1 Matches (out of a total of 833 incidents)

1. Date	Location	Category	Age	# Jumps	AAD?/RSL?	Dropzone.com Report	Dropzone.com Discussion
   05/09/1999	Gardiner, NY	LOWT	29	500	Y/N
   Description: This jumper, visiting (recently moved?) from Russia had started jumping at this DZ a few weeks prior, using a Velocity 90 (new), an old rig and an old jumpsuit. He had the choice of landing downwind on the DZ or upwind off the DZ and, unfortunately, chose the latter, making a hard turn at tree-top level. He impacted horizontally to the ground, killing him instantly. The canopy was loaded at about 2.0 lb/ft^2. He had about 30 jumps on this canopy, was very current (350-400 jumps in the last year), had mostly jumped a Springo140 or Stiletto135 (at 1.3), and had made a few jumps on a Velocity 111. He is reported to not regularly have made intentional low turns, and to have usually jumped as a cameraman.
   Lessons:A Velocity 90 is simply not a canopy for the inexperienced, unless you perhaps weigh 100 lbs, and maybe not even then. (I don't know how they perform at lower wing loadings). With every 4-5 passing years, we are seeing a jump in canopy performance (7-cells F-111 (early 80's?), 9-cell F-111 (late 80's), zero p (early 90's), 9-cell elliptical (mid 90's), 9-cell cross-braced zero-p (late 90's)) and we see a corresponding spike in accidents. (Interestingly, it would appear that these jumps in performance are occurring at increasing rates, particularly if you include in the timeline the introduction of military rounds, PC's, hybrids (terplane, pterodactyl), primitive squares, etc. Also, what is considered "acceptable" for a new jumper has moved up this performance ladder... typically what is 2 "generations" back is considered appropriate "student" gear.). It is unclear if or how this should be policed or managed from a licensing/instructional standpoint, but it is clear that if you're thinking of going to a small, hot canopy early in your jumping career, you are taking a significant risk. Additionally, while the deceased did step up canopy sizes, he did so rather rapidly, without taking time to gain experience at each level. In particular, the failure to regularly make low turns probably did not prepare him with an understanding of how rapidly altitude can be lost in a turn.
   Name	Valery Shnayder