I fixed the RSL of a guy in the loading area and he had a cutaway 15 minutes later
I have had the opportunity to travel the world skydiving for the last 18 years. Most of my skydiving experience has been with the US Army Parachute Team Golden Knights. Our ‘SOP’ (Standard Operating Procedure) was a gear check prior to getting out of the aircraft…
Gear Checks – SOP
Even though I am out of the Army, the gear check is still part of my SOP. When I first left the Army and teamed up with Paraclete XP4, we were climbing to attitude and the legendary Kirk Verner checked my pin at 6,000 feet. Everything was right in the world and nothing had changed during my transition to the civilian skydiving world.
Found on the Flightline
In just one year I found two completely misrouted chest straps, which totally missed the friction adapter), 2 un-cocked pilot chutes and 2 misrouted RSLs. I fixed the RSL of a guy in the loading area and he had a cutaway 15 minutes later. Guess who bought beer?
The chest strap and un-cocked pilot chutes were jumper’s complacency, which will get you killed. Misrouted RSLs could be a lack of understanding, but I will go ahead and use complacency. So all in all here are six jumpers; two that had the potential to fall out of their rigs, two that had the potential to tow a pilot chute and two that could find it impossible to separate from a malfunctioning main.
It is easy to forget how deadly our sport is!
Be Alert
In case you don’t keep tabs on skydiving incidents, we are losing friends around the world on weekly basis. When I am standing in the loading area, I naturally find myself scanning everyone’s gear. I am looking for chest straps, RSLs and pilot chutes tucked in the spandex pockets. I look at my pins and pilot chute when I pick my rig up from the packers, as it is my responsibility to make sure that it is correct – and ultimately my life on the line. I always have someone take a look at my main pin before I leave the aircraft.
I don’t want to be too longwinded, so I will wrap it up now. Check your gear, check your friends’ gear and check the young jumper’s gear that is getting out solo. We can all do a better job of looking out for each other!
Photos of gear horrors in the loading area (all real mistakes) by Radosnat Worczosc
BASE gear horror story below by Jimmy Pouchinotti (it all ended well)…
