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By Godfrey Wenness
I
magine
getting
airborne
from
your
favourite
(or a
new) site, cruising around
feeling
the air and just moments later see-
ing your glider
shoot forward
in front of you
as you notice a gentle tug of
your shoulder
straps.
That gentle tug is your reserve's call-
ing card as it inflates behind
you.
Add a 200
ft
sheer
cliff face and tiger country below to
this
scenario
and you
'
ve potentially got a
very ugly situation on your hands. This is
exactly what happened to an unsuspecting
para-pilot recently and it could have easily
ended with more than just a few scratches
.
The reserve literally just fell out of its pod
less than a minute after
launch.
Next time
you're flying along just think what would
happen if your reserve did the same
-
where
would you end up; what would your landing
be like; and would anyone have seen you!
This type of incident should never hap-
pen. So let's look
at
why it did, so it will
hopefully never happen again.
The intermediate rated pilot had just
bought the latest new high tech harness and
had a few low level coastal flig hts with it.
Upon arriving at this inland site he fitted the
reserve from his old harness to his new
one.
He had no prior experience at re- Iocating
reserves. The handle attached to the contain-
er was of the two pin type and used
split
pins. The
split
pins were not actually split on
his old set-up which
also
used bungee style
cord for loops on the flaps. The new harness
used only one pin to hold the pod flaps
together and standard cord. It came with its
own single
pin reserve handle which had vel-
cro along its length for fixing to the side flap
of
the harness to prevent it from being
loose.
He did not use the
supplied
handle and pro-
ceeded to use the old handle with the outer
pin as the
active
one. The pin was not split
and the old handle did not have velcro
along
its length
and
was thus longer than the
sup-
plied one - it had the potential to leave
a
loop
of the
connecting
band dangling for things to
catch on to.
The pilot had
a
1I2hr flight earlier in the
day which was uneventful. On the incident
flight,
a
few attempts
at
reverse launching in
the 5 - 10 mph wind were
aborted.
These
included
some stumbling
through low bush-
es. Prior to the
successful
launch, the pilot
did not check or
ask
someone to check the
status
of the pin. A few minutes after launch,
and
some
time
after
the pilot had wriggled
around and maked harness
adjustments
the
reserve fell out and inflated at about 200 ft
ATO
and
100ft out from the ridge.
The reserve was of the steerable type and
whilst pulling in the glider the descent drifted
crosswind. The pilot managed to pull in the
April 1996
glider,
made no steering input to the reserve
and landed a few metres up from the base of
the cliff narrowly missing the tops of tall
trees.
Another second in the air either way
would have been interesting to say the least !
Thankfully the pilot had a radio and
informed me he was shaken but otherwise
fine.
You don't need to be Einstein to see the
succession of mistakes that led to this acci-
dent. Each mistake could have caused the
accident on its own. Given the combination
described, the pilot really did not have a
chance.
No reserve changing experience;
used wrong handle;
split
pins not split; and
didn't check status of pins prior to launch!
after aborted launch. One cannot always have
an instructor or advanced pilot looking over
your shoulder picking up these mistakes.
A few recommendations can be made
from this incident, and comment/additions
from other pilots is invited c/o the editor of
Sky Sailor:
*
Only pilots of sufficient experience should
re-Iocate reserves. At least get an experi-
enced pilot to check the job if you're doing
it yourself. Make sure that the system is
functioning correctly and reserve can actu-
ally be deployed! Dealers selling harnesses
and reserves should endeavour to provide
this as part of their
service.
*
Use the handle supplied with the harness,
otherwise get
an
expert to modify your
existing handle so that it works and is safe.
*
If using split pins make sure they are split
at least I cm at the ends. Better still use the
'Banana' style pins. A recent instructors'
conference determined that spl it pins with
small heads can actually be dangerous as
the head can travel beyond the loop and
thus not easily be pulled out, if at all (try
it!).
*
When placing
solo
reserves in large pods
use
some
foam
(underneath)
to take up the
volume
so
that the pod flaps
are
tightly
closed
(ie:
there is tension on the
pins).
And
probably the most important rec-
ommendation
:
*
Check the status
of
the pins
(that's
what
the clear flaps are for) and the handle
before
any
launch and
especially
after a
tumb le.
Two other points from this incident war-
rant
attention.
In
a
GLEITSCHIRM
article
I translated
for Sky Sailor in 1994 titled
"Reserves:
Some timely discussion
"
there was unani-
mous agreement amongst the assembled
Swiss experts that steerable round reserves
are potentially dangerous. Had this pilot been
using a standard round reserve he would
have undoubtedly landed on the \Jill top near
the take-off area given that the wind was
almost
straight
in. With the small glide that
the steerable reserve provides he went fully
cross wind from the deployment place which
was slightly to the right of launch and landed
at the base of the cliff some 70 m to the left
of launch. I suspect the reserve was oriented
at an angle to the wind so that this was possi-
ble.
In this instance the pilot did not have
time to grab the toggles and steer his reserve
but quite quickly pulled in almost the whole
of his main. If such a reserve is deployed low
with no time to tum into wind during the
landing phase the resulting ground speed
could compound potential injury particulary
if impacting a cliff or steep hill side. The
issue of steerable round reserves requires fur-
ther debate so please
contribute.
Another point which was brought home
was the value of using radios. The location of
the pilot was
such
that he
coul
d not be seen
from the cliff's edge. Without a radio his
condition may not have been known and the
rescue services may have been unnecessarily
called in. The radio also enabled directions to
be given to the pilot as to the way to walk out
- as the incident occcured late on a winter's
day with below zero temperatures
setting
in
soon after sunset the importance of this can-
not be underestimated. It would be a good
idea to habitually take a radio if flying in an
area where landi ngs are possible in not easily
accessible/visible places especially if you
don't know your way around. Finding out the
local UHF radio repeaters channel and cover-
age area might also be advantageous. $
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