How to avoid the most common causes

Every year I receive hundreds of incident reports from the BPA and the confidential reporting system, resulting in reserve rides, hospital visits and occasionally a fatality.

Ask yourself one question, can the chances of becoming one of these statistics be reduced ?

The answer is YES

We have so many ways of preventing repetitive problems so why do the same incidents keep repeating them selves?

Its never just one reason but a whole chain of events, by removing a single link in that chain, repetitive incidents can be prevented. Each of the following categories can be classed as a single link in the chain of events. Get all of those right and you have a good chance of not becoming one of the statistics. Get one of them wrong and you increase your chances of having an incident

Choosing the Right Equipment
Assembly
Repair and Maintenance
Packing
BPA Systems
Survival Skills

Choosing the Right Equipment

Choosing the right size and type of parachute for your weight and experience is the first stage in preventing those hundreds of trips to the hospital that have happened over the past few years.

This is easier said than done as all 4 points have to be considered equally and this can get confusing.
Type
Size
Experience
Weight
Currency

The best advice here is talk to as many instructors, riggers, dealers and manufacturer's as possible because buying wisely will keep you with a good safety margin, ready for those mistakes that will be made, as no one is 100% all the time. Whilst making sure it will last you for that first 500 jumps without getting bored with the canopy. Don’t go to small to soon. For the very experienced skydivers consider how often you jump before you go for the smallest, fastest and most unforgiving canopy

As well as the main parachute, its also very important that the container is suitable for the type of skydiving that you intend doing and being prepared for a change in discipline. The sport has changed so fast and the equipment has changed to keep pace with it however not all containers are suitable for all disciplines.

Choose the reserve that will keep you safe when you need it most, for example, if you end up on a reserve other factors could also develop and finding yourself over obstacles with very little landing area whilst on a very fast, small reserve will not keep you safe.When listening to all the advice that every one will gladly give you, it can get even more confusing so don¹t forget to ask the reason behind the advise your getting, I.e. are they biased to a particle canopy or container because they get financial incentives. Have they the experience on many different types of systems to be able to give advice for your requirements, do they give advice and get feed back on a regular basis and finally have they got your best interest at heart? Good luck because this is probably the hardest decision you will ever have to make.

Assembly

Many mistakes have been put down to the person assembling your system and packing the reserve ready for service, which is something beyond the control of most skydivers, or is it? Don¹t be led into believing that all qualified packers and riggers are equal, for example one reserve packer may have spent the past 10 years packing only a couple of types of rigs and has had no experience on your system. You could find a rigger who has spent the past few years just repairing equipment and not packing any reserves.

Training, experience and knowledge is the key here. A newly qualified reserve packer or rigger can be better qualified than an experienced reserve packer or rigger or vice versa so how do you decide who to trust with your life? The answer is simple, don¹t trust just anyone without getting to know them, find out how well trained they are, how experienced they are, are they current and knowledgeable about your system.

What reputation have they got, are they very safety conscious, are they working in a controlled safe environment, have they a thirst for knowledge and keen to keep up to date with the latest safety information

You can make a difference by doing your own research, make sure you are completely happy with your choice of packer or rigger and it¹s a well thought out decision. Remember as packers and riggers have to justify themselves the standards will stay high and you will be safer in their hands.

Repair and Maintenance

This category is very similar to the assembly in the way that the same research can be done to choose the right rigger that will keep you safe. The main aim when looking at maintenance is that you should take the advice of a rigger and spend a little extra on changing that Velcro, line or pilot chute before it becomes a problem, preventative maintenance is the best method of avoiding an incident.

Have regular inspections on your own kit and if you have the slightest bit of concern don¹t hesitate to get advice. When your rig is due for a reserve repack ask for a main canopy inspection if you think it needs it, get the lines checked as the main parachute is not part of the reserve inspection procedure.

