1 Matches (out of a total of 833 incidents)

1. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   02/09/2006	CO	LAND,LOWT?	27	796	Y/N		#2491635
   Description: The deceased suffered head and leg inuries during a landing and seemed to be recovering in hospital but developed complications to the head injuries which lead to meningitis and resulted in death several week after the incident.
   Lessons:
   USPA Description: After an uneventful freefall and initial canopy descent, this jumper initiated a 450-degree front-riser turn at an unreported altitude. He struck the ground hard while still in a diving turn, suffering head injuries and a broken femur. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died several weeks later due to complications developed from his head injuries.
   USPA Conclusions:This jumper had recently downsized to a 96-square-foot cross-braced parachute following a relatively rapid canopy progression, with only four years in the sport and fewer than 800 jumps. This was his first skydive of the weekend following a two- or three-week layoff from jumping. His previous canopy was an elliptical 120-square-foot model, though the report did not indicate the number of jumps he had made with that canopy. Even though he had been working with a canopy coach, his advancement to a cross-braced canopy with a wing loading of 2.2:1 in only 796 jumps indicates a very aggressive progression. The report indicated that he had a tendency to begin his final approach turns a bit low. Although he was working on the problem and had improved his setup, he should not have downsized to a smaller and faster cross-braced parachute if he was having control problems with a larger, slower one. Cross-braced canopies perform significantly different than elliptical parachutes and typically dive much faster and lose altitude at a much greater rate. Canopy pilots should use additional caution when changing size or design of canopy while becoming familiar with the handling characteristics of a new parachute. A jumper should practice landing maneuvers on a new canopy above 1,000 feet before attempting them on an actual landing. Skydiver’s Information Manual Sections 6-10 and 6-1 contain valuable information regarding canopy training and downsizing recommendations. A jumper should only downsize to a smaller parachute after demonstrating excellent control and accuracy in a variety of wind and weather conditions with his current canopy. All turns must be completed with enough altitude for the canopy to return to straight and level flight for the landing flare.
   Name	Josh Nahum