{"id":16334,"date":"2013-10-17T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=16334"},"modified":"2013-10-17T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T23:00:00","slug":"2013-10-18-20130920-preventing-death-the-august-attrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2013-10-18-20130920-preventing-death-the-august-attrition\/","title":{"rendered":"Preventing Death \u2013 The August Attrition"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

5 wingsuit pilots died in a 7 day period in August 2013. I call it the August Attrition. It\u2019s a phenomenal number. What\u2019s worse is that they were all experienced BASE jumpers and competent wingsuit pilots. They were current and good at what they did. They weren\u2019t the cowboy jumpers that didn\u2019t have the skills and shouldn\u2019t have been there. Yet they paid the ultimate price for living their dreams and achieving human flight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What are we doing wrong?<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

By my count that\u2019s 18 BASE jumpers that have died this year. In 2012 there was a total of 21 \u2013 I already think that that\u2019s too high yet we\u2019re on target to exceed that figure this year. In August 2012 there were 3 BASE fatalities worldwide yet in August 2013 there are 5 in 7 days. There were more fatalities in August after these 5 and there have been other experienced jumpers that have suffered some serious injuries. What are we, the BASE jumping and wingsuit community, doing? Certainly, we\u2019re doing something wrong.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I only knew 2 of those that died personally. The first was Mark Sutton, the James Bond stunt double. I\u2019d only messaged with him about his flights in Brevent, Chamonix a few days before. He\u2019d been flying some pretty hardcore lines with success. He was current and competent and a hugely down-to-earth and fantastic guy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I also knew Mario Richard, a Canadian that lived in the US. He was one of my BASE jumping instructors and I remember in detail as my legs shook when I turned up to Vertigo, in Florida, for my ground school with him. He quickly whipped us into shape and helped me get to where I am today. We were emailing earlier this year about working on a project together but had yet to put the details in place.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In wingsuit BASE jumping, pushing the limits too far in a non-permissive, non-forgiving environment with no outs often results in fatal consequences. Aggressive lines can still be flown well but, when some of the best have now checked out for good, we need to understand the risk in detail and mitigate it accordingly.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Factors<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

I love to fly my wingsuit in the mountains. I have found nothing more fulfilling or providing more freedom. Despite this increase in fatality rate I have a plan:Below are some of the factors that may have contributed to the deaths.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Currency<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

While I believe this wasn\u2019t a factor in the August Attrition, currency is paramount. I plan to take steps to remain current, visualise during my down time and progressively increase the technicality of my jumps, particularly when I\u2019m not 100% current. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Complacency<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

With experience comes complacency. I have so much more yet to learn and I plan to remember that. I will endeavour not to become complacent and respect the environment that I am in. These incidents happened late in the season and perhaps complacency or over-confidence became an issue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weather<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

I believe that skydivers and BASE jumpers, in general, do not understand the weather enough. Do you know about anabatic winds and the lift they can provide, the high density air of the katabatic winds that can provide sink or the local meteorological knowledge that no visitor will truly be able to assess immediately on their own? With more than one fatality in the afternoon I do wonder if katabatic sink was a factor. I plan to lean more about the weather and how it will affect more flights \u2013 fore warned is fore armed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fatigue<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Without realising it fatigue can add up over a few jumps and we weaken, our reactions and senses slow and we can be unable to perform at our peak. When smooth yet fast and powerful reactions are necessary we have to operate at our best. I plan to stay fit and provide extra focus on my energy levels. If I\u2019m not feeling perfect I will not attack an aggressive line.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cameras<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

I bet that over half of the people that died in August were wearing a camera. Focussing on the camera work, even just a touch, utilises brain power that could be used elsewhere for processing other information. My plan is to film only when I am completely comfortable. If I wear a camera at other times then it will only be \u2018along for the ride\u2019 and not a focus of the jump at all. I will need to monitor this situation closely as it can be too easy to get sucked in to the camera work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wingsuit human flight in the mountainous environment is completely survivable, even with some of the more aggressive lines. I plan to conduct it in a repeatable form and reduce the risks to an acceptable level. I\u2019ve taken a step back, I\u2019ve assessed what I need to do and I plan to treat it with more respect than perhaps I had been doing. I know some others are following a similar strategy and I hope many more will follow. To Mark, Mario and all the other pilots that now fly for eternity, our flight paths will cross again but, I trust and plan, not for some time. <\/p>\n

