You are NEVER hooked in.

General discussion about the sport of hang gliding
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36274
Terrifying tandem--failure to hook in passenger--Swizerland
Doug Marley - 2018/12/01 00:55:31 UTC

What's with your anger?
All those apostrophes he's been hording have become lodged in his scrotum.
First off, this vid will all be forgotten in a matter of hours, or perhaps days by the general public.
No it won't. Way too spectacular and high quality.
Second: it's a good reminder for pilots to develop check lists or mnemonic lists, or something to help them to remember each part of their gear prep prior to launch.
Lessee... I must never:
- do a preflight sidewire stomp test 'cause I might grind one into a sharp rock.
- think about the sharp rocks fifty feet below the ramp 'cause that will blur the focus Image I need to execute a clean launch.

OK, I'm good.
Third: launches are crowded? Image
Yeah, the sport's really been picking up a lot in the month and a half or so since Luke entered it.
dbhyslop - 2018/12/01 02:35:26 UTC
CloudDiver - 2018/11/30 17:54:09 UTC

- Free Flight, generally and statistically speaking, is safer than driving to work in the morning.
This might be true if a quarter million Americans die driving this year.
That's probably about right.
Leo Jones - 2018/12/01 03:03:43 UTC

I think this is a terrific video.
You should see all the ones that u$hPa and all the other national organizations have shredded.
I am so glad it turned out as well as it did, the alternative was too terrifying. Kudos to the passenger, and to the pilot, apart from his terrible initial error. Image
Which was not doing a hang check, right?
Now probably more people have seen this video than any other about hang gliding, ever!
Yep. 7.81 million hits at present. Rate of increase has tapered off considerably in the past couple days.
All over the news worldwide. Image
And good freakin' luck finding a single reference to anything along the lines of a hook-in check anywhere.
But here's the thing. Most people pretty much shudder at the thought of hang gliding anyway - about like I feel about cave diving I imagine. Some think it's cool but would never do it - sheesh, most people don't like flying in anything, let alone a hang glider. A few might try, but very few will become hang glider pilots. When i first learned to hang glide I tried to persuade all my buddies to try it. But none did. "You're a rare bird" my friends said.

I don't think this video will put anyone off hang gliding...
Was anyone put off commercial air travel on 2018/10/29 when a Lion Air 737 slammed into the Indian Ocean instantly killing all 189 aboard due to a faulty sensor and inadequate notification regarding the procedure to deal with same? You think any member of the public thinks he's stupid enough to fail to catch the issue that precipitated this Interlaken issue?
...but the good thing about it is that now probably half the people in the world, even those who never, ever, wanted to hang glide, and including those who might, now know that you MUST do a hook in check!! Image
Sure they do. And right after this video hit the cybersphere all hang gliding instructors around the globe decided to start teaching hook-in checks - and recalling all of the students whom they'd signed off prior to 2018/11/26 to get them up to speed. And we can see everybody doing hook-in checks in all the foot launch videos posted in the course of the last five days.
CloudDiver - 2018/12/01 04:01:01 UTC

I'm not angry, context is easily lost in text vs speech. I'm just a sailor, I cuss a lot. If I'm not cussing you better check my pulse.
Better stay on The Jack Show then. Emperor Bob only tolerates free speech that doesn't include foul language - or criticisms of any of his children who are all playing nicely with each other.
Yes, the general public will forget about the video in short order, but that does not change my hypothesis that the knee jerk reaction could change the minds of at least a few potential future pilots or casual tandem customers and that is unfortunate.
GOOD. On both counts.
Yes, Launches in Southern California and other locations that have fair to excellent weather for most of the year can get pretty crowded... wing tip to wing tip or what we called nuts to butts in the Navy.
That's why when you wanna get a lot of actual flying done you aerotow them out of airfields with Tad-O-Links.
Come fly Crestline on a beautiful spring/summer/fall day when conditions are perfect and you won't be rolling your eyes about my comment, you'll be rolling your eyes because you can't find a patch of ground big enough to squeeze a Radio Flyer Wagon into let alone set up a Wing.
See above.
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Tad Eareckson
Posts: 9150
Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36274
Terrifying tandem--failure to hook in passenger--Swizerland
Timothy Ward - 2018/12/01 17:25:48 UTC

I don't know that it will be forgotten. It's probably a confirmation of their biases in any case.
Rubbish. People aren't staying away from hang gliding 'cause they're afraid they're gonna be so stupid as to not hook themselves in. And the idiots already IN the sport aren't smart enough to understand the issue and develop the fear they need to manage it properly.
But I expect to be asked about this by people who find out I fly hang gliders for years to come.
Just tell them to always do a hang check and they'll be fine. What could be simpler and easier?
Not because it happened, but because it appeared on YouTube.
'Cause it appeared on YouTube before u$hPa was able to get it shredded.
K.C. Benn - 2018/12/01 18:49:26 UTC

That tandem Swiss Pilot should have his Tandem license taken away forever.
Fuck yeah. Then all the other tandem pilots out there will REALLY start taking this issue seriously. They'll think that they better not take any chances on dropping their passengers a thousand feet 'cause that'll result in their Tandem licenses being taken away forever. End of story.
Any tandem pilot should know you hook the client in first.
1. Yeah, then if he forgets to hook himself in second...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22660
What can be learned from this "scooter" towing accident?
Mitch Shipley - 2011/01/31 15:22:59 UTC

Enjoy your posts, as always, and find your comments solid, based on hundreds of hours / tows of experience and backed up by a keen intellect/knowledge of the issues when it comes to most things in general and hang gliding AT/Towing in particular. Wanted to go on record in case anyone reading wanted to know one persons comments they should give weight to.
...it's not such a big fucking deal.

