MartinW 0 Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 A Red Devil parachutist had a lucky escape when his chute failed to open during an airshow - but a team-mate caught him in mid-air. The Army freefall parachute display team was performing at the Whitehaven Air Show in Cumbria on Friday night when the parachute failed. Pictures on social media show the men coming down together and crashing into the harbour waters. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-33209713 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLHc2OwGiA Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Don't they have reserve chutes? I was under the impression that's a pretty standard safety measure. John Link to post Share on other sites
MartinW 0 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 That occurred to me too John.Perhaps he hadn't enough altitude to cut away the main chute and deploy the reserve?http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/skydiving5.htm Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 The pros always open the main chute with enough height to preserve that option, so far as I know. Seems crazy not to. A close relative is just coming off a 4-year assignment as an instructor and coach to a large jumping organization that included a competitive collegiate jump team. The program ran approximately 40 hours per week, WX permitting. He told me that they experienced a "reserve ride", i.e. someone needing to use the reserve chute, about once every three weeks. It's apparently not all that uncommon. The most common cause is deploying the main chute when not in "stable" free fall, e.g tumbling, yawing, wrong orientation, etc. He said it was RARELY a problem with the chute itself or the packing of it. John Link to post Share on other sites
MartinW 0 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 According to the Army..."The Red Devils, the British Army’s parachute display team since 1963, says it’s the first time in 25 years that a parachute has failed to open properly. The team carries out over 60 displays every year."“We can confirm that the Red Devil parachutists are both safe and sound. For the first time in 25 years they had a parachute fail,” a message posted on the show’s Facebook page said." Link to post Share on other sites
MartinW 0 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 I'm beginning to suspect that it may have been his team mate that got tangled in his chute. Unless of course it simply folded on it's own, without interference. Hence the low altitude and lack of reserve deployment.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132425/Red-Devils-parachutist-CAUGHT-mid-air-chute-failed-open.html They were preforming a "stack", one jumper directly under another. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,013 Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 From what I saw on the news report, both chutes were deployed prior to the collision and it was just a unfortunate accident. Thankfully they both landed in water safely. Apart from a show gone wrong, no harm done. Onwards and upwards. Link to post Share on other sites
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