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| Select WP-13 ......................................................................................................August ‘98 |
| Aiming for New Safety
Thresholds
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FIFTH ANNUAL FAA WINGS WEEKEND! By Scott E. Allen
If you’re a pilot who flies in Hawaii, or someone who would like to learn more about flying in Hawaii, the Honolulu Flight Standards District Office is the place to be on August 15 and 16. Here’s your chance to learn something new and/or catch up on aviation doings, begin or finish earning your next (or first!) Pilot Proficiency (Wings) Award and spend a great time with other pilots. Pupus! Door prizes! Cost: Nothing Scheduled Event Highlights: Mr. George Peterson of the NTSB, who will do a slide presentation depicting the results and causes of aircraft crashes from an investigator’s perspective. There is something horribly fascinating about aircraft wreckage and there are a lot of lessons to be learned from other pilots’ mistakes. The U.S. Coast Guard will explain the ins and outs of sea survival and rescues, from the perspective of the rescuer and survivor. Never hurts to know answers to the tough test questions in advance … if you’re unintentionally in the ocean, it might be the test of your life. Mr. Hank Bruckner, CFI-ASC, editor of the GACH Air Scoop, and Owner of Kaimana Aviation, will do a presentation on the aerodynamics of stalls and spins, or "How I learned to stop worrying and love the Hammerhead." |
| Pacific Island Flyer |
AVIATION ACTIVITIES ......... FAA WINGS ...........WEEKEND
....... . .HAWAIIAN
FLYERS |
Mr. Al Blankenship will do a slide and
video show on special operations in the C-130 Hercules,
where the Hercules aircraft actually caught, in mid-air,
parachuting photo-capsules from spy satellites. Think
about flying a massive, four engine turboprop straight at
a parachute…on purpose. Not too long ago this was
highly classified stuff. Mr. Rich Gallager, CFI-ASC, will show some thought provoking slides of aircraft caught live on the ramp at our own Honolulu Airport. These slides are guaranteed to generate lots of thought and discussion about the meaning of airworthy. No doubt, after this presentation, you’ll have a new mind set during your next preflight inspection. Identification of the aircraft have been withheld to protect the innocent. Seriously, this is a great show, and this could easily become one of the most useful hours you’ll spend all year. Mr. Perry Valleriani, CFI - ASC will do a presentation about night cross country and water ditching during which he will show how to assemble a cost-effective survival kit that would make all the difference if you ever go into the water. Did you know: searching for survivors is dangerous and essentially useless at night unless the survivor has some survival light sources. After conducting an initial search (i.e., until fuel state dictates return to base), the USCG waits until dawn to do a major search unless your flight plan says you have survival lighting on board. Come pick up more good tips from Perry’s presentation. There will also be short seminars on your favorite subject … FAR’s. This will include an overview of the latest changes to part 61. The weekend will be filled with lots of informative discussions, and presentations to say nothing of the opportunity to reacquaint yourself with those airmen you haven’t seen since last year’s Wings Weekend. If you fly in or bring your aircraft log books, Jim Hein will be available to help out with a Pilot-Aircraft-Courtesy-Evaluation (PACE) … free of charge. If you’re not familiar with what that is, give him a call and he’ll get you set up for a weekend full of information about your airplane that you may not already know. There will also be discounted aircraft and volunteer Certified Flight Instructors available to provide the flight portion of the Wings Award training. Call Scott Allen at the FSDO to advance schedule a flight with an instructor so that you can complete that WINGS Award! ASSIGNMENT: Open your planning calendar ... right now … and block out August 15 and 16, 1998 to attend the FAA Wings Weekend. Remember …. "Safety is no accident." See you there, ALOHA |
| Note for all Seminars - No reservations are required unless otherwise noted. - Never a fee. - For more information contact the Safety Program Managers listed on the front page. All FAA Safety Seminars satisfy the requirements of AC-61.91H; the Pilot Proficiency Awards Program (Wings) and /or the Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards Program; AC-65-25A. |
| .............................................................................................August ’98 |
CONDOLENCES TO PATRICK |
| According to nearly everyone associated
with sport skydiving, Patrick "Deug" de
Gayardon was "the best." Skydiving Magazine
called him one of the brightest stars and ambassadors. He
had an enormous passion for skydiving. He is credited
with making one of the first skysurfing jumps. Skydiving
magazine named him Skydiver of the Year in 1991 for his
"mediagenic achievements" both on TV and in
print. At the age of 38 he had more than 11,000 jumps in
just 18 years of skydiving. His boundless energy and
ceaseless globe trotting may have put him into personal
contact and freefall with more people than any other
skydiver in history. Muriel Macaux said. "Patrick
was to French skydivers what Princess Di was to the