2. Just like any solo pilot should know you hook yourself in first. That's how come we virtually never have any unhooked launch incidents with solo pilots.
What an idiot.
Couldn't have said it better. But I was applying it to you.
I have taken a buch of people up Tandem at the Crawfords and have never had a problem with hooking in.
Well of course not. You hook the client in first. And you've taken a buch of people up Tandem at the Crawfords and have never had a problem with hooking in. How much more proof do we need that you've totally hit the nail on the head? A buch is a totally huge number.
Why did he not immediatly go to the ground he had time even if he would of landed down wind.
I dunno. You've got all the fuckin' time in the world available and you're still incapable of composing a literate sentence.
I cant believe he lasted as long as he did.or if he didnt have time at the top I would of decided to take a tree landing.
And someone who's taken a buch of people up Tandem at the Crawfords and has never had a problem with hooking in would certainly be an ironclad authority on how to handle an unhooked passenger situation at Interlaken.
Most [people would of not been able to hold as long}
Good thing he wasn't flying most [people} then, wasn't it?
JMHO Image Image Image Image
Rock on, dude. Image Image Image Image
WhackityWhack - 2018/12/01 20:09:44 UTC

I think it's kinda neat that one of the Coolest Guys in Hang Gliding Today isn't even a Hang Glider Pilot!
Technically hasn't ever even been a hang gliding passenger.

But kinda unfair that you're crediting this guy with being cool for just hanging on until a safe-ish landing option could be attained while Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney maintained a death grip on the control bar of his passenger's glider all the way into the powerlines with virtually no suitable recognition for his achievement.
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Tad Eareckson
Posts: 9150
Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36274
Terrifying tandem--failure to hook in passenger--Swizerland
K.C. Benn - 2018/12/01 21:37:43 UTC

The number 1 rule in Hang Gliding at launch is Hook In.
Goddam fucking' RIGHT! And all those people who've been splattered below launches over the decades were inveterate rules breakers. Ya see them at launches not hooked in and ya tell 'em that the Number 1 rule at launch is to Hook In and they all say, "Fuck you, dude. I make MY OWN rules." And then they run off the ramp unhooked. Assholes get exactly what they deserve.

Then there's the guys always violating the LZ rule - which is to execute a perfectly timed flare on the old Frisee in the middle of the runway. Absolute carnage. Fuck them all too.
This guy needs to loose his Tandem rating for life I would of attempted a uphill downwind landing or a tree landing.
Maybe you should try getting your literacy proficiency up to third grade level before you start telling us how this guy should be dealt with and just how you'd handle a scenario in which you have zero experience.
This guy was an idiot to make you hang that long 98 % of people could not hang that long. You are a amazing Bro. Image
Try this on for size...

I'm gonna beam into the scenario three seconds into the flight. But I'll get to choose my pilot and I've gotta make my selection by shooting my second choice in the back of the head. Guess who I'm gonna be going with.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14230
pro tow set-up
Jack Axaopoulos - 2009/11/09 14:44:23 UTC

Tad, your continual bashing in general and bashing of HG schools has gotten really old. AT parks have solid safety records, so what you say and reality seem to be quite far apart.

You dominate the ignore report here.

http://www.hanggliding.org/ignorereport.php

Ever ask yourself why???

You do nothing but bring negativity here. My finger is on the ban button.
This is your last warning.

If you continue rubbing everyone the wrong way with your harsh, know it all tone, you are out of here.
Keep going. You're rubbing everyone the right way and if you're a total dickhead your know-it-all tone isn't really a problem in Jack's Living Room. (But there's gotta be something of a contingent left over there itching to rip your ass to shreds.)
---
P.S. - 2018/12/01 22:30:00 UTC

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36281
Mark Selner ?
K.C. Benn - 2018/12/01 18:37:37 UTC

Is Mark Selner still alive have not been on the board in a long time figured that boy would take himself out in a few months . I hope not I hope he is a hang 4 by now and is telling others about his almost died flights. Mark are you Image Image Image out there any where ? The swiss Hang glider tandem pilot should have his tandem license taken away forever. Any Tandem flight if you are a tandem pilot the first person youn hook in is your client. They are thinking about flying not hooking in ???? Image Image
Is anybody else thinking about how the shit this total asshole is spewing would be going over with the hundreds of individuals who've lost family members and close friends to this issue over the years?

Image
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Tad Eareckson
Posts: 9150
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Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

Crap...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36274
Terrifying tandem--failure to hook in passenger--Swizerland
Paul Hurless - 2018/12/01 22:28:11 UTC

Leaving the failure to hook-in the passenger and any penalties/punishments because of it aside, the pilot did do a pretty good job of dealing with the total panic situation. Maintaining control of a tandem wing with one hand while hanging on to the passenger with the other may be a bit more difficult than some people might think, especially with the adverse control input caused by the weight and drag of the passenger hanging from the control bar. There is really no way to tell how any of us would have dealt with being in that situation.
This K.C. Benn total dickhead has brought me into something of an alignment with the Paul Hurless dickhead.

But I'll still say bullshit regarding the flying demands. What would've been horrific would've been having to choose between a whole bunch of shitty options. And if we get to turn the clock back we stay happy with the way things turned out and don't crash it back into the trees in hopes that we could do better. If we gotta run that drill we run it on 2012/04/28 Jonathan Orders / Lenami Godinez-Avila. Can't do much worse for the passenger and the pilot himself said he was torn up about not having considered and executed that choice.

And P.S. Paul...

You motherfuckers don't get to leave the penalties/punishments aside after the way you embraced Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney after the atrocity he perpetrated at Coronet Peak. As long as he existed as a resource for getting you airborne for all those years whenever he snapped his fingers you were all sprinting into line to suck his dick.
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Tad Eareckson
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Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36274
Terrifying tandem--failure to hook in passenger--Swizerland
K.C. Benn - 2018/12/02 00:50:38 UTC

What I am saying is the situation should of never happend in the first place .
Got that, everybody out there in the worlds largest hang gliding community? A tandem pilot should never launch without hooking his passenger into the glider. Say it over and over and over in your head until it sinks in.
The pilot is totally responsible for the situation at hand.
And never in the history of the sport of hang gliding has anyone up the ladder involved in his training, qualification, certification been the tiniest bit responsible for shit. Flyking knows this 'cause he's taken a buch of people up Tandem at the Crawfords and has never had a problem with hooking in.
The client is totally in the zone he is not thinking about anytyhing else byut flying.
I disagree. He has to take 4 - 8 running steps alongside his pilot on the take-off, that's about all!
He should not be responsible for hooking in unless during Image his instuction he was trained to hook in.
1. TRAINED to hook in? Just how much TRAINING is involved in order for a student to achieve reasonably good proficiency in this skill? I have more trouble buckling myself into a car seat than I ever did safely connecting to a glider. 'Cept for ONCE when I managed a partial under stressful high wind conditions. But that had shit to do with training and it wasn't a mistake I ever came anywhere close to making a second time. Or maybe you think I should've been banned from hang gliding for life 'cause the mistake was similar and had similar potential for a plummet from a glider.

2. Oh! So IF he'd been TRAINED to hook in during his INSTUCTION he'd have had SOME RESPONSIBILITY for hooking in. Which, I think anybody with half a brain or better would readily agree, would've greatly diminished the likelihood of an unhooked launch. 'Specially for this motherfucker who did a rather remarkable job of staying with the glider for 2400 feet of vertical descent despite having his carabiner clipped in only to one of his shoulder straps. So then if either the Swiss national organization or this particular tandem thrill ride operation had instituted this no-brainer policy this horrendous situation - which left the pilot traumatized and globally humiliated and the bucket lister rather badly injured - this one would've been just another routine commercial hop.
I don't think the pilot should leave any responsibility to the Client.
Well then. Let's certainly not waste any further effort kicking around the idea of involving the passenger in anything more demanding than exercising four to eight running steps to help get the glider airborne. Let's keep on doing everything exactly the same. No fuckin' way we shouldn't start getting much better results almost immediately.
JMHO Image
Just your EXTREMELY humble opinion. Image

Really great to see the way nobody's rubbing anyone the wrong way over there in Jack's Living Room. The progress that can be made under such conditions is truly remarkable.

A little shy of 8.04 million hits.
---
P.S. - 2018/12/02 07:35:00 UTC

This comment from the video:
SmarterEveryDay

A few things.
1. Holy mother balls.
2. I'm glad you're ok.
3. I really appreciate your sense of humor. I literally laughed out loud at the "I didn't enjoy my first flight" line. Good job for not ruining this person's life by dragging out and blaming them publicly. Honest mistakes happen and you seem like an awesome person to handle it this way. Kudos!
Currently 2.8K likes (the highest figure by far I've seen), zero negatives, a thanks from Chris. Compare to / Contrast with a lot of the tone we're hearing from the worlds largest dickhead magnet community.

Also compare to / contrast with the literacy level we're getting from Fucking Flyking.
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Tad Eareckson
Posts: 9150
Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57778
The Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation is to investigate
Davis Straub - 2018/11/29 15:27:40 UTC

40,000 paragliding and hang gliding tandem flights a year

http://xcmag.com/news/swiss-hang-gliding-federation-to-investigate-swiss-mishap
Swiss Federation to investigate 'Swiss Mishap' | Cross Country Magazine - In the Core since 1988
The Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation is to investigate the circumstances around the commercial tandem hang-gliding flight in Interlaken that saw US tourist Chris Gursky hanging on for his life.

Published on YouTube yesterday by Gursky, the clip was picked up by media around the world and clocked up more than a million views in its first 24 hours online. It is well on its way to becoming the most watched hang gliding video on YouTube ever.

