SFL-2022-060 · Cause: Landing – unintentional low turn
Unconfirmed Facts as reported in the sources below. This is not an official investigation.
Incident
- Date
- 14.05.2022
- Country
- Czech Republic
- Drop zone
- Olomouc airfield
- Place
- Olomouc
- Context
- Sport / fun jump
- Phase
- Approach & landing
Jumper
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 71
- Licence
- D
- Total jumps
- 1,246
Cause
- Category
- Landing – unintentional low turn
What happened
Very experienced jumper (D licence since 2004, 1,246 jumps) on his second jump of the day from 1,200 m. He opened at about 700 m and descended in spirals, ending up lower and further from the landing area than on his first jump. At about 30 m he made a steep 180° turn to land into wind; the canopy dived and he hit the ground at about 20 m/s. The Czech air accident investigation institute (ÚZPLN) found the cause was misjudging his height before the turn; equipment, weather and health were ruled out.
Lessons for safety
Plan the landing pattern before you are low. If you end up low and off target, land straight ahead – crosswind or downwind if necessary – rather than turning near the ground.
Sources
- www.uzpln.gov.cz Official report
Is something wrong or missing? Send a correction and mention SFL-2022-060.