Paraglider spiral dive, throws chute and ends up in the trees

http://dhost.info/Paragliding/Pages/...elandingmexico
2005.htm

Stunning POV vid of this accident sequence...

Stewart Kissel wrote:
http://dhost.info/Paragliding/Pages/...mexico2005.htm

Stunning POV vid of this accident sequence...


Yep, really makes you want to stick with plastic wings, doesn't it?

-Dave


P.S. Your word wrap is set really tight, making for annoying chopped-up links.
It's fixed in this posting.

That is a very interesting video. What would cause a spiral dive like that?

Paul Remde

"David Kinsell" wrote in message
...
Stewart Kissel wrote:
http://dhost.info/Paragliding/Pages/...mexico2005.htm

Stunning POV vid of this accident sequence...


Yep, really makes you want to stick with plastic wings, doesn't it?

-Dave


P.S. Your word wrap is set really tight, making for annoying chopped-up
links.
It's fixed in this posting.

Paul Remde wrote:

"David Kinsell" wrote in message
...

Stewart Kissel wrote:

http://dhost.info/Paragliding/Pages/...mexico2005.htm

Stunning POV vid of this accident sequence...


Yep, really makes you want to stick with plastic wings, doesn't it?

-Dave


P.S. Your word wrap is set really tight, making for annoying chopped-up
links.
It's fixed in this posting.

That is a very interesting video. What would cause a spiral dive like that?

Paul Remde


I assume the canopy collapsed due to turbulence, and the shroud lines got
twisted and kept it collaped in the spiral. I'm sure he wasn't flying in
his normal configuration in the spiral, like a rigid wing craft does. I
suppose it was more of a spin than a spiral dive. That's always made me
nervous about ballistic chutes for regular gliders. If you're going to
deploy the chute, you may well be in a spin, making the successful deployment
of the chute questionable.

-Dave

Hi Dave,

I don't think spins are a problem for ballistic recovery systems.

Paul Remde

"David Kinsell" wrote in message
news
Paul Remde wrote:

"David Kinsell" wrote in message
...

Stewart Kissel wrote:

http://dhost.info/Paragliding/Pages/...mexico2005.htm

Stunning POV vid of this accident sequence...


Yep, really makes you want to stick with plastic wings, doesn't it?

-Dave


P.S. Your word wrap is set really tight, making for annoying chopped-up
links.
It's fixed in this posting.

That is a very interesting video. What would cause a spiral dive like
that?

Paul Remde


I assume the canopy collapsed due to turbulence, and the shroud lines got
twisted and kept it collaped in the spiral. I'm sure he wasn't flying in
his normal configuration in the spiral, like a rigid wing craft does. I
suppose it was more of a spin than a spiral dive. That's always made me
nervous about ballistic chutes for regular gliders. If you're going to
deploy the chute, you may well be in a spin, making the successful
deployment
of the chute questionable.

-Dave

Paul Remde wrote:
That is a very interesting video. What would cause a spiral dive like that?


In most cases the pilot. Deliberately. :^)
Paragliders don't have elevators, so a spiral is
the fastest way down.

It wasn't very clear from the video, but my guess
is that this was a tuck caused by turbulence which
lead to this very steep spiral.

The canopies are only tested at spiral descend speeds
of upt to 14m/s and what they do beyond that is not
very predictable. Some even steepen the spiral. It
doesn't help that thinking is harder at 4G.

Regards,

Iwo

For anyone interested in this incident, there is quite a bit of
discussion on paraglidingforum.com:

http://paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1405

The consensus seems to be that the pilot applied and held brakes when
entering a thermal and this caused the wing to stall and deflate which
resulted in a cravat (tip stuck in the lines). The wing was spinning so
the pilot tossed the reserve chute. The pilot landed in a tall tree
with the wing draped over the tree and, while hanging there and picking
twigs out of the lines, he then fell to the ground basically unhurt.
His lucky day I suppose!

Steve

wrote:
For anyone interested in this incident, there is quite a bit of
discussion on paraglidingforum.com:

http://paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1405

The consensus seems to be that the pilot applied and held brakes when
entering a thermal and this caused the wing to stall and deflate which
resulted in a cravat (tip stuck in the lines). The wing was spinning so
the pilot tossed the reserve chute. The pilot landed in a tall tree
with the wing draped over the tree and, while hanging there and picking
twigs out of the lines, he then fell to the ground basically unhurt.
His lucky day I suppose!

Steve


That is the exact oposite of my guess. I'll go and
watch the video again. Thanks for the link.

Iwo

Incidentally Joe is flying again now that his broken rib has healed.

Mark Andrews

Iwo Mergler wrote:
wrote:
For anyone interested in this incident, there is quite a bit of
discussion on paraglidingforum.com:

http://paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1405

The consensus seems to be that the pilot applied and held brakes
when
entering a thermal and this caused the wing to stall and deflate
which
resulted in a cravat (tip stuck in the lines). The wing was
spinning so
the pilot tossed the reserve chute. The pilot landed in a tall tree
with the wing draped over the tree and, while hanging there and
picking
twigs out of the lines, he then fell to the ground basically
unhurt.
His lucky day I suppose!

Steve


That is the exact oposite of my guess. I'll go and
watch the video again. Thanks for the link.

Iwo