Accident report as submitted to USHGA Index
Posted by Layne Self on the Big Air forum on Monday, 18 November 2002, at 3:45 p.m.
To all my many pilot friends
Normally I don't post to forums that are so full of "the Bickersons" type postings and indeed have never participated in nor read, but only heard of this forum. I only post to distribute to the local population of pilots my account of what I personally witnessed on Sun. the 17th of Nov. I'm sorry that it is I who brings this detailed account to all my friends.
The following was submitted to the accident reporting section online to USHGA.
It's difficult to understand why some things happen. It's even more disturbing to watch someone literally self destruct before your eyes.
We were all anxious to fly this day as it promised to be an unusually warm day for November. Winds were light and lift was sparse but workable in as benign conditions as one would expect in winter. The cycles would come and go and short 10 - 20 min. flights were the norm. I was below launch at the parking area describing to a spectator what our sport was all about when Don launched. I was using Don and his wing as a graphic for this spectator when a short pulse came to the hill. For us Lookout pilots these pulses kind of roll into the Mtn. and flying in them is sort of like going over gentle rolling hills. I observed Don's wing pitch up gently in one of these "rollers" and I saw that he did not release brake pressure to let the wing come over head as is usual. He stayed in deep brakes for the min-sink I'm sure he perceived it gave him. (1st. mistake) I kept talking to the spectator. The next thing I saw was a gentle tip stall and a negative rotation start. I stopped talking to my spectator and watched expecting to see the right hand go up releasing the excessive brake to let the wing tip gain flying speed. Don did not do this either. (2nd mistake) Don completed one full rotation without doing anything to correct his negative spin. At the time this happened my first thought was that he was trying something he had learned at a clinic. The negative rotation was so mild with almost no loss of altitude that I perceived it to be a practiced maneuver. The next thought to me was "why is he doing this so close to the ground"?.
Don could not have been more than 100 ft. above any terrain feature at the height of his entire flight. I continued to watch him go deeper in brake for a very full-on negative spin for what I remember as at least three rotations. I ran towards him yelling at him. (yelling what I don't remember) Mike Reeder reported that he was on the radio yelling at Don to throw his reserve. Don didn't throw as expected (3rd mistake) he instead buried the other brake to effect a full stall which the wing did do. It went into a full horseshoe flying away from the hill. At this point I thought he had a chance. The wing never recovered from the full stall. My speculation is that Don was spun up in the risers from his negative rotations and the line friction prevented the braked lines from releasing and letting the wing fly again.
This assumes Don did let up on the brakes to recover. The scenario as it plays in my mind is that he did let go to recover and when he realized this wasn't going to happen he made the choice then to throw his reserve at about an altitude of 20-30 ft. The reserve didn't get a chance to even get line stretch when Don impacted the most prominent rock point in that area of the Mtn. Don impacted directly on his back and was bounced approx. 10 ft. out and down the hill. I thought he was going to land on the road cut but the trailing reserve snagged the rock and swung him down to a small ledge directly under the rock. He died on the Mtn. before the first person arrived (me). All attempts at CPR were futile.
Don's right hand was un-gloved and out of the brake toggle. His left hand was gloved and still in the brake toggle. He either ripped the glove off trying to get it out of the brake toggle to eventually pull, or pulled it off with his teeth to be able to pull. Either scenario was a waste of precious time. I can only assume that he perceived his reserve handle unreachable or unpullable with a gloved hand. He did fly with a front mount reserve.
This accident on this day was totally preventable. There were no winds or weather considerations. Don was the only pilot in the air so there were no avoidance issues. I can't speak to emotional factors, drugs or alcohol. What I witnessed was a pilot kill himself from making all the wrong decisions at the wrong time. As is usual in aviation, there is more than just one mistake made to come to this tragic conclusion of life. It can all be summed up with the "situational awareness" statement or in Don's case, lack therof.
Why didn't he let the brake pressure off when that gentle "roller" first hit him to let the wing come back over his head? Ask yourself how actively you fly. How well do you keep the wing directly overhead? If you are not making hundreds of corrections each minute from small weight shifts to short opposite side corrections and short but swift punches to keep that soft tip from deflating, I would submit to you that you are not flying active enough. My fear here is that the "newbies" see the wing of an experienced pilot always over head and the assumption is "this is easy", leading to a lazy, complacent pilot.
When he felt that first negative spin start why didn't he let off that right brake to let it gain back flying speed? By doing nothing at first and then trying to do too many maneuvers clinics recovery techniques later, with the subsequent loss of altitude and his inability to realize this from the outset, he effectively took away all, every single one of his options.
A situationally aware pilot would have realized that if he did one complete negative spin with only 100 ft. to work with, it was already out of control and time to huck. If you are spun up in the risers it's time to huck unless you have 10,000 ft. to unwrap your self. How much time did he waste waiting for the wing to recover from that full stall while spun up? How much time did he waste removing a glove to get at the reserve handle? There are a lot of unanswered questions here that we will never resolve.
We all need to step up our game a little. Complacency has killed as many experienced pilots as lack of knowledge and skill has killed beginners.
I don't make these statements to scoff at Don or point fingers or even make fun of something so serious. I make these statements to remind myself that it can happen to me. I want to remind all readers that you are not above this. We are all mortal. We lost a brother on that sunny Sunday. It wasn't the first time this has happened nor will it be the last.
While we tend to focus on our pain and try to sort out the "whys", We should also understand there is a grieving family out there which I doubt cares about these many detailed "whys" Their focus is only on their loss. Our thoughts should be with the family of Don.
Think twice before you make that next risky decision.
Layne Self Region 4 Observer