Tell your rigger if you have had any problems no matter how trivial you think they are, get to know what safety notices have been published reference your equipment and was it mandatory or advisable so you can decide, or at least discuss the options and possible consequences
Broken lines, premature toggle release, pilot chute hesitation, line slump, incompatible components etc can all be prevented by having a keen eye and keep questioning the serviceability

Packing

Packing has become an art and there are many ways to achieve the same results however far to many reserve rides are down to poor packing so even though most people are fairly happy with their pack jobs the incident reports would disagree.

Its always very difficult to self criticize your own pack jobs, after all they have worked very well for probably hundreds of jumps so why revisit an old skill. My thoughts are that after a short period of successful pack jobs it becomes very easy to be complacent, resulting in a skill never having been mastered, this is especially true when a change of canopy has taken place as new packing techniques have to be learnt

Imagine being part of a weekend four way team having a great time for years and suddenly you all get a coach and learn tricks you have never heard of before, well its an obvious conclusion that you suddenly get better and the same can be said for packing skills

Tips can be demonstrated to prevent the following types of malfunctions: Line over, Bag lock, Twists, Line slump, off heading openings, Hard openings etc. Keep watching and asking why so many skydivers pack so differently however only take the advice that is relevant to your system

The last part of packing that can be overlooked is being familiar with your container and especially the deployment system. If you move to a pin pull system get to know how it can malfunction when packed badly, if you have a kill line system, can you be sure its cocked and the biggest most common mistake, is the bridle line correctly routed

BPA Systems

Over many years the BPA have adopted a few systems that are vital in preventing previous incidents from recurring, these systems have been developed by experience and have proven their worth when used correctly.

We’ve all heard the stories of how the flight line check stopped some one from jumping and prevented an incident about to happen, or a keen eye has spotted something while in the aircraft stopping someone from jumping with a problem

It’s a fact that no one likes having to work to a set of rules, this probably stems from childhood as it was never fair when it was bed time or that you couldn’t go out and play in the rain, why not you cry. Well I have still never worked out the answer to those questions. However I do believe the law has developed for the majority but its also true that many people dislike parts of it, especially after getting caught speeding. So rules are a part of life, and if we need to keep the majority of skydivers safe we need to develop sensible rules

Some of the rules that prevent you getting in an aircraft with unsafe kit are as follows, first is choosing the right packer or rigger who has had to abide by many safety rules to ensure you are kept safe

Then it’s the kit inspection that all drop zones have to do annually. This is in most cases the second inspection that can pick up some of the problems and is well worth doing just for peace of mind as its usually done by a person independent to the reserve packer.

Thirdly the flight line check can be the last check that you will receive before jumping. As long as a conscientious skydiver does this check with the aim of looking for any faults, rather than just going through the motion then its well worth it

Next time you get checked, remember it’s in your own interest to have this done well, so if you find you have been missed ask a friend to check you out it could prove well worth the effort.

Survival Skills

This section can be put down to Loss of altitude awareness, by not being able to pull, or not finding your pilot chute, poor emergency drills and awareness under canopy

Loss of altitude awareness has caused quite a few reserve rides with skydivers pulling very low or in many reports the Cypres deploying the reserve. This is true for experience jumpers working hard on a four way team as well as a student trying hard to pass an AFF level or category system jump.

I have always believed in using the altimeter as the first option of altitude awareness with regular checks during the skydive, and using an audible altimeter as a back up to remind you when you get it wrong. If you rely on just the audible altimeter as many professional competition teams have too, then make sure you have the best for the team and you all have them and jointly agree that every one is responsible for altitude awareness

Not being able to find or deploy the pilot chute is also a very popular incident and one that can be reduced by more ground practice. This needs to be a very natural skill and the best that can be done as well as plenty of practice is to keep locating your pilot chute to build up the muscle memory and always check it prior to exit

A good deployment is very important so if you have had a pilot chute hesitation at any time, consider whether it was due to a lazy pull instead of a good throwaway

Having good reserve drills can count for a lot when suddenly faced with having to cutaway, practice this survival skill on a regular basis, when your reserve is due a repack put it on and deploy the reserve for real as if you needed it