Basejumper.com - archive

https://vimeo.com/105665701

Really??

 Thank You G-d for keeping Jimbo with us . I don't think I could handle losing you buddy !!!!!! I'm sure the details will be un-nerving!

I don't think god had anything to do with that one. Glad that one was kept from the BFL! Would have been up there with a pull up in the closing loop.

Don't hold your breath. He may have lived through that, but Marta is going to kill him. I have no hope of ever seeing him again alive.

I'm going to miss him.

Lee

Pilot chutes are a crutch, for the weak.

From his Facebook post

"This is the closest I've ever come to dying. It's been 2 years, I finally had enough time in between when it happened and now to tell Marta, I asked her if it was right to wait and tell her, and she said yes. Still cried a little, but it rattled her a lot less than if I would have told her right away. Thanks for keeping it on the DL for me until the time was right, Tony Uragallo Mary Farwell Uragallo Spike and Jackie Harper James Boole Kristina Raskina Johnny Jhonny Flowers Jay Mo and whoever else heard whispers. How could this possibly happen? If you asked me if it was even possible, I would have said, no ferking way. 1500 BASE jumps, 5,000 skydives, until this jump I had NEVER EVER not checked my pilot chute before I put the rig on, then did at least one practice touch to see if it was placed right where I want it. I was jumping a new wingsuit, doing a 2 way with Tony, and I had one pilot chute that I was trading in between jumps between 2 rigs that I was jumping. I was more focused on everything else but the basics. The perfect storm hit me. So what was it like??? I reached back, and felt a lump of bridle in my BOC, so I threw it out. At the time I thought that my pilot chute must have come out and was hung up. Then I looked back over my shoulder and saw to my horror, NO PILOT CHUTE!!! I reached back and pulled the pins with my bridle and tried to throw the parachute out with this. Then I looked for where I was going to land. It was not good. I was headed for the small vineyard next to the landing area in Brento. Wires and wood. I thought, oh man, this is going to hurt. Then I thought about the mess I was going to leave for my friends to deal with and how i might hurt access for other jumpers at this site. Then I thought about my wife Marta and how sad she was going to be. I thought about all the amazing times I was now NOT going to have. Then my parachute OPENED!!! All of these thoughts went through my mind. I had about 4 seconds to put it down in this little clearing next to the vineyard, right up against the trees. I had to turn a 180, so I thumped in a bit, but I was fine. Am I ashamed and embarrassed and humiliated that I made such a huge and simple mistake? Absolutely. Never give up, never surrender. I love you all and when I think about the amazing things that we've done over the past 2 years and the even more amazing things we are going to do over the next 20…"

WOW!

I am sure to upset some on the net but:

Why only post it after two years? If he had gone in (and he did not because he was lucky) we would have known it all right away. Admittedly, nothing to learn here, no PC = no canopy (normally).

Furthermore, he jumped with Tony U. Surely he did find out, so they decided both not to speak about it.

Finally. How on earth can you forget your PC? Yes, if you have only 1 and then jump 2 rigs, it can happen you forget to put it on. But forgetting to check this visually, and forgetting to touch it (dummy pull) after putting it on.... And other people around not seeing it either. With that, jumping a new WS. More reason to check. Or just too busy checking his new WS maybe? That would/could be something to learn from.

And of course I am happy he lives. But we should learn from incidents, and the complacency factor is not really new. Nor is it in life in general.

Ronald

PS: I know. The moment you write stuff like this karma will put it on me to happen something to me too.

Because it took him two years to build up the courage to tell Marta.

Lee

It could be possible that the PC detached.
TCs

Presumably Jimmy checked that his only PC was attached to the 'other' rig when he got back to the landing zone and realised when he saw it there in the pouch that there could only be one explanation! It's highly possible, in those seconds of 'oh fuck!' when he reached back to find a flappy bridle that he had an epiphany and remembered not attaching the thing. I've had a few of these myself....albeit usually when i'm sitting watching TV and then i'm hit with absolute clarity (to the point of an hallucination) the horrific realisation that I put an apple crumble in the oven 3 hours ago and it'll be burned.

Scary stuff and hopefully a reminder to everyone that a/ we're all fallible b/ any situation that requires ad-hoc on-site reconfigurations of gear should be immediately red flagged c/ check, check, check and check again.

I don't think you're being harsh, but not much to learn from it other than complacency kills, as you mentioned. I love Jimmy and I'm totally glad he made it work. However, it baffled me that this happened.

Honestly, the lesson here IMO is if you have two rigs, have two sets of everything to complete them as well, i.e. two pilot chutes. It's a silly thing to go without. I have at least three of each just in case. 😝

+ about 1,000 -- although what most baffles me about this one is how the co-owner of a major BASE gear manufacturer didn't have enough pilot chutes for two rigs...



