This is an analysis/safety review of an incident that happened at Moss

Point '02.  Names have been changed because that's not important to the

lesson. Kirk VanZandt wrote the following:

The "John" Accident:

I would like to point out that similar accidents have happened in the

past, and most likely will occur in the future.  The best thing we all

can do is to learn how to avoid such incidents like this from past

experience.  The following is not to blame anyone or put any person at

fault, it is only to clarify the events and make suggestions to what

might be done to prevent future accidents. I have talked or corresponded

with most of the people involved in the accident that messed up John's

leg.  As with most incidents recollection is somewhat different by those

involved, after all it is from their perspective.  I have tried to piece

together, as accurately as possible, what happened on that day.

The skydive was a 21-way attempt (20-way box to the right with one stinger).

John  was the point of the 9-way with Jeff  being right row

three lock up (#8).  Jeff was wearing a side mount helmet camera.  Jeff

had an on heading opening with the exception of several line-twists,

which took him time to clear.  On Tom's video from behind, it

appears the formation was building fast.  Both Jeff and John came back

down the right side of the formation.  Jeff was lower and behind John,

most likely due to Jeff's line twists and possibly different approach

styles.  I am sure both where in a hurry since it appears they were both

late (per Tom's video).  They both turned into the formation from the

right side. 

From that point until impact the facts are a little foggy.

The actual collision is not on tape.  It was below or out of frame on

Tom's video and Jeff's did show it clear either. Some how John's left

leg struck Jeff on the left side of his head, slightly from behind.

Exactly how this can happen is unclear to me, but it did occur. After

the impact, John blacked out.  After Jeff shook the "cob webs off", he

looked around but saw no one.  Likely upon blacking out John went into

some brakes, and was behind and slightly above Jeff.  Jeff was a little

confused but didn't feel the crash was hard, so he thought it was a

collision with no major consequences and went into the formation.

When John came around, he headed to the formation calling for help.  The

formation had completed to row 4 with their lockups on, the number nine

slot was plugged.  It was evident that no one else saw the collision.

John stacked docked on the formation on the right row wing 4 lockup

(Jacob ). John communicated to Jacob that he had a broken leg and

needed help.  This fact startled Jacob some what and he pondered how he

could have broke his leg.  John and Jacob then went into a plane

configuration.  Again John communicated that he'd broken his leg and

could Jacob help.  Jacob told John yes.  Jacob's first thoughts were that he

had never landed a bi-plane before.  Then Jacob heard from other people

telling him to drop John, wrong position, etc. (most likely the others

were unaware of the situation).  Jacob ignored the suggestions but was

thinking about if the formation funneled it could get much worse for

John.  At this point, Jacob became confused - He didn't know what to do.

He had never been in a situation like this before or instructed on what

to do.  Jacob was thinking, listening for suggestions, and looking at the

spot and where they were - plenty of altitude.  Jacob finally figured he'd

fly John home and was about to ask for a drop. But all this reasoning

took time. 

John was relieved, but passed out shortly after hearing he

was going to be helped.  John suddenly flew up and back. It is hard to

tell from the video, but it looks like the tail of John's canopy

deflects.  I am almost positive, like all good CRW dawgs, John still

had his hands in his toggles and upon passing out his arms relaxed an he

went into brakes and was pulled off the formation.  Jacob really didn't

know what to do. Jacob quickly lost sight of John.  Jacob thought about

going after him - but figured if he was hurt bad he wouldn't have left

the formation.  Jacob had no idea that John had just passed out.  Jacob

decided to stayed put in the formation.  John thought he had help all

the way to the ground right; but when he came to, he did not see any

canopies or anybody. His hands were at his side (out of his controls).

John looked down, saw the airport runway and headed in. It took

everything John had to stay aware and land.  Most of you know the rest

of the story. Cathy has kept us well informed on John's condition and

recovery.  BTW the formation completed to a 20-way.

Lessons to be learned -

Collisions can happen but to minimize the possibility look around try to

figure out were the other people you are docking on or docking on you

are.  Every now and then some one is going to have a bad opening that

will put them out of echelon sequence.  If it means slowing down and

having a longer split time because of a traffic problem, that is OK and

it can be discussed and corrected on the ground prior to the next jump

-- collisions are much more costly on split times. 

If someone is injured in the sky, help them out - call "break it down".

Whenever anyone hears "break it down", begin as soon as possible

breaking it down in an orderly fashion. "Break it down" usually means

things are going to get worse if the formation continues. For those in

the formation below the "break it down" call, remember gravity still

rules.  A "break it down" call can be given by anyone, at any time - and

should be honored by those around.  Yes, knowing the full details about

this incident makes it easy to make this call after the fact.  But we

should always try to think (in general terms) what might happen and what

action should be taken, be conservative.

If someone is injured someone should always stay with that person.  If

your skill level enables you to top dock someone and help them fly their

canopy do so (if the person is willing or unconscious).  If you feel you

do not have the skill level, stay with the person but try and notify as

many people that there is an injured skydiver they may be able to help.

We need to pass this type of lesson on to the beginners.  Inform

newcomers to big way CRW of responsibilities and expectations of them.

Teach them how to be safe and to look out for the safety of others.

Was the "helmet cam" at fault in the above incident?  It is hard to tell

if it really limited his vision or not in this case.  But I can think of

many reasons not to wear one in the formation.  Although these new

cameras are streamlined they can still pose a snag hazard for the person

wearing them (broken necks really hurt).  People wearing them tend to

film others around them when they are in the formation.  This leads to a

lapse of concentration on them not flying their canopy when in the

formation.  Those around the camera tend to "geek" the camera making

them do a similar lapse of concentration on their parachutes. Both of

those are not healthy for the formation.  I am not suggesting outlawing

cameras from inside the formation as they can be used as a good tool (at

times), but one should check with the organizers about flying it.

Final Note on Moss Point:

People have asked me over the past several weeks "Why was Moss Point so

cut-a-way crazy"?  Yes, we had our share - that weekend 8 of them.  One

of them was a packing/deployment malfunction but 7 is still a high

number.  My answer to that is because we challenged people more then in

previous camps.  We had many new people in wing slots; we had new people

with little experience in big ways, and we had some just plain

inexperience in CRW.  True some of the wing flyers had "some"

experience, but they had never been asked to repeatedly dock that

particular wing for an entire weekend. Many docks were made hard, and

hard docks usually result in wraps.  A percentage of those wraps usually

result in cut-a-ways.  Many people were challenged that weekend, it gave

them new experience and hopefully new skills.  During my training for

big way attempts in the past, I have seen similar "wrapfests" occur.

Whenever you put new people in new more challenging slots, the wrap rate

can increase while they are learning.