Riggers and reserve packers are taught to assemble equipment safely. If these rules are followed we would never have any assembly incidents. However, any skydiver can assemble equipment and some times this can be a case of a little knowledge is a bad thing. Don't be afraid of assembling equipment, but always get it checked before use and always inspect the rigging in a flying configuration by using a canopy hoist.
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Home - Safety System - Equipment - Maintenance
Main Packing - Reserve Packing - Rigging - Training - Tandem
A Chaser container manufactured for a Foil main canopy had a Sprint main canopy installed. The deployment bag was the original type made for a Foil with a large grommet (size 8 ) in the base of the deployment bag, The Sprint main canopy was way to small for the container and most of the components were not compatible with each other for many different reasons.
The rigger who was asked to check the system pointed out the problems so the complete rig was not put into service. In the best scenario the main canopy could have been pulled through the grommet in the deployment bag causing some damage, in the worst scenario this could have resulted in a reserve ride because of the compatibility issues.
The system worked in this case and the equipment in question had not been assembled, however this is a lesson for all those who assemble equipment, let’s not forget that even though components look similar the small differences can make a big difference. It’s not just riggers who assemble equipment and this could have been missed.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
I have had 2 reports of main risers incorrectly assembled that resulted in crossed risers on deployment, in both cases the jumpers had to cut away and deploy their reserves.
At first I would have said that the above risers must have been assembled on to the containers without having a line sequence check prior to packing, however one was a category 8 jumper who had the line sequence checked by an experienced AFF Instructor, so in theory this shouldn't be true.
When assembling equipment it’s vitally important to be thorough and take your time when performing such a simple task. Always hang the canopy to see the line sequence in a flying configuration before approving it for use. The word complaisant springs to mind yet again.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
2 reports of Racer containers fitted with PDF reverse risers have been reported by the Australian Parachute Federation. This is very worrying for the following reasons: firstly the reverse risers were designed for the Atom container which has a high mounted large riser ring and secondly they were installed on a Racer container which had a low mounted large riser ring.
The persons investigating these found that the risers could not be released unless the canopy was at least over head, which is not always the case when confronted with a radical main canopy malfunction.
This is another case of incompatible equipment, Beware incompatible components can kill.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
During a flight line check, the checker noticed that a rig had it's 3 ring system incorrectly routed. The small ring was not being used at all and the loop was going over the middle ring. This could prevent the risers from releasing if a cutaway was required or cause the loop to break due to excessive load causing a malfunction.
Conclusions
When questioned the owner said it had just had a reserve repack and that's how he got it. When the reserve packer was questioned, he said he never assembled the main because it was not present during the reserve inspection and repack. The owner then said his packer may have assembled it but the packer said he got it already assembled. Basically, no one owned up to incorrectly assembling the risers. What was also worrying was that the flight line checker said the 3 ring is incorrectly assembled yet the owner and other jumpers disagreed and said it was ok until it was pointed out in detail what was wrong. This incident had been repeated many time in the past and it would seem that we see what we expect to see.
Recommendations
The flight line checker did a good job of picking this up before it became a problem. He didn't just look at the 3 rings he followed the correct routing of large ring, middle ring, small ring and piece of string so the problem became obvious. Always do a proper assembly inspection when checking the 3 ring system, if you don't know how to do this don't do a flight line check. The reserve packer failed to do his job properly because part of the inspection process includes inspecting the risers, deployment bag and pilot chute, yet he admitted that these were not present during the reserve inspection and repack.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
I received a report of a skydiver having two malfunctions on the same day with the same equipment. He was a cameraman who managed to capture both malfunctions on video after filming his tandems. On the first one his slider failed to come down past the cascaded lines. He had his reserve repacked and his main re-attached so he could jump again that day and his second malfunction was an exact repeat of his first with his slider failing to come down past the cascaded lines.
