Parachutists told to check software after jumper dangled from a plane
VIDEO An Australian parachuting club has been told to improve the software it uses to manage jumps, after an accident in which a jumper’s ‘chute hooked on an aircraft’s tailplane.
The incident occurred on September 20th when 16 parachutists attempted a formation jump from a Cessna 208.
According to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report on the incident, “As the first parachutist stepped out the door to assume the most forward (front float) position, their reserve parachute inadvertently deployed.”
Air caught the ‘chute, which dragged the parachutist out of the plane before wrapping around the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer. The poor parachutist hit his legs hard enough to suffer an injury and was left dangling beneath the Cessna.
Everyone involved made it home safely. The parachutist stuck on the tailplane carried a knife, cut himself free, and landed with their main chute. Scraps of the snagged ‘chute remained dangling from the plane, causing enough problems for its pilot that he struggled for control and thought about bailing out. He eventually decided to land and did so without further incident. The other jumpers all made it down, too.
Here’s a video of the incident.
Youtube Video
The ATSB investigated the incident and determined the ‘chute opened early because its handle snagged on the Cessna’s wing flap as the parachutist exited the plane. The bureau found the jumpers knew to avoid snagging handles and practiced using a mock-up of the plane, but that facility didn’t include flaps.
At this point, The Register will forgive readers for asking if this story has a technology angle.
Here it is: The bureau also found that the parachuting club that staged the jump used manifest software that calculated the aircraft’s weight including the parachutists, but that package didn’t include features to assess whether the plane was properly loaded and balanced.
The investigation also found the pilot wasn’t using their electronic flight bag to calculate weight and balance for each flight, leaving the bureau to note “fatal accidents have occurred involving aircraft conducting parachute operations, in which the aircraft were operated outside the aircraft’s balance limits.”
Those acts of omission didn’t cause the incident, but the ATSB wants them considered anyway.
The club has therefore engaged with the provider of its software to discuss adding balance calculations to its manifest system and is also considering alternative software. ®