\"Kuala<\/p>\n

How expert are we?<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

Experienced jumpers are dying. These guys are adventurers that have been around for a while and yet they are meeting their match without seeing it coming. Something is seriously wrong. It makes me wonder \u2013 how expert are we? Many of these deaths have been while individuals are wingsuit proximity flying. The question is, how expert were they and how expert are the rest of us?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know all of the people that were involved in fatal incidents and I don\u2019t know all of the details so I am reluctant to generalise. But I do wonder how expert everyone was. Some may have been expert wingsuit flyers. Others may have been expert BASE jumpers. But how many were expert wingsuit proximity flyers? I\u2019m afraid that I have to wonder if any really, truly were. And if they were, what sort of wingsuit proximity flights were they experts at? Were they experts at vertical wall proximity flying or at low passes over a horizontal object? Is their expertise in steep terrain but they then flew shallower lines? When you have no \u2018outs\u2019 and the penalty for making a minor mistake or error of judgement is fatal, how much of an expert are you?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ask Espen<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been discussing this with someone that I would consider an expert in wingsuit proximity flying, Espen Fadnes. He\u2019s flown some amazing lines and spends hours carefully calculating it. He makes it look easy because he\u2019s so good and has put so much background work into it. He understands the risks and undertakes mitigation strategies to minimise them to an acceptable level. Espen has spent years in the mountains \u2013 he lives there. He undertakes this unforgiving activity on a regular basis and remains current. He builds up to the jumps. Yet, aspiring amateurs see the likes of Espen, his team mates Jokke Sommer and Ludo Woerth, and a few others and think they can perform at this level. A number of us believe that, because we have associated skill sets, we can cut corners and get there quicker, that we are experts in other fields and that the skill sets translate. In Espen’s words, “They are like the skiing instructors that claim they can ski down a steep face in Alaska safely. The small wave surfer that believes they can handle Mavericks just because they have years of experience from Mandy Beach. It doesn\u2019t add up.”<\/em> <\/p>\n

A film about wingsuit flying, philosophy and freedom<\/a><\/p>\n

I have over 7,000 skydives and a multitude of National medals but flying the lines that Espen and his team mates take is not for me. I\u2019m confident with vertical wall proximity flying \u2013 I have so many more outs and I\u2019ve done it a lot. But horizontal terrain flying is not where I\u2019m at right now \u2013 I\u2019m simply not current enough with it. I\u2019m not an expert in this area and any that I do undertake will be done with extreme caution. It doesn\u2019t matter how many BASE jumps you have, how many hours you have flying a wingsuit, how many skydives you have, whether you are an AFF or a Tandem Instructor, how many world medals you have or how precisely you can fly a canopy, it doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019re a wingsuit proximity flight expert.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BASE jumping isn\u2019t for everyone and nor is wingsuit BASE jumping. Wingsuit proximity flying is for an even more select few, especially when choosing unforgiving terrain. It wasn\u2019t that long ago that wingsuit BASE jumping was about flying as far away from the terrain as possible, not flying as close to it as we can.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

How non-Expert are we?<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reading this and considering how much you know about a subject then, I\u2019m afraid, you\u2019ve missed my point. My aim is to alter that mindset. It\u2019s not about how much you know; it\u2019s about how much you don\u2019t know and having the realisation and understanding of it. Once you start considering in terms of how little you know you are starting from the right place and you\u2019re more likely to make the correct, life-saving judgements.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

Before you put your gear on and make that next wingsuit proximity jump, just take a deep breath and ask yourself how much you know about what you\u2019re about to do.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Good luck,
\nAlastair Macartney<\/p>\n

Coverage of the BFBS Interview with Jump4Heroes just prior to deployment to Afghanistan discussing their recent Italy wingsuit proximity BASE jumping expedition.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5 wingsuit pilots died in a 7 day period in August 2013. I call it the August Attrition. It\u2019s a phenomenal number. What\u2019s worse is that they were all experienced BASE jumpers and competent wingsuit pilots. They were current and good at what they did. They weren\u2019t the cowboy jumpers that didn\u2019t have the skills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPreventing Death \u2013 The August Attrition - Skydivemag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2013-10-18-20130920-preventing-death-the-august-attrition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preventing Death \u2013 The August Attrition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"5 wingsuit pilots died in a 7 day period in August 2013. 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What\u2019s worse is that they were all experienced BASE jumpers and competent wingsuit pilots. They were current and good at what they did. 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She is a multiple world and national record holder and a coach on 20 successful record events worldwide. She has over 100 competition medals spanning more than 25 years and has been on the British 8-way National team at World events. She started Skydive Mag to spread knowledge, information and passion about our amazing sport. Lesley is delighted to be sponsored by Performance Designs, Sun Path, Cypres, Cookie, Symbiosis suits and Larsen & Brusgaard","sameAs":["http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lesley.gale.942","https:\/\/x.com\/skydivemag"],"url":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/author\/lesley\/"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"homepage-slider":false,"single-post-picker":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Lesley Gale","author_link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/author\/lesley\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"5 wingsuit pilots died in a 7 day period in August 2013. I call it the August Attrition. It\u2019s a phenomenal number. What\u2019s worse is that they were all experienced BASE jumpers and competent wingsuit pilots. They were current and good at what they did. They weren\u2019t the cowboy jumpers that didn\u2019t have the skills…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}