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From: mspurgeo@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Mike Spurgeon)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Near Accident...
Message-ID: <3125@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU>
Date: 19 Mar 91 17:33:51 GMT
Organization: Ohio University CS Dept., Athens
Lines: 41

>Yesterday, I was witness to what very easily could have been a plane
>crash and 4 fatalities.

Sounds to me more like 'a plane crash and _possible_ fatalities.  The
pilot _was_ wearing a parachute, wasn't he?  If he wasn't, he was both
illegal and stupid.  It's probably safe to assume the 4th jumper _was_
wearing a parachute, and could have exited.

>The pilot (2 jumps) had stopped person 4 (1000+ jumps) from leaving,
>and they had managed to get the lines, the pilot chute and the bag inside the
>plane, and land uneventfully.
>Only one locking loop kept the main from deployment: this would have
>spelled rather certain disaster, had it opened.

Since those 'on the scene' sucessfully solved the problem, we probably
shouldn't try to second guess them.  However, a hook knife should have
been 'standard equipment' for all four jumpers AND the glove box of the
aircraft.  It certainly would have been my 'weapon of chioce'.

>Talking to Person 2 afterward, it was decided that he must have brushed
>against the side of the plane, releasing his pin, and letting the bag
>drop out of the container. He said that he immediately let go, and when he was
>stuck hanging, cut away.

>Amazing reflexes, as I was following him out, I didn't see more than a
>flash.

Since I work with students every week, and expect 'the improbable and the
impossible' at all times, somehow none of this seems too unusual.  We are
taught (or should be) that when such things happen, it is _ALWAYS_ fast
and unexpected.  If you didn't learn about inadvertant openings and how
to deal with them in your first jump course, then NOW would be the proper
time to start thinking about it.  Climb-out from _any_ aircraft is an
especially dangerous time, both to the jumper and to the aircraft.

Blue skies,

Mike Spurgeon           | My belief is that, while we should have the
P.O. Box 1              | greatest respect for reality, we should not
Athens OH 45701         | let it control our lives.
Internet: mspurgeo@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu