me once you got over the "oh phuqk" factor..............

[sabre210]

Gustopher

mate.....did you poop in your pants. Admit it man, not even a turtle's head?No one would think any less of you.

Glad you're okay.

Like Yuri said....tailwind good....fire bad.

love, kisses and a likkle cuddle

ian

[Raymond Losli]

Hey Gus.
How Ya Like that SHiiiiiiT ???? Staring @ the Antenna Wires or a Cliff-Face with line twists.
Been there a couple times, like I am sure a few others Have also.
What your Number-One priority after Altitude Awareness and PULL ???

You had a sweat delay with good body positioning and Wham !
You Got Line Twists.
A Tail Wind is an nice extra bonus to your Tower jump.- Not that Necessary.
Counting your Guy Wires on Free-Fall - Not That Necessary.

You can not every forget your No.# 1, Most Important priority after you pitch and get Canopy inflation.
Your - Canopy Heading - overrides every priority. That is Number one. # 1
The ONLY thing you should be concerned about is Your Heading.Getting a handle on Fixing the Canopy Malfunction, (line twists) That's comes after you point yourself in the Right Direction.

You need to reach-up or climb-up ABOVE the Twist and Pull a Rear Line Set.
Get a handle/control of the Canopy Heading. It will still Turn even with twists.
I have saved my Ass a couple of times by doing just that.

To much Kickin. Not enough Turning........ :D
Not Preaching / Just Fact.
.
.

[base695]

So Ray even with half a line twist you start steerin before kickin....I know it makes sense heading priority and all that but how hard it is with half a twist rather than a full one or more?

Its worth thinking about beforehand and having a plan...you gotta make a fast decision on the direction you are travelling and objects in your path with complication of travelling blind backwards and the disorientation of the twist thrown in.

Probably a drill worth trying on an easy jump/skydive

[Raymond Losli]

After I open and my Canopy is facing or I can see the object I just Jumped off of.
The first thing my brain tells me is. "Turn and Run Away"
I got a old snap-shot of my Canopy facing a Building on a slider-up, 180 off heading.
My hand and head are up doing a Riser/Heading correction.but my lower-torso (waist down to my feet) has not caught up to the situation yet. My feet look like they are still pointing away from building. Granted the opening was a fast/snap 180 deg. slider-up. but a good example of,... "don't think just Do."
Surprising how fast you can move when you are Really Scared.

In Skydiving that's the first thing you do after line twist on opening is Kick-Out.
It's a hard habit that you got to break. With a Jumper that has a lot of skydives that starts to BASE jump.
It's probably more engrained in a Brain-Muscle-Reflex, Habit that is going to be even harder to consciously over-ride when in a stress situation of line twists.
.
.

[Gus937]

To much Kickin. Not enough Turning........ :D

Agreed.

And pulling on a rear line set above twists is something I visualise before each jump...but when it came down to it I instinctively kicked the twist out first.

Gus

[ZegeunerLeben]

>>Holy Flurking Schnitt! Sounds like your canopy inflated as you started sliding down the guy wire. Man I hope you thanked god, allah, buddah, the great pumpkin and everyone else for that one. Glad you walked away from it bro. I bet next time you have twisties you'll be all over it!

[Nick_D]

Gus,

The way you wrote that reminded me of a section I used to run in the old Fixed Object Journal. Some of the previous BASE magazines had already been running accident reports but they took the form like you'd see in PARACHUTIST.

When those magazines included "their" conclusion on what the jumper did wrong it sometimes turned into a pissing match between editor and jumper, "You're a Bonehead!" followed by, "No, you're the Bonehead . . ."

I decided not to use accident reports in that form but rather only print reports from the jumpers directly involved. My partner said I'd never get any reports that way as the jumpers would have to admit their own mistakes, and what BASE jumper would do that?

Well, it didn’t turn out that way. One of the first reports I received is from the late Jonathan Bowlin, BASE 76, on behalf of a fellow he was jumping with, Leigh Brown. And it is very similar to your incident, except it had a slightly worse outcome. It was Thanksgiving Day, 1992 and it is called, "On the Wire"

(I'm going to paraphrase, as it's along piece).

Jonathan and another BASE jumper arrived and prepared to ascend a 1700-foot tower. The friend had sixty skydives and one previous bridge jump. [Don’t cringe that was the way of it back then]. They began to climb and at about five hundred feet it started to get windy and very cold and the friend announced he had decided against jumping. Jonathan continued climbing while his friend retreated down the ladder.

Nearing the 1500-foot mark Jonathan noticed something that made him stop short. Above him on the next platform a pair of legs are hanging over the side. He flashed on stories he'd heard of climbers coming upon dead frozen bodies and thought the same here until he noticed the legs are gently swaying in the wind.

