It brings me great sadness to inform you that my much loved Aeros Combat L13 had its last flight on 29/3/13. We were having a great little fly around Mt Borrah (Manila NSW) with about 150 Paragliders also! The wind was about 5-10kts with mild but noticable turbulence that was only a little uneasy at times, in fact very mild compared to other days.
Deciding to land I headed over the back to Godfry's at about 200 feet above launch, heading a bit SE to be on the lee of the saddle so not to be in the lee of the main hill thinking if there was any rotor this would be the best line to take. Meanwhile Simon and a paraglider were turning in some light lift further downwind and experiencing some turbulence but nothing to be worried about and below me was a paraglider low, thinking that he was mad to be there that low with a collapsable wing!
I then hit a strong surge of lift thinking that this is probally the core that they were looking for and entered an agressive turn gaining a little but then straight into sink, this is when the air definately felt not normal! I was just about to radio to Simon that this feels like rotor when the nose pitched down suddenly, pointing straight down with no bar pressure and silence, I assumed the locked arm position ready for the speed to build and then pull out. (I had previously been in this position last year and the glider pulled out ok, just a massive increase in my heat rate was the outcome! BUT I was flying with my tail then! I have since stopped flying with the tail and retuned the glider to a safe sprog setting and reduced all sail tension and the glider has been flying great with good handling and no signs of instability.)
That feeling of no control heading straight at the ground become worse when I felt a kick from behind! The glider instantly tucked and I was just a ragged doll being smashed and battered! Something broke and then we started spinning, everything happened so fast and next thing I found myself hanging at the bottom of the wreckage in prone face down knowing that this is it!
Time to throw the chute!
Having hung up and practiced getting the chute out of the harness was definately a wise thing to do and highly recommended! Recognising that I was only about 500ft above the ground I knew that I only had one shot at getting it right! I reached back with my right hand and the thumb went straight into the handle, with a quick forward punch action, there it was out of the harness in one clean sweep! It was then that time slowed down, maybe because I felt like I was back in control for a brief moment having a chance of survival in my hand??
The glider was spinning but not violently so I was able to look for the best place to throw the chute. Knowing that the ground was coming up VERY FAST I opted to throw it upwards to my left. (This was the best action achievable with my right arm and the fastest way possible for the chute to open!)
It is funny how thoughts come freely into your mind in these situations,I have watched a chute deployment on youtube in the last year when the pilot threw his chute and grabbed hold of the line which pulled him up above the wreckage. (Unfortunately this is what caused most of my injuries!) This I thought would be a great idea as I knew that I was in the position of first point of impact and I wanted that to change somehow!
I reached up and grabbed the parachute line watching the line pay out of the bag perfectly. I must have blinked or looked away for a brief second as I don't recall seeing the chute open but with a great deal of violence I was thrusted and spun hard as the chute opened, smashing me into the glider!
This was the worst moment of the whole incident as I knew now I was injured! In hind sight I should have just tucked all limbs away and braced! Hind sight is always a great thing after the fact BUT learning from it is another thing!
Still unsure as what I had been thrusted into I found myself back or still beneath the glider spinning and with the ground coming up FAST I tried reaching up to grab hold of something to pull my way up the glider but then the next battering came in an instant! (going over and over in my mind and confirming with Simon and people on the ground we calculated that it was 4-5 seconds from chute opening to impact!) Smashing through the trees body first and then a sudden halt I found myself hanging, still below the wreckage about 6M above the ground. Everything went silent and a rush of relief hit, a few seconds later the soft gentle sound of the parachute settling in the trees above reassured me that yes, I did have an accident and this is not a dream!
Reality hit with the first sense being PAIN! My neck and right elbow was very sore! I could manage to swing to the tree in front and grab hold with my left arm but it was too far away to be able to make use for an exit. Simon came across the radio alerting others what had happened and let me know that he was landing ASAP to come and help. Knowing that he had climbing gear in his car was of great relief! All I knew was that I needed to get down fast! For one, the pain was increasing rapidly as I could not support my elbow and I had to hold my neck up! Two is that I have heard on many occasions where paragliders have been hanging in trees for up to 10 hours waiting for SES and emergency crews to arrive and to come up with a "safe method of rescue" instead of just getting the job done!
