Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!adobe!jackson
From: jackson@adobe.COM (Curtis Jackson)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Re: malfunctions
Message-ID: <8775@adobe.UUCP>
Date: 2 Dec 90 00:53:16 GMT
References: <3812@mindlink.UUCP> <2524@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> <8412@adobe.UUCP> <2609@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> <224@ptcburp.ptcbu.oz.au>
Reply-To: jackson@adobe.UUCP (Curtis Jackson)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Lines: 47

In article <224@ptcburp.ptcbu.oz.au> michi@ptcburp.ptcbu.oz.au (Michael Henning) writes:
}At least for straightforward malfunctions, such as bag lock, line over,
}pilot chute in tow and streamer, I think the best thing is to count to six,
}and if it isn't flying by then, go for the cutaway and the reserve handle. 

Count to six.  Tres scientifico.  Sorry to be so sarcastic, but the
key is not "count to" anything, it is altitude.  When I was taught,
it was drilled, beaten, and drummed into me that my first, best,
and last defense against death was altitude awareness.  That's why
the BSRs say "decide to cutaway by 1800, cutaway by 1600" and not
"count to six before you cutaway".

}around limbs are probably the most critical ones. The question is, if you
}*do* find yourself in such a situation, does thinking about the problem
}and trying to find a better course of action actually improve your chances ?
}Are you not much more likely to make matters worse by losing time ?
}How experienced does a jumper have to be before an instructor can safely
}suggest alternatives ?

I don't know about Bob, but I was speaking personally when saying that
absolutes are bad.  I happen to know from many occasions, very few of
them in skydiving, that when things get bad really fast my brain goes
into overdrive -- it's like everything is happening in slow motion.
I am lucky in that respect, and it has saved my butt on several occasions,
but I certainly don't recommend that everyone sit back and have a smoke
while they consider their particular malfunction.  In my particular
case, I can't say I always made the right decisions, but I could never
say I didn't have enough time to think about the situation.  This
included breaking my ankle and tumbling down an incredibly steep hill
over boulders, and using my hands to cushion my head as I came down
headfirst on a boulder.  Even in that unexpected frightening situation
I still had the time as I flipped through the air to consider my next
move.  Not everyone's brain works that way in crisis, and even those
of us who are lucky enough to have the ability still wish we had
a skydive-style safety drill beaten into our heads so we could know
up-front that we had something reasonable to do by default, and only
*then* consider other courses of action.

Enough babbling:  I feel that the 1st defense is altitude awareness,
the 2nd defense is a thoroughly internalized set of emergency
procedures, and trying to think about the situation a lot is an
often-worthy, if 3rd-class, level of defense.
-- 
Curtis Jackson @ Adobe Systems in Mountain View, CA  (415-962-4905)
Internet: jackson@adobe.com	uucp: ...!{apple|decwrl|sun}!adobe!jackson
	"Truth is stranger than fiction; and if it isn't, well, it oughta be."
		-- Mike Cross, from _The_National_Enquirer_Song_


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