Category: Aircraft Safety
As much as we get in and out of them, airplanes might seem as simple as cars… but they definitely carry additional safety considerations for all of us–pilots, skydivers, observers, and loaders.
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Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Runway
When we were kids, pretty much everyone who took care of us taught us to look both ways before crossing any street. Right? This was probably one of the rare pieces of advice most of us didn’t challenge too much, because no one wants to get hit by a car! Why, then, do we not apply the same logic to crossing the runway at an active airport, especially one as…
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Super Caravan Seating
TL:DR–Skip to the video! Airplanes are a lot like people–individual (sometimes ridiculously so) in their needs and tolerances. For example, you can safely get away with sitting far back in the cabin of the Super Otter, but not so much in the Super Caravan. This is the reason for a recent policy change in how we load the Super Caravan here at Spaceland (seating arrangement). Compared to the Otter, it’s…
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It’s YOUR Job to Avoid Aircraft!
Remember the Smokey the Bear public information campaign with the slogan, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires?” The idea was to remind us that we all bear personal responsibility for avoiding this dangerous situation. (See what I did there? 🙂 ) Flying parachutes puts us in a similar situation that requires each of us to take personal responsibility for safety–for ourselves, other jumpers on the load, people on the ground,…
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Red Light, Green Light, No Light?
Quick! What do you do if you are on jump run, the green light has been turned on, and then the green light goes out (either the red light comes back on or the green light simply turns off)? Assume the light is broken and proceed with your climbout and skydive. Flip the spotting switch (if present) left and right quickly to let the pilot know the light is out,…
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Emergency Exit!
Current weather reports 1000 foot overcast skies… anyone for a hop & pop? In all seriousness, how low are you prepared to get out of the airplane? Have you thought about what you would do in an emergency since you were a student? A couple weeks ago I was flying, had just taken off from Spaceland in the SuperVan with a load of jumpers, and after waiting for a lull…
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Rigs vs. Doors
Recently, one of our licensed jumpers took it upon himself to remind us all about keeping our rigs away from the edges of the aircraft door when rotating out to a floater exit. It’s a great reminder for all of us, because it’s far too easy to get too comfortable and complacent about safety aspects such as this when we’re focusing on a crazy new exit or type of skydive.…
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Aircraft/Loading Area Safety and Policies
Winds Aloft This information is posted daily on the board near the aircraft mockups. Also check out our weather page… Loading Area We use loading area 1 (north of the hangar) on cold starts/after fueling, and loading area 2 (northwest corner of hangar) on hot turns. Please be in the loading area on the 5-minute call. You must be fully geared up, ready to jump, before entering the loading area.…
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Hop and Pop Skydiving Smarts
If you’re a people watcher, observing skydivers preparing for hop and pop skydives (low-altitude exits) is a lot of fun. You see everything from cool-cat, ho-hum, highly experienced swoopers practicing their craft to jumpy first-timers doing their first exits below full altitude, hoping with all their hearts to be stable enough to deploy within the 5 seconds required to graduate from student status. With all that observation, you tend to…
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Propeller Safety
There are a lot of things in life we sugarcoat, such as when answering questions like, “How do I look in this dress?” Or “How does this resume sound?” But some things in life just don’t take sugar well–they are what they are. So it is with safety around propellers, be they of the aviation, marine, or any other variety. We get pretty comfortable moving around airplanes in the skydiving…
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Helmets: Secured for Takeoff
We don’t have a lot of bad words in skydiving (regardless of what you might hear after the beer light comes on! ;), but there is one we can all agree on: Complacency. com·pla·cen·cy n. — A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy. In skydiving, we say someone is complacent when they think they are safe but they are acting unsafely or in…
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And Liberty and Pin Checks for All…
As skydivers, we like to do everything right so we can skydive again… and again… and… Lately we have been seeing a number of recent graduates, now unsupervised by instructors, neglecting their pin checks before exit. Perhaps it’s due to distraction when thinking about the upcoming jump, or perhaps you noticed an experienced jumper neglecting a pin check (shame shame!) and thought it was OK. Either way, this isn’t a…
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Seat Belts in Jump Aircraft: Not Just for Show
I once had an instructor who refused to wear a seat belt in a car. He had managed to defy all odds in two separate car accidents by not wearing seat belts; both accidents threw him out of a car that would have crushed him had he remained inside. Unlike with cars, however, the last thing you want to occur in the (thankfully extremely unlikely) event that you are in…
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How to Open/Close a Super Otter/Supervan Skydiving Door
Have you had the chance to open the jump door on one of our Super Otters or SuperVans yet? No? Are you nervous about it? Fear not, we have the scoop! Whether you’ve operated the door yet or not, chances are great that you’ll learn a valuable tip or few from our latest YouTube video on how and when to safely operate the side jump doors on a Super Otter…
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Loading Area Etiquette
Getting ready to board an aircraft for skydiving is more than a little different than boarding a plane for commercial travel or getting in a car for a drive. There are concerns for personal safety, the safety of others in the plane (and the plane itself), and efficiency. Stay safe and efficient with these loading tips! Personal Safety Complete your gear checks before the plane pulls up. This means 3 rings,…
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Top 11 Things to Know About Movement Jump Safety
How often have you heard this at the drop zone? “Hey, let’s go track!” or “Hey, let’s go do some angles!” Movement jumps are extremely popular at most any drop zone in the world, and with good reason: They’re a ton of fun! But they are most definitely not just another skydive. Key Point: It’s extremely important that everyone doing movement jumps understands one critical fact: It is 100% YOUR…
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Exit Order and Aircraft Boarding
If there is anything consistent among a group of skydivers, it’s the fact that we all want to make more skydives! Often what stops us is money or time, but other times it’s just plain running out of daylight. We can’t hold the sun up in the sky to get more time, but every skydiver can work to make aircraft boarding more efficient and thus allow more loads in a…
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Right Seat Safety
Riding in the copilot’s seat is a treat, but this seat requires a bit more attention to safety than a spot on the benches in the back of the plane. Here are a few tips on right seat safety from air boss Rabbitt Staib: No helmets in your lap–they restrict movement of the yoke. Don’t touch any aircraft controls at any time. Stay low when climbing into and out of…