Within 5 minutes cars arrived, luckily I was near an access track, with people that had seen me go down. It was comforting to know that I did not have to wait long for assistance and they provided humour and a photo shoot at my expense! Being able to move all limbs and and have no numbness or blood coming from anywhere I knew already that I was one lucky person! But I still really needed to get down!
Simon arrived with the climbing gear and revelled in the challenge of getting me down safe!
He scurried up the tree and set the ropes with someone on the ground to belay me down. With only a butter knife found amongst the cars it reminded me that I have to put the hook knife back in my harness! (Definitely recommended as you never know when you will need it!) Assesment from the guys on the ground that the glider will be secure once my weight came off, Simon cut the parachute line and the the hang loop, and yes, just like butter as all my weight was on it. Touch down!
Being able to stand was a great relief and to get out of the harness so the Ambo's did not have to cut it from around me was a bonus. Simon then climbed the next tree to (with pleasure!) send the wreckage free to the ground with a nice thud!
I know for sure that it was the trees that saved me from serious injuries as I was the first point of impact then the glider would have drove me in from behind!
I did not have to wait too long for the ambulance to arrive but getting some pain relief soon was all I could think of. Listening to Simon breaking the glider up to get it packed up was just as painful!
After a trip to Tammworth hospital and a five hour wait for X-rays and CT scan the reverence of what had happened started to sink in. Good Friday was not a good day to be in emergency as they were inundated with trauma incidents all day and night! At midnight I finally received the good news that there was nothing broken! But I sure felt like I was broken in many places! To many peoples amazement I was allowed to leave the next morning with a bag full of drugs and head back to Mt Borah where I had to painfully watch everyone else flying whilst I rest and lick my wounds!
Could I have avoided this????
- The wind was not strong enough to be of major concern and I have been in the lee side of hills many times before and in stronger conditions. The picture that I have come up with in my mind is a strong lee side thermal hitting the air passing over the hill with some rotor with it and me being in exactly the mixing point of the two with the wrong attitude with not enough air speed for that air (just the wrong place at the wrong time!)???
- If I had the tail on then maybe it would have pulled out????
- What if I had of pushed out when I had no air speed in a vertical dive???
Glider
- The keel broke at the end of the sleeving, from three tubes back to one just in front of the cross bar junction allowing the wings to fold back.
- All I have salvaged is the leading edges, cross bars (but with markings on carbon?) base bar and most battens.
- The sail was torn either side of the keel top and bottom surface (maybe from the wires?)
- Lost GPS being flung out of the cradle and snapping safety line.
Harness
- Torn internal lining
- Bent hack plate and attachment plate
- Zipper teeth missing
- Radio forced thru neoprene
- Parachute Panel torn (This happened on opening? as Simon saw this from the air) which may have made the decent rate higher?
Injuries
- Bad parachute line burn on my neck with large amount of soft tissue swelling.
- Very sore and stiff neck. My helmet was ripped of (most likely when the parachute line pulled across my neck?) but later found with a high impact area at the top. Maybe from hitting the keel when going over?
- Bruised and swollen elbow, not sure from the parachute line or impacting something?
- Bruised under arm and below due to parachute line
- Chipped tooth
It is now four days post accident and I am recovering well. Icing, stretching, sleeping and staying off the booze with drugs is all helping a hopefully rapid recovery ready for the next comp in 12 days!
The only problem is I have no glider, harness, parachute or GPS! But I am sure something will work out because hey, I must be one lucky person!
To walk away from something that I thought would never happen to me puts a nice smile on my dial!!
I will send a link to the photos. Unfortunately I did not put the camera on that day DOOH!
Missing my Combat always!
Jason
Link to photos
http://youtu.be/9VuxLhaV5Dc
