Parachuting Accident

Very difficult to speculate…. the 206 will hold approx seven people including the pilot, therefore, if the jumpers were going to go individually, this unfortunate chap could have been first or second out of the door.
Imagine the aircraft on its run in at 10000′, the pilot slowing the aircraft to around 75/80kts in preparation for the jump, the jump master calls for the cut, the pilot reduces power and enters a gentle descent to maintain airspeed, the first (or second) chap makes for the door or is on the step, just as he’s about to go his chute comes open and immediately wraps itself around the tail and pulls the skydiver into trail behind the aircraft, at such a slow speed the increased drag immediately stalls the aircraft and down it goes, all that is left is for the remaining occupants to make good their escape.
The second possible senario is – at the cut, the jumpers start climbing out to hold on (floaters), at this point one guy’s chute pops open and wraps itself around the tail, the story is then the same.

I agree with Janie that skydivers fall straight down rather than back then down, remember that they are travelling at the same speed as the aircraft when they leave it and their forward speed diminishes as they fall, I also agree that the weight and balance does change dramatically in fact I think many PPL’s should experience it for themselves, also if the door is on one side of the aircraft then you get a very serious weight shift one way, many jump pilots fly with a assymmetric fuel load to help (I do!!), as the skydivers leave the aircraft you have full forward trim, full forward elevator and full right hand aileron!! makes for an interesting recovery once they have jumped and all of a sudden there is no weight!

However I disgree that the aircraft could be so nose high that the jumper ‘fell onto’ the tailplane, it would have to be near vertical and at such a low climb airspeed it would be impossible to achieve such an attitude, the aircraft would stall out long before.

MMitch is right, floaters hanging on outside do create interesting flight characteristics until they jump off their perches!!

The key to this unfortunate incident is the fact that the chute got wrapped around the tail, therefore it must have been open in or near the door.

There have been plenty of nude jumps even nude weddings in free fall…….

Sorry for the waffle…

Rgds

Current BPA pilot

Pouring champagne in mid air has been done. It does not fall as quickly a bodies, so it appears to go up!

Nude women whistle in freefall.

Ruprecht,

Try and remember the original subject of the thread.

Skydivers normally carry hook knives so they can cut themselves free if need be. There is also a quick way of ejecting the main parachute, falling away from the offending object, then opening the reserve chute. There must have been a very good reason why this was not done. It is a very well rehearsed drill.

Freefall sex? What is the point of messing up a perfectly good fall. It only lasts 60 seconds anyway. Now theres an opportunity for someone to comment.

The fun in skydiving is the evening parties. Ah! Sweet memories!

Try having a w*nk Robert. At least it’s sex with someone you love.

R — are you planning to be the first then?

What an awful way to go, dragged down by the 206 and not being able to do a damn thing about it. Poor sod… 🙁

I was glad to read the pilot had a ‘chute and was saved too. With some types jumpers get outside and stand/hold onto rails until the others are ready at the door. This would affect the stability or trim too.
mmitch.

I did freefall parachuting for five years before getting my pilot’s certificate.

It would be foolish to guess what happened in this accident, but I can tell you the following.

When you jump out you go down more than across. So if the tail was between the door and the ground then it must have been at an irregular nose high attitude.

The loading of the aircraft is very very carefully calculated. When someone jumps out, the weight and balance change dramatically and the pilots and jumpers are trained to understand this. There are often lines in the aircraft denoting how many people are allowed either side to prevent it tilting too far one way.

On the 206s I have jumped out of, we did not have lines, but we were instructed to all move forward as people jumped. That keeps the CoG nicely balanced.

It may only take one person to be too far back for the balance to shift dangerously aft as someone jumps out. So as the jumper jumps, the tail goes down and he hits it. It happended at Tilstock in the 1980s from an Embraer Banderante – horrible.