British." On April 13, 1998, news of Patrick’s death shocked parachutists all over the world. I would like to add condolences from the FAA Honolulu Flight Standards District Office. Patrick’s death was indeed a sad event for sport skydiving communities everywhere. I was one of the FAA Safety Inspectors who helped at the site investigation that day and I can unequivocally say that everyone there seemed amazed that Patrick of all people could make a mistake that would cost him his life. Just for a moment, allow me to share with you some information about why Patrick’s death was one that was preventable. Please understand that I do not mean this to be disrespectful of Patrick, his accomplishments, or his friends. He taught us some awesome lessons while he was with us; ones that apply to each and every aviator. In the end, Patrick paid for those lessons with his life. I believe that he would want each of us to take full advantage of these lessons and continue the work he started without having to cut short a brilliant career the way his was. In the investigation of the equipment worn by Patrick during his fatal jump, we found a pouch attached to the base of the main parachute container. This pouch contained the main parachute pilot chute and was attached with what appeared to be a piece of 1,000 LB test line and a zipper. Witnesses reported that Patrick had removed this pouch the night before to accomplish some changes to the pouch and that he had apparently done the removal-replacement of the pouch while the main parachute was still packed in the |
container. The investigation further
revealed that when he reattached this pouch to the
container, he routed the 1,000 LB test line through two
grommets located on the right outboard side and base of
the main parachute container and that he inadvertently
caught the right main parachute steering line. This
trapped steering line caused the main parachute from
properly deploying; which resulted in a certain main
parachute malfunction. During his last few moments, it is
apparent that he futilely attempted to cut away from the
main parachute malfunction and open his reserve
parachute. The reserve parachute never opened because the
main and reserve parachute bridles and pilot chutes
became entangled. The obvious lesson here is to completely repack your equipment when making changes to its configuration. But there are other lessons. Did you know that for sport parachuting in the US, reserve parachutes and harness and container assemblies are manufactured under Technical Standard Orders or US military specifications and fall under regulation by the FAA when used for sport parachuting? Under those regulations, any alteration to the harness and container must be accomplished by a US certificated parachute rigger. Patrick was not certificated to make alterations. In addition, other parachutists jumping with Patrick had knowledge he had been making alterations to his equipment and that he was not in compliance with FAA regulations. I would hazard a guess that no one bothered to challenge him because he was perceived as the best; and you just don’t mess with the "best." A related side note was that the required reserve parachute packing data card for Patrick’s reserve parachute and the sister parachute system used by Patrick were missing. Furthermore, witnesses reported that he had been packing his own reserve. Again, since Patrick was not a US certificated parachute rigger, he was not in compliance with FAA regulations for packing reserve parachutes and those who had been jumping with him hadn’t been challenging this behavior. Although I never knew Patrick personally, (continued below) |
| Pacific Island Flyer |
| while reading some of the jumping
experiences that people had with him, I began to get a
sense that his behavior and demeanor were perhaps
unconventional and egocentric; much the way you might
expect "the best" to be. Stories like "he
jumped from and then flew back into a Pilatus
Porter," "he did high altitude jumps without
oxygen," "he swooped the ocean and got his
parachute completely sopping wet, then packed it up, and
went up and jumped again." Patrick had reportedly
been using a French manufactured Tandem rig in the United
States. This Tandem system was not TSO’d under US
rules and using it in the US would not be in compliance
with the FAR’s. I have serious doubts that the USPA
would sanction such behavior. Robin Heid wrote an article
about him for Skydiving Magazine and said, "play is
the term that probably best sums up Patrick de
Gayardon’s recklessly joyful romp through
life." I couldn’t help but wonder if any of
them had ever tried to slow him down, be a buddy,
and suggest that he be a bit less "reckless." Patrick’s untimely death highlights the idea that there is always a chain or thread of events |
which lead
up to the accident or incident. If you carefully look at
his story, you will find numerous times when someone
could have broken that chain and perhaps prevented his
death. Simple things. Someone could have refused to let
him jump with a system that was not altered in accordance
with FAR’s, or refused to let him jump with a
reserve parachute that was not packed by a US
certificated parachute rigger. If only people could have
been his buddy just like is taught to every new
parachutist and aviator, perhaps Patrick would be with us
today. Let Patrick’s accident remind you to never equate "he’s the best" with "he can’t make a mistake." It doesn’t matter how many hours you have at the controls or how many jumps you have, you’re still just as vulnerable to making mistakes. If you’re jumping or flying with someone else, no matter how many hours or jumps they have, make it your responsibility to be a buddy and challenge them to prove that their preflights, flight plans, and equipment meet current standards of the industry and regulating agencies. |