Conclusions
The cameraman attributed the first malfunction as a line knot which stopped his slider from coming down. He found a rigger who did a reserve repack for him but never connected the main to the container. The cameraman re-attached the main parachute and did a new repack. It was only after the second malfunction that the main canopy was hung up on a canopy hoist for an inspection. It soon became obvious why he had two malfunctions; his slider was not installed correctly and would not come down past his cascaded lines. It turns out that the cameraman had just installed a new slider so his canopy opens slower and he had failed to do a line sequence check after installation.
Recommendations
Any time a main is disconnected, it has to be hung in a flying configuration so a full line sequence check can be carried out prior to packing. It's also very bad practice to pack a main parachute without doing a six line check; if the cameraman had done this out of habit he would not have had a malfunction as it was obvious that there was a problem. The reserve packer should have hung the canopy for inspection and installed it prior to giving it back to the customer. If this is not possible then the reserve packer should make sure that it's the jumpers responsibility to do a full line sequence check after attaching the canopy. Don't be afraid to assemble your equipment but never pack it for use without getting it checked first. As a professional rigger who has packed thousands of reserves, I still get a second person to double check the assembly and if this is not possible I walk away, take a break and come back and do a separate assembly check. I've also insisted that every rigger who has worked for me do the same. The assembly of any parachute system is probably the most important job that had to be done.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
The BPA issued a safety notice saying that RSL's could not be used with mini risers that were not reinforced due to incidents where the risers have broken and the RSL deployed the reserve while the other riser was still connected. One jumper who turned up for a flight line check was told this so disconnected his RSL and he thought that it would be ok. A few months later he took his rig in for an inspection and reserve repack. The rigger told him to put the equipment on and carry out his reserve drills which he did. After cutting away and deploying his reserve in his normal way he was surprised to realise that the reserve was still closed, it had not deployed. The rigger told him that he had better do something soon otherwise he's going to hit the ground and die. He responded by saying "what, I've pulled it" the rigger responded by saying "well, you obviously haven't, it's still in the reserve container because the pin has not been pulled. After a period of time when his life would have definitely been over, he grasped his reserve housing in one hand and grasped the reserve handle in the other hand and pulled them apart to deploy the reserve.
Conclusions
The RSL in question was installed on a pop top container and for the RSL to do it's job it had to pull the reserve housing from the container. When the jumper carried out has reserve drills he pulled the reserve handle which pulled the reserve cable housing away from the container instead of pulling the reserve pin. What the owner didn't realise and what all the flight line checkers didn't realise is that this type of RSL system needs the reserve handle housing stitched in place when it hasn't got an RSL but needs it removable when it does have an RSL. The jumpers reserve drills meant he pushed both of his hands in front of him during his reserve drills, the cutaway worked because the cutaway housing stayed in place but the reserve housing came away and moved with the reserve handle in front of the jumper. If the jumper had pulled both his cutaway handle downwards towards his feet instead of forwards in front of his chest it would have worked and deployed the reserve.
Recommendations
Get to know your equipment and how it functions, especially, if it has a system that is different to what you're used to.This jumper had his reserve handle housing stitched in place so he could still use his rig without an RSL and he also changed his reserve drills and practiced them a lot to overcome his previous drills that were imbedded into his memory due to twenty years as a skydiver. Flight line checkers must learn about the equipment they are checking and it's limitations and possible problems.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
A small weekend parachute centre took all of it's student rigs to a rigging workshop for a reserve inspection and repack. The rigger pulled the reserve handle on the first one and the flaps of the reserve tray moved but only slightly. The pilot chute did not exit the container. After a bit of assistance the pilot chute pushed it's way through the flaps so the spring extended but it did not clear the container. Every student rig failed to deploy in the same manner and if they were needed it would have been a guaranteed fatality.
Conclusions
The rigs were manufactured without an AAD installation. A rigger modified the rigs to accept the FXC AAD's but he did not follow the manufacturers installation instructions.
Recommendations
Before modifying or updating any part of a system always consult the manufacturer and followed their recommendations. If the manufacturer doesn't have a recommendation then the rigger must test his modification before putting it into service.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
After a reserve inspection and repack a jumper did three skydives but when walking back from the third landing her riser released on the left side but the cutaway cable was still in place.
Conclusions
After an inspection it was concluded that the nylon riser locking loop had not been passed through the eye of the cutaway housing. This allowed the yellow cable to hold the locking loop in place during flight but when the jumper picked up her equipment it moved away from the riser because the locking loop wasn't holding it in place and cutaway that riser. The other side was routed exactly the same way and this is the only reason why this mystery was solved. The person assembling the equipment made the same error on two risers but denied this. The rig was also inspected prior to it being tagged and it was also missed. The inspecting person said he never looked at the back of the risers. The flight line checkers all admitted not looking at the back of the risers so they couldn't confirm what happened. Basically, one person made the mistake but others missed spotting this during their inspections which includes the owner who should have done a pre jump inspection.
Recommendations
The systems that have been put in place by the BPA have been established to prevent this type of problem from happening, but those checking the equipment failed in their duties. This incident could have been much worse so it was lucky that it was accidentally found, when it didn't cause a problem. Get to know your own system and always do a thorough kit check before jumping starts. Those checking other jumpers equipment must take the role seriously and do a thorough inspection, if you're not sure ask.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
During a routine kit inspection prior to having it tagged and cleared for use; the inspecting rigger noticed that the RSL was incorrectly routed and would not have worked. In fact during a cutaway the RSL would prevent the canopy from releasing and it would not have deployed the reserve as designed. The container in question was a Racer Elite which has the RSL attached to both risers.
Conclusions
The rigger who packed this reserve was not familiar with the RSL system. he'd packed the RSL cable under the pop top instead of above it. This means that a cutaway main canopy would be trapped by the pilot chute causing the main to stream behind the skydiver until the reserve had been pulled. It also means that the drag from the main canopy would be pulling on the poptop reserve closing loops making it difficult to deploy.
Recommendations
It's a fact that many people ignore manuals until they need to look for something. A parachute, however, is not a video recorder, it's a life saving device and anyone working on or even owning a parachute must read the user manuals. If the reserve packer had read the manual he would have known that he should not attach the RSL until after the reserve had been packed. If the manual had been followed then this incident would not have happened. In the UK it is mandatory that anyone packing a reserve must have the manuals to hand. This rig had been used on other drop zones and this problem had not been picked up by the pre-jump inspection or by the flight line checkers. It's something to look for. The owner should also be aware of this potential problem so every time his reserve gets packed, he can do a double check. Get to know your own equipment and what could go wrong so you can help to prevent it.
This report was written by Allan Hewitt
After nearly a year of use , a jumper decided to query a problem with the main at the next reserve repack. He asked the rigger to see if he could see anything wrong with the canopy, as it had always been very hard to pack. There did not appear to be anything wrong with it’s performance. The rigger instantly saw the problem. One ‘C’ line was a ‘staggering’ 27” longer than the others. On another occasion the lines attached to the canopy had no stitching on them and over a period of time the lines gradually became longer as they slipped out of the finger trapping causing the canopy to have a bad line trim.
The first canopy must have been very strange to pack, and would almost certainly have flown with one line trailing slack all the time. The second report was a company test canopy which was not inspected and cleared to be used, It's remarkable that these incidents did not become malfunction reports, and the question which begs to be answered is, who rigged these canopies up in the first place?
When assembling a set of kit remember that the inspection is just as important as the correct assembly, this does not just mean just attaching the canopy to risers and saying it's good to go. When you first inspect a canopy inspect it for any manufacturing faults and after then its just a matter of concentrating on the general wear and tear and any accidental damage. Are you sure your system has been assembled and inspected correctly?
This report was written by Allan Hewitt