The other thing is to literally have a written checklist. All aircraft pilots, whether they have 20 hours or 20,000 hours, in a Cessna or a 787, have a written checklist and follow it religiously because there are just too many critical paths to remember.

At least some and maybe all of the tandem manufacturers finally went to written checklists a few years ago so that now, part of TI pre-jump procedures is to read the checklist and call out each item as it's checked off. The reason? A tandem system is not as complex as a Cessna, but it's way more complex than a regular rig.

So maybe it's time to start thinking about written checklists for wingsuit jumps -- especially when jumping wingsuits in essentially a boogie environment, jumping new wingsuits, switching rigs and then switching pilot chutes too (and, of course, cameras!)... that is a heavy keep-track-of-everything workload for anybody -- and the fact it happened to someone of Jimmy's enormous parachuting experience and generally cautious and conservative approach reinforces the notion that it may now be time to start thinking about using written checklists.

And they don't need to be complicated, just a few critical-path checks such as:

Packed
PC
Pins
Routing
Harness
Suit
Camera(s)
Companions
Plan
Weather
Gut feeling



44

First you scold people about using +1 and then you use +1,000-- (and this isn't the first time, son). You only get one vote, just like the rest of us.

Such simple case and so big drama about it! No one dies in a smart way.
Shorter the hike is -less time to get the head right for jump is!
That fact took away more lifes away recently and jumpers seems to forgeting that fact.

Check list?!
Yes- maybe to make the concrete deck w ramp and board with buttons to press for each check before jumper goes off..
Gezz were that base went...

Robi,
you forgot to add lights - red and green. If you click all the buttons and weather conditions measured by the weather station connected to the exit point are favorable then the green light comes on and you know you can jump.
If it's red, you'd have to sign a waver and click ok to the reminder that you accept all the risks.

+ about 1,000... love the reminder about hike length, too. That should add another check to the list:

Head in game?

but times they is a-changin,' Robi... look what happened to the Russian girl... bizarre lemming behavior, no lurking-looking out for others, to name just a couple process and procedure deficiences on that one...

entry into not only BASE but wingsuit BASE especially is getting so carefree and nonchalant that some procedural structures are probably needed to keep things at least a little bit under control -- especially now, with essentially institutionalized legal sites that risk closure when the deaths become too stupid.

again, as I did with my comments about proxy procedures when starting from an aircraft, i'm just making some suggestions about how to standardize some basic procedures, not get into a discussion about what BASE used to be and what we wish it still was. The fact is, because of the changing environment, it is incumbent upon everyone to do their best to idiot-proof their own procedures, and the fact that hyper-experienced and conservative jumpers such as Jimmy and Tony (because he didn't notice that his jump companion had no PC!) could make such a fundamental error in this changed environment is Exhibit A for the affirmative that the sport needs to nudge itself in a more procedurally structured direction if we want to maintain current access by keeping the kill ratio as low as possible.


44

I don't recall ever scolding anyone for using "+1" but just so you know, the "+ about 1,000" is a takeoff on all the heroes out there who don't log their jumps and then say "about 1,000" when someone asks them how many jumps they have.


44

What is the big drama? I haven't seen anyone talking much shit about it other than "omg can't believe that happened".

If this had happened to anyone else it'd of been a bunch of Monday morning quarter backs telling them to quit jumping.

Jimmy was only hyper ignorant together w Tony and who ever was on the deck w jimmy... and yes such things happend and no one is imune to this, me incl..
Base jumping does not grow that much at all but the fluctuation of people getting in and leaving base is very high.
Considering all that number of fatalities is actally very low.
..as far as russian girl.. hard to tell.. often the desteny of the jumper is more in the hands of the people one jump with than his / her skil. Especially when jumper is about to consider him/her self experianced.
Personally i care and choose w whom i jump and not jump. Starting from that is not a bad thing
Base is not regulated .. people like to be free special unique splendid awesome rad fourious and epic. Let them be that.
Making skydiving out of it is wrong way... finally going w legs first out of LZ is way cooler than doing same at DZ..
.

I think its a good thing that this happened with a super experienced well known jumper.

People are more likely to think about it and not just dismiss it as something that could never happen to them, and only happen to a beginner or a retard who 'should take up golf'

No one is immune to human error, which is why people invented systems of checks etc.

IN skydiving I think every jump is more dangerous than the last, and its probably the same with base I reckon.


And its not only because experienced people are doing more dangerous and technical jumps..


its also because complacency can sneak in when things become routine and 'normal'.