He said: "In principle hang gliding isn't a dangerous sport. Every year there are thousands of commercial tandem flights in Interlaken, without the slightest incident."

However, he added, "On the video a mistake is clearly visible. This should never have happened.

"The preflight check is an elementary and important routine of every flight, and is part of [basic] training. It's really tragic that in this case it obviously wasn't done properly."

Stocker praised the pilot's actions after take-off. "The pilot's reaction after the take-off was very good. Without any jerky movement - which would have ended fatally - he steered the glider as smoothly and quickly as possible towards the landing."

He added: "Because it is a serious incident we will continue the investigation."

Interlaken, where the "Swiss Mishap" occurred, is a popular site for commercial tandem flights. It sees an estimated 40,000 paragliding and hang gliding tandem flights a year.
Pnadams - 2018/11/30 15:22:57 UTC

40,000 tandem flights?

If you assume 180 flyable days per year and 8 hours launch window per day, that would be a launch every 2 minutes all day, every flyable day.
I think 40,000 tandem flights per year is a made up number.
What the hell. Hang and Para gliding both operate on made-up aeronautical theory, equipment performance certifications, administrator and instructor qualifications, incident reports. Why do anything to fuck up the consistency?
David Gerdes - 2018/12/01 03:06:21 UTC

Where the hell is the like button..
George Sychrovsky - 2018/12/01 03:37:30 UTC

The guy is getting a lot of flak , But he put up that video instead eating the memory chip, and it has tremendous educational value...
Sure it does. Something we can all learn from - again.
...as it creates awareness...
Wow! An unhooked launch! In hang gliding! And a tandem no less! Who'd have ever thunk? Thank God we've had this one for everyone to learn from - again. (Fuckin' Groundhog Day.)
...and the outcome turned ok so the way I see it he kinda redeemed himself
And when Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney failed to check his hook-in status on a tandem thrill ride in the Swizerland of the Southern Hemisphere; held onto the control bar; dove the glider, himself, his passenger into the powerlines he didn't need to do anything to redeem himself. He got all the Davis Show Members-In-Good-Standing to understand that the only viable defense against unhooked launches was to have one's friends catch the error. And thus he was off the hook 'cause he didn't have any friends. Probably why after 2016/09/29...

08-19
http://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5277/30076449505_1f6ed2f804_o.png
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...he abruptly quit flying anything. Couldn't get any friends anywhere for any price. Hell, people might even feign friendship in order to be able to distract and unhook him. And lotsa hang glider people are pretty good at feigning friendship - 'cause that's what droves of them were doing when he was driving the 914 Dragonflies with the cavitating props they needed to get airborne.
Davis Straub - 2018/12/01 04:29:21 UTC

The tandem passenger put up the video.
Maybe if you stopped banning all the people with their shit together...
Ben Reese - 2018/12/01 08:32:21 UTC
...and put your sewer off limits to total morons...
The video camera mounting hardware and most likely the camera was the pilots stuff.
It definitely was after this:

102-25328
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point.
He most likely included the memory chip with the flight and handed it over to the passenger.
And a thirty percent discount for his next flight* (*not transferable, to expire ninety days from the date of issue, other restrictions may apply.).
It also makes sense that the pilot agreed to the posting and asked passenger to exclude his name. He respectfully left the posting decision up to the passenger since it was his death defying flight. The passenger may have decided not to post it for many reasons I can imagine?

Later he did post it after considering the value of cementing the idea of making proper preflight checks in the future.
Goddam right. Each and every one of the pilots who's screwed this particular pooch has done so due to lax attitudes with respect to proper preflight checks. And/Or not treating the harness is part of the aircraft. End of story.
I can't imagine he just rushed off to post it without thinking it over. This story benefits all flyers in tandem flights.
Fuck yeah. None of these assholes every properly appreciated the importance of having people securely attached before running off a half mile high mountain before this one. We have just seen the last one of these within our lifetimes. Might even get a significant reduction in solo incidents.
No doubt he made this discussion with Hang Glider pilots prior to release. Evidence of that conclusion is his lack of malice towards the pilot.
Maybe he doesn't bear much in the way of malice towards the pilot 'cause he's not as much of a stupid hypocritical shithead as most of the people inside the sport are.
Others who saw the video prior to release helped to plant the idea that the pilot did a good flying job under extreme circumstances.
Oh bullshit. It's fuckin' obvious that there'd have been a much better outcome if he'd spun the glider around right after launch and crashed it downwind into the trees.
Passenger obviously feels he owes his life to the pilots flying skill.
Show me the part at which he did something SKILLFUL. Hell, doesn't even make the slightest effort to execute a perfectly timed landing flare.

114-30303
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Rolls it in like a girl and leaves Chris with the impression that it's the PROPER way to land. What if that Happy Acres putting green had been a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place?
The passenger knows the pilot screwed up so much that he can't add anything to it. The video tells us all we will ever need to know about his screwup.
ANY report of ANY unhooked launch tells us all we will ever need to know...
The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. - 1981/05

With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
...about the screwup
Forever, he will be both a nemesis and a hero.
Probably.
Score Card is -1 and +2

-1 Forgot to hook in passenger
+1 Flew smoothly and quickly to landing
+1 Helped facilitate the video release
________________________________
+1
Bull fucking shit. Never once in his entire fucking career performed anything remotely resembling a hook-in check. -1000.
Looking at this as a score card for Hang Gliding and publicity generated..
And like virtually every other asshole who's screwed this pooch will do absolutely nothing to help us get anything remotely resembling a hook-in check implemented on any scale.
JD Guillemette - 2018/12/03 04:34:20 UTC

Ben,
I respectfully don't agree with your score card.
I respectfully don't have a dust particle's worth of respect for either one of you fucking dickheads.
Forgetting to hook up the passenger is -100 or more.
Forgetting to hook up the passenger is something that WILL occur periodically at random in any culture that depends on any preflight procedure to ensure that everyone's hooked in at the moment of launch.
In no way does it have equal weight plus or minus to anything during the entire incident.
Fuck. Give him the points. Within this culture the unhooked launch itself occurred simply due to a bad roll of the dice.
I also don't give the pilot a +1 for flying to the LZ. He had no idea how long that guy could hang on and if he could make it to the LZ before the guy lost his grip.
Yeah, you'd have handled this one SO much better and gotten SO much better results - woudn't ya, pigfucker?
IMO the pilot should have immediately tuned back into the hill and taken a forced landing even with the potential to injury himself or the passenger.
1. And there's no fuckin' way an injury incurred after tuning back into the hill to either party could've have been as severe as a fatal or quad.
2. ALL hang glider landings are FORCED landings. What one gets after tuning back into the hill is called a CRASH - dickhead.
3. The sky's the fuckin' limit with respect to potential injuries to the pilot and/or passenger in hang glider CRASHES.
Flying to higher AGL and extending the flight to a suitable LZ only put his passenger at greater risk...
Suck my dick, JD. Chris letting go at THIS:

008-03124
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point could've been fatal. He was at risk of dying or worse for virtually the entire flight. So shove your risk graduation scale back up your ass and leave there where it belongs.
...with no additional risk to himself.
Yeah, let's have him shot for cowardice.
Had the passenger lost his grip 10 seconds before he did and died, would you still give him credit for flying smoothly and quickly to the LZ?
Yeah. There's no tandem driver from the history of the sport we can't give credit for trying to salvage the best possible outcome from one of these situations. Jon Orders would probably have had a better outcome for his would-be passenger if he'd turned back into launch - but ain't 20/20 hindsight really wonderful.
The only person who gets any positive score card marks and praise is the passenger who saved the situation by being able to hold on as long as he could.
Took guts.

The passenger - Chris Gursky - is the world's Number One authority on the best course of action to have been taken on this one. He's the only one who knows what it felt like during this particular flight given his particular physical issues and limitations. And *HE* endorses the course of actions of the Pilot In Command 100.00 percent. And none of you fuckin' Monday morning armchair quarterbacks gets to second-guess shit on this one. So just shut the fuck up about anything and everything that transpired subsequent to commitment.
The passenger also gets full credit for posting the video...
So then what does u$hPa get for recovering and swallowing the Kelly Harrison / Arys Moorhead video?
...and taking such a compassionate and understanding view of just how badly this guy screwed up and almost cost him his life.
But you know so much better than he does, dontchya?
The pilot failed on all accounts as far as I'm concerned and deserves no praise.
Yeah, save all your praise for dispensation on the Jack and Davis Shows Mutual Masturbation Societies.
Davis Straub - 2018/12/03 04:38:05 UTC

Agreed.
Big fuckin' surprise...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18695
How could this accident happen?
Davis Straub - 2010/01/28 06:10:17 UTC

I have tried to launch unhooked on aerotow and scooter tow.
...douchebag. And, by the way Davis... You're the only fuckin' douchebag in the history of the sport who's ever TRIED to launch unhooked - in two different flavors of foot launch towing no less. And that fits right in with your mandatory one-size-fits-all Standard Aerotow Weak Link implementation to sell the most dangerous malfunction possible on a tow as the focal point of your safe towing operations.
Mike Bomstad - 2018/12/03 06:40:00 UTC

How about we put a blind fold on you, or you wife / girlfriend / kids your parents whoever you care about and let them go with this pilot, still going ok with any + whatever scorecard rating?
In a fuckin'...
Rob Kells - 2005/12

Each of us agrees that it is not a particular method, but rather the fear of launching unhooked that makes us diligent to be sure we are hooked in every time before starting the launch run.
...heartbeat.
He had one basic responsibility before anything thing else, passenger safety. That failed before the flight even started.
Pity...

2013/08/18
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05-A04919
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13-A14319
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...he didn't drag a tip on the ground in the vicinity of one of those sharp rocks we have all over most of our launches while approaching launch, worry that there may have been some damage, lean forward for a better view... Ain't it...

2012/07/06
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...Wonder Boy.
The only + was the passenger somehow hung on long enough not to be killed by the pilots negligence.
And the only things keeping you from getting killed by your own negligence, incompetence, stupidity was a rock in the vicinity of the point at which one of your tips touched down and a launch system which forces a hook-in check. How fuckin' hypocritical, holier-than-thou, sleazy, disgusting is it possible for one individual to get?

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Tad Eareckson
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Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://xcmag.com/news/swiss-hang-gliding-federation-to-investigate-swiss-mishap/
Swiss Federation to investigate 'Swiss Mishap' | Cross Country Magazine - In the Core since 1988
SWISS FEDERATION TO INVESTIGATE 'SWISS MISHAP'
2018/11/27

The Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation is to investigate the circumstances around the commercial tandem hang-gliding flight in Interlaken that saw US tourist Chris Gursky hanging on for his life.
Yeah? What qualifications does the Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation have to investigate the circumstances around the commercial tandem hang-gliding flight in Interlaken that saw US tourist Chris Gursky hanging on for his life? Aren't these the same assholes who trained, qualified, certified Interlaken Guy as a commercial tandem pilot?
The "Swiss Mishap" video, which shows Gursky hanging on to the base bar of the hang glider when he was not clipped-in properly...
Not clipped in "PROPERLY"? So he was clipped in, just improperly.

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I shudder to think how things might have turned out if he hadn't been clipped in at all.
...has become an international sensation.

Published on YouTube yesterday by Gursky, the clip was picked up by media around the world and clocked up more than a million views in its first 24 hours online. It is well on its way to becoming the most watched hang gliding video on YouTube ever.
I think it's a safe bet that it's well beyond on it's way at this point.
The story has also been featured on news websites and TV channels around the world. The video shows Gursky and his professional pilot take off normally before realising Gursky is not clipped in. Gursky then hangs by his arms as the pilot steers the glider at speed to an emergency landing in the field in the valley below.
Pity they couldn't find a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place which is what all hang gliders are better trained to land in.
The identity of the pilot has not been publicly revealed, although it is thought he is an independent operator in Interlaken, not a pilot from one of the larger companies.
So can we get the list of the larger operations which have denied that he was one of theirs?
In a direct-message interview with Cross Country yesterday, the passenger Chris Gursky said: "I really don't want this to be a negative thing for the pilot, I am past that phase. He did all he could and more.
Right. All he could and more. It would be totally nuts to expect him to verifying that his passenger was connected before starting the run down the ramp.
He is a good guy."
Not compared to Mike Bomstad.
He continued: "As long as everybody understands that I posted this to show my experience and not to point blame or harm to anyone.
Right. The most viral incident video in the history of the sport times twenty and everyone on the driver side of the equation did the best humanly possible.
Especially the pilot. He stayed with [me] at the hospital and returned the following day. He is a good hearted man."
Did you see Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney there visiting people who'd flown with Tad-O-Links to trade safety for convenience?
He added: "If and when I hang glide again I would have no problem flying with him."
Will you check to see if you're hooked in this time? Maybe your pilot too for good measure? Might you have had a longer more enjoyable flight and safer landing if you'd been advised to do so in preparation for your last one?
Not everyone however has been so forgiving, with many online calling for the pilot to have his commercial tandem licence revoked.
Including/Especially some of the sleazy shits who themselves have had serious neglected connection incidents and given their asshole unhooked launching buddies total free passes.
Not clipping-in a tandem passenger is an extremely rare occurrence in hang gliding, but it has happened.
Why limit it to tandem passengers? Not clipping oneself in for a solo is a pretty fucking common occurrence and it's exactly the same error.
In cases where the passenger has been injured or killed, pilots have been prosecuted and jailed.
I only know about two who were prosecuted...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/for-a-hang-gliding-instructor-tragedy-strikes-again/article4325470/
For a hang-gliding instructor, tragedy strikes again - The Globe and Mail
Tom Hawthorn - 2010/09/05
Victoria

Mr. Parson was sentenced to 350 hours of community service and ordered to pay NZ$10,000 ($8,450 Canadian) in reparations to the mother for manslaughter. He had faced up to 10 years in jail.
...and only one who was jailed.
Beni Stocker, Training and Safety Office for the Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation (SHV) in Zurich said the incident was clearly serious and they would investigate it.
Oh good. The assholes responsible for setting, implementing, enforcing the standards under which this guy operated are gonna investigate this very serious incident. My guess is they're gonna find serious issues at the administrative level.
He said that the pilot had not filed an incident report at the time. "We got to know [about it] yesterday evening, as the pilot didn't file an EHPU incident report."

When commercial and recreational hang glider and paraglider pilots in Europe experience a "flight incident", for example a crash or emergency, they are encouraged to file incident reports to a European-wide database.
Can't IMAGINE why he didn't file one - what with all the encouragement he had.
In some countries it is a legal duty to file them.
In others they're just encouraged to do so. And one tends to get much better data with the encouragement route.
They can be filed online using an online form and the intention is to increase safety throughout the sport by sharing information without judgement.
And look how great that's been working!
Stocker said there would "surely" be an inquiry into the incident in Interlaken and that the SHV would want to talk to the pilot involved. The SHV's "main target" would be to find out how basic tandem hang gliding procedures had failed...
The same way they have since close to Day One of the sport - you fuckin' dickheads.
...and what lessons could be learned for the future.
More and better hang checks. And safer helmets.
He said: "In principle hang gliding isn't a dangerous sport. Every year there are thousands of commercial tandem flights in Interlaken, without the slightest incident."
And perish the thought we should look at recreational solo flights not at Interlaken. They'd obviously all be totally irrelevant.
However, he added, "On the video a mistake is clearly visible.
And on the video the mistake is clearly IN VISIBLE...

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...to the two individuals about to be affected by it.
This should never have happened.
No fuckin' shit. Amazing you've been able to draw a conclusion like that this early in the investigative process.
"The preflight check is an elementary and important routine of every flight, and is part of [basic] training. It's really tragic that in this case it obviously wasn't done properly."
Bull fucking shit. Just from watching the video itself - minus the captions and other statements from the only party who's gone on the record with first hand information - there's no way in hell you motherfuckers can tell whether or not the setup was properly and thoroughly preflighted. There are TONS of unhooked launch incidents involving gliders that were properly and thoroughly preflighted in setup and staging areas. Preflight inspections don't DEcrease unhooked launch likelihood. They do the polar opposite. You're way more likely to accidently kill somebody with a gun you've checked to be unloaded than you are one whose status you know nothing about.
Stocker praised the pilot's actions after take-off. "The pilot's reaction after the take-off was very good. Without any jerky movement - which would have ended fatally - he steered the glider as smoothly and quickly as possible towards the landing."
Bull fucking shit. Everybody and his dog knows that he should've immediately 180ed the glider and crashed it back into the trees or houses back at the top of the slope.
He added: "Because it is a serious incident we will continue the investigation."
Wow. You'll continue it. And here I was thinking you hadn't really even started it.
Interlaken, where the "Swiss Mishap" occurred, is a popular site for commercial tandem flights. It sees an estimated 40,000 paragliding and hang gliding tandem flights a year.
Totally amazing you'd get an unhooked launch incident with so many others going off just fine year after year. This guy must be a real asshole. Better throw the book at him.

And ZERO incidents along the lines of Wonder Boys. Gliders headed for the ramp good to go and an unconnected carabiner caught by chance, dumb luck, another pilot or launch assistant. The ones that go off like this one did are just the tip of the iceberg.

Notice this motherfucker isn't saying a goddam thing about either involving the passenger in the process (nobody buckles passenger jet passengers into their seats - they're instructed to buckle themselves in every fuckin' time) or the passenger being advised about this danger. So we know with one hundred percent certainty that this has never been a component of their SOPs. And we know that it never will be 'cause such an implementation would be an admission of responsibility, negligence incompetence at the top level.

And ditto concerning any action to be taken at launch position. It's always gonna be about being sure everything’s good to go before the glider begins its approach to the ramp.

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Make it a thousand dollar fine for a glider to approach the ramp with anybody hooked in and the problem goes away.

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Steve Davy
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Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Steve Davy »

Maybe if you stopped banning all the people with their shit together...
Bad idea. Banning people with their shit together is Straub's number one method for eliminating competency.

And for Davis Straub, eliminating competency is a good idea.
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Tad Eareckson
Posts: 9150
Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57778
The Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation is to investigate
Fabiano - 2018/12/03 20:43:42 UTC

Rio de Janeiro launch has an average of anything in between 30 and 40 thousand tandem flights per year. We get a lot more than 50% flyable days though, and there's both a HG and a PG operation in two launches that, although separate, have to coordinate, because the take-off corridor is the same (one ramp right above the other). There are moments when we have one launch every 20 seconds. I have never been to Interlaken, but I'm just illustrating that their numbers might not be too far-fetched.

-=-

About the whole event, many years ago I was of the oppinion that forgetting to hook-in was an unconceivable stupidity. After hearing about so many incidents and avoidable deaths because of this "stupid" mistake I must conclude that it's in our subconscious brain. Is like locking the car with the keys inside. Eventually it might happen to you. Therefore, the only really safe way to launch a tandem is by having outside checkers.

I mean, it's just as dangerous for a solo flight, but at least it's only your own responsability. and it's easier to check if you're connected when you're by yourself, you just lean forward and feel the attachment.

I don't blame the pilot as much as I blame the Interlaken tandem operation for not having come up with controllers who will do a simple 5 item checklist. If the place has thousands of flights per year they should be able to afford people to do a launch check.

We adopted this procedure in Rio about 4 years ago, after one tandem pilot died taking off disconnected (the passenger, an american woman survived landing in the trees with very minor injuries) and so far there has never been a mistake unspotted. Actually, at least to my knowledge, there hasn't been an actual failure to hook-in spotted yet, but there has been plenty of other details that have been identified due to this very simple procedure. Things like having the emergency parachute safety pins too close to letting go, or having one of the leg loops out, or failing to hook in the backup hang-loop, etc.

Our brains, specially at times of stress, might black out simple repetitive procedures, there's just no way anyone can be 100% aware all the time. We're only human.
About the whole event, many years ago I was of the oppinion that forgetting to hook-in was an unconceivable stupidity.
1. Me too - when I first started flying in the early Eighties. One I was absolutely certain I'd make within two years if I continued in the sport. And that was a good start in the way of making sure I would never make it.

2. Why? There'd been unhooked launch fatalities since the dawn of foot launched hang gliding. Did you think that all the victims and survivors were inconceivably stupid? I understood IMMEDIATELY that this one could happen to ANYBODY.

3. In fact stupid people may have a decided advantage with respect to this issue. If you've got a stunted little brain only capable of dealing with one issue per minute...
After hearing about so many incidents and avoidable deaths because of this "stupid" mistake I must conclude that it's in our subconscious brain.
It's in the total shit moronic training strategies implemented by every administrative program on the planet which treat this as a preflight check issue. We made sure the gun wasn't loaded two minutes ago. You're good to point it at your own and/or passenger's head and pull the trigger any time you feel like it.
Is like locking the car with the keys inside. Eventually it might happen to you.
Not these days. They've engineered the cars to make it physically impossible to do so. That will never happen in hang gliding - and shouldn't.
Therefore, the only really safe way to launch a tandem is by having outside checkers.
Now where have we heard something like that...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4247
Hook in failure in New Zealand
Jim Rooney - 2006/09/24 21:19:29 UTC

In particular... Third Party Verification.
You won't save you, but your friends might.
Not always, but they're more reliable than you.
Why do you think that airline checklists (yes our lovely checklists) are check-verified by pilot AND copilot?

That's all I got for ya.
The other topics have been beat to death here.
If there was an answer, we'd all already be doing it.
...before? 'Cept that motherfucker never suggested that anything along the lines of practical formal implementation 'cause...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Jim Rooney - 2011/08/26 08:24:31 UTC

And I'm not so arrogant to think that my precious little ideas are going to magically revolutionise the industry.
There are far smarter people than me working this out.
I know, I've worked with them.
(Bobby's a fucking genius when it comes to this shit... for example.)
...of his legendary lack of arrogance.
I mean, it's just as dangerous for a solo flight...
Not really. If the pilot drops there's a possibility of killing twice as many people. Although historically the passengers have always come out smelling like roses - even when some asshole holds on to save his own sleazy ass with zero regard for the passenger's life and forces the glider into a dive into the powerlines.
...but at least it's only your own responsability.
1. See above about responsability.

2. Any thoughts on treating the passenger as something better than ballast? Assigning him a degree of responsibility, making him feel like a crew member with a potentially critical contribution to make? "Both crew members securely hooked in. Do you concur?" Steps forward to check for tension. "Check."
...and it's easier to check if you're connected when you're by yourself, you just lean forward and feel the attachment.
Yeah it IS easier. But if you JUST DO THAT MUCH you WILL think about the passenger's connection. And then won't you AUTOMATICALLY require your passenger to lean forward or step through? And show me one single shred of evidence of one "pilot" from the history of tandem flying who's ever actually done anything like this at launch position or within fifteen seconds of commitment.
I don't blame the pilot as much as I blame the Interlaken tandem operation...
Totally with ya there dude. 'Cept it needs to be done on the national level. That's where the REAL negligence is. And they know that - which is why you'll NEVER see a national administrative body ever implement anything like this.
...for not having come up with controllers who will do a simple 5 item checklist.
Oops. We just started degenerating to the Joe Greblo Four or Five Cs level. Now you're talking about bullshit preflight crap - like buckled Chinstraps and bar Clearance.
If the place has thousands of flights per year they should be able to afford people to do a launch check.
Given that they refuse to implement a hook-in check policy they can't afford not to.
We adopted this procedure in Rio...
Meaning local guys taking some initiative.
...about 4 years ago, after one tandem pilot died taking off disconnected (the passenger, an american woman survived landing in the trees with very minor injuries)...
Toldyaso.
...and so far there has never been a mistake unspotted.
Because of FEAR. They've done their preflights so they're good to go. But as they approach that checkpoint or even just as they THINK ABOUT approaching the checkpoint... Anybody having any trouble imagining the level of HUMILIATION a pilot would feel after being stopped with less that two carabiners securely engaged?
Actually, at least to my knowledge, there hasn't been an actual failure to hook-in spotted yet...
See above.
...but there has been plenty of other details...
Chickenshit stuff that doesn't matter. See above. They're so worried about the connection that they haven't checked a batten that wasn't tensioned.
...that have been identified due to this very simple procedure.
Simple's always best, right? None of this Rube Goldberg bullshit.
Things like having the emergency parachute safety pins too close to letting go...
The pins aren't what's keeping the container closed - just as harness chest buckles aren't what's keeping you in your harness. They're safeties which for all practical purposes never come into play.
...or having one of the leg loops out, or failing to hook in the...
...stupid way-south-of-useless...
backup hang-loop, etc.

Our brains, specially at times of stress, might black out simple repetitive procedures...
But if you assholes would train your brains to be terrified of making the only mistake that really matters at the only instant it really matters...
...there's just no way anyone can be 100% aware all the time.
FUCK "ALL THE TIME". Two seconds is all we need. And just for that ONE issue.
We're only human.
People are only human when they enter the sport. Then they're reprogrammed to become massively SUBhuman.

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<BS>
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Re: You are NEVER hooked in.

Post by <BS> »

What qualifications does the Swiss Hang and Paragliding Federation have to investigate the circumstances around the commercial tandem hang-gliding flight in Interlaken that saw US tourist Chris Gursky hanging on for his life?
Don't know, but their video shredding and information suppression skills suck. The biggest "lessons learned" will probably be in that department.
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