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Namibia: Human Error Caused Parachute Deaths
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
22 May 2008
Posted to the web 22 May 2008
Denver Isaacs
Windhoek
An investigation by the Ministry of Works into a fatal parachute accident that happened at Swakopmund last year has concluded that the death of the two people involved was caused by a combination of human error and equipment malfunction.
The report stems from an incident on April 7 last year, when experienced Namibian skydiver Henry Simon (33) and a South African visitor, Chantelle Fourie (23), attempted a tandem jump from a light aircraft over the Swakopmund Airport.
At the time it was reported that both the main and reserve parachutes failed to open, sending them plummeting to their death. Simon reportedly died instantly, while Fourie succumbed to her injuries a few hours later at the Cottage Medi-Clinic. The report states that the two were forced into "an unstable position" - not belly to earth as is the customary position during jumps - due to the body positioning of the passenger after they exited from the Cessna 206 aircraft. Simon, referred to as the Tandem Master, was apparently unable to rectify the situation, which forced them into a side spin. Simon had a video camera with him and footage from it was used to ascertain the facts. "The investigations revealed that the Tandem Master had difficulty in controlling the sky dive, resulting in a spin with high tandem terminal velocity.
Video footage also shows the TM spinning in reverse while lying on his left side. This caused excessive speed and unusual opening attitude," the report reads. Simon unsuccessfully tried to release the main parachute, following which he apparently tried to deploy the reserve. "At the stage when the TM activated his reserve he was still spinning and when the reserve parachute was opened, the left-hand-side riser was stressed in a very unusual way.
Instead of the riser being pulled straight, it was pulled at 90 degrees to the rig... This falls way out of the design parameters and can cause the webbing to fail," the report concludes. In short, the reserve parachute only opened halfway and the shock caused the harness to snap at the connecting point.
The maximum speed at which a reserve parachute be opened is 324 km/h. The Works report states that Simon's chute opened at a speed far higher than this. A witness on the ground told the investigating team that, after the two exited the aircraft, she heard a loud bang and looked up to see a white canopy spiralling at a high speed towards the ground until impact. The report ruled out fatigue, substance abuse or bad weather conditions as possible contributors to the incident.
It also stated that Simon was in control of a valid licence for the jump they had attempted, and had a total of 1 580 successful jumps on his record, 407 of which were tandem jumps. The jump with Fourie was his seventh on the day. The report however notes that he was not considered experienced in recovering from a side spin - which it said is considered a dangerous position to be in. "Side spin is extremely dangerous and corrective action needs to be taken within five to eight seconds to avoid high-speed canopy opening and entanglement.
It is recommended that TM should concentrate on good presentation immediately after exit to deploy the drogue [parachute]," it states.
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It further recommended that the Parachute Association of Namibia (Panam) consider introducing more side-spin training for tandem skydivers to address a general lack of experience in this area.
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