IMO things tend to feel increasingly routine and normal the more experienced someone has.

Fair play to him for uploading the video. Even if it was 2 years after the incident



My take away form the video - the biggest mistakes are often done by those with the most experience.


(p.s This is just the opinion of a beginner with less than 50 jumps )

Inexplicable learning tale, good for all, Marta, go easy on him, he's still here like my RW...

BASE isn't the same with a bunch of rules. At sites like Kjerag and Brento where lots of inexperienced jumpers are coming, they should have their own standards to protect the site's legal status, but other than that, we all usually jump with someone and we need to just watch out for your buddy. Remember "rigger checks" from skydiving, they work great in BASE. Phil Smith, BASE 1 and I were on the top beam of a 2000' tower about to do a dual camera jump. I looked over and his chest strap was unhooked. I told him and we knelt down and he hooked it. Would have been great tracking right out of your harness. Anyway, the old saying is always true, "Pay attention to Detail".
By the way, Jimmy, you have bigger balls than I do going public with the story. Kudos man.
Rick
38

Written checklists?

Darwinism.

If you aren't doing your own checks, or your not looking out for your friends, expect the reaper to breath down your neck.

A little OCD goes a long way in parachute sports.

Im with you. Me, personally, my checks go like this on EVERY jump
Get gear out,lay it down
Check pins
Check bridle
Check PC
Check 3 rings
Continue to fondle PC multiple times in lead up to jump.

Done. How someone forgot the PC is well beyond me, but I wasn't there for that jump. Still, it's a doozie.

I remember jimmy teaching that you should never close a rig or pack the pc unless the rig is jump ready, there had been a similar incident where some dude picked up the wrong rig that had been trash packed without a PC. Can't remember how that one ended but the dude survived, apparently a bridle creates a bit more drag than you might imagine.
As far as having never jumped without checking the gear fully, I bet most people would swear blind that they have done those checks every single time. I bet this is not the case, the way that memory works, you would have no recollection of having missed a check if there was no incident to create the memory.
Good save tho. I would add 'pull high enough to deal with something like this' to the checklist.

Thanks for sharing!

There is a list. It consists of:
1. Check your fucking rig.

If anyone had looked at the back of that rig they would have noticed the error.

If it can happen to him, it can happen to any of us.
Rule of 3......

Talk about a 'No pull find'

Why would you pack a lump of bridle into the BOC? I'm not trying to be a dick, I've made some huge errors myself, but seriously what is the advantage of stuffing a bridle with no pc into the BOC?

so out of the way duh

I've done that plenty of times. Sometimes there isn't a PC on and I'm not sure which one I'll be using next so I just don't put one on and don't want bridle loose in my stash bag. I would say "but I'd never just not put it on!", but jimmy has a lot more experience than me I do like 1000 PC touches after I gear up anyway. The same nervous habit most jumpers have.

I´ve generated myself a rule to always put a PC on for two reasons :
- The obvious one being that you cannot jump a rig which doesn´t have a PC on
- And the other one is to spare myself from the incident of jumping a SD packed rig from a terminal cliff (has happened) or taking a SU packed rig off a SD object (has happened as well). I always put appropriately sized pc (compared to the packjob) to the rig so if I´m on top of a terminal cliff and realize that I have a 42 or a 48 on, I probably picked up the wrong rig...

This has been proven wrong.

 

He was jumping a new WS for the first time. So it should not be normal. I see no reaction from the man himself. But how about distraction from checking basics, and focussing on the "new" stuff. Being the suit in this particular case.

We're all doomed!

I go power walking at the mall on Tuesday nights and I wear my rig just for the sole purpose of doing practice touches.

Well, I guess the only accident that hasn't happened yet is to intentionally base without a rig completely. As in forgot to put one on. It happened in skyjumping

It will happen in base

And why do you need a rig for that? Does it help with the touching?

It happens all the time.... it's called suicide.

I don't think i've heard of wingsuit suicides. They all had rigs on.

I have to admit I came so close to inadvertently doing it once in my skydiving days that I would wake up in a cold sweat "reliving it" in my worst dreams for years afterward.

I was asked to put out a student while a friend packed my parachute for the next lift. I was wearing a helmet and goggles to spot the student. Wearing everything actually, for a normal jump except for the rig and the reserve. We were jumping a Cessna 172. When I signaled the student to go, I started to follow him out. I had let go of the strap, and was within an inch of losing my balance to the point of no return before it dawned on me that it might not be a great idea. Fortunately I will never know if I would have been able to catch him for the ride down. It was a 20-second delay. Enough time perhaps, but I'm sure he wouldn't have been expecting company.

Hahaha, holy shit! I would get so hammered drunk after doing something like that!