Jonathan kept going until he came face to face with another jumper, Leigh Brown. Leigh isn’t alone; there are three other jumpers with him. They all shook hands and exchanged greetings in the cold wind. While not good friends Jonathan had met Leigh years earlier while each is jumping in Yosemite. The winds, they all notice, are now blowing straight down a wire. But the long cold climb back down the 1500-foot ladder is also weighing on their minds.

They continued to climb and stopped a respectful few hundred feet from the radiating stinger at the very top. The winds at this point are increasingly strong and still blowing down the wire. They didn’t discuss climbing down but Jonathan knows the wind is on everyone's mind. They decided the wind is more favorable on the southwest side. Here the wind is blowing right to left.

One at a time the first two jumpers in Leigh's group launch from the structure, track hard, and open safely. They both landed into the wind in the middle of the big field. Then Leigh and another jumper wearing a video camera got set for a two way. The air was intense with anticipation.

They both launched with Leigh slightly ahead of the cameraman. Looking over the edge Jonathan said he watched their freefall with fascination. Leigh's track isn't as far as his partner as he initially launched very head high and took a bit of time to get going. They staggered the deployments by about a second, and Leigh opened with a forty five to the right. The cameraman turned into the wind and flew off, while Leigh didn't seem to be controlling his canopy at all. He was crabbing closer and closer to danger.

Within six seconds of opening his chest struck the guy wire with crushing force. Jonathan didn’t realize it yet, but Leigh had just broke five ribs and punctured some vital organs. From the top the canopy appeared to hit the wire, deflate, come off the wire and re-inflate. Then the canopy crabbed back into the wire. This time it wrapped and for a long agonizing few seconds just hung there. Leigh hangs helpless under the collapsed canopy, and Jonathan says that moment is etched into this memory.

Then it got worse. The parachute began sliding down the cable. For 500-feet the guy wire is sawing through the fabric and lines until 300-feet where it came free and Leigh fell the rest of the way under a streamer.

In a miracle that is almost incomprehensible Leigh hit a four foot wide irrigation ditch filled with a couple of feet of water. From 1700-feet above, Jonathan said his unlikely splash into the water seemed comparable to making a moon shot with a Frisbee. Jonathan jumped and landed and all the jumpes went to Leigh's aid.

They asked, "Leigh, what happened man?" And Leigh says, "I thought I had it . . ." Meaning he thought he had it under control.

While all this is going on the jumper who initially decided to climb down changed his mind and climbed to the thousand foot level. He had missed Leigh's jump and its aftermath. He decided to launch into the wind which is blowing right to left on the side he picked. He stepped off sideways to the tower, did a three second delay, had a 90 right and just missed hitting structure, but he landed okay.

Jonathan goes on to remark on all that went wrong on this load and I wrote to thank him for being so forthright. He had set the tone for these kinds of reports and soon others followed. A year later Jonathan is killed BASE jumping.

Sometime later I received a letter from Leigh Brown who said thanks for publishing Jonathan's report as the accident was all still a big blank to him. He also said he had healed up and had returned to BASE jumping.

So thanks Gus, its articles like yours that spreads the word . . .

NickD :)
BASE 194

[Mac]

In Skydiving that's the first thing you do after line twist on opening is Kick-Out.
It's a hard habit that you got to break. With a Jumper that has a lot of skydives that starts to BASE jump.
It's probably more engrained in a Brain-Muscle-Reflex, Habit that is going to be even harder to consciously over-ride when in a stress situation of line twists.

This clicked with me reading this and gave me a couple of questions. I have had several low altitude jumps where I have had any thing from half twist to 2 twists.

1) Half twist on 225ft freefall - on heading opening - kicked out twist
2) 3/4 twist on 225ft freefall - on heading opening (less than 90deg) - kicked out twist
3) 1 twist on 225ft freefall - 140 deg off heading - kicked out twist and narrowly missed the base of the structure
4) 2 twists on 315ft freefall in fog - luckily on heading - kicked out twists not knowing what direction I was flying as could not see the tower or wires.

Now I have had several off headings without twists where I am flying toward wires or the structure and my first "non thought" instinct is to correct the heading, the one time I have been flying toward the structure with twists my first reaction was to kick out the twists.

As with gus's reaction it seems that the skydiver in us still resides and your first instinct on seeing twists is to kick them out with heading as secondary, this is a scary concept.

Just curious on others experiences in heading v twists and what your first "non thinking" reaction was to your situation.

The dirty skydiving training must be undone from my mind............ I feel wrong and violated with it in my head! :D

[QuickDraw]

**** dude.. been busy for a couple of days.

Glad your ok too mate, that must have been ****ing trippy to say the least. :eek: