Author Topic: Luckiest skydiver EVAR  (Read 313 times)

Offline JB73

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8780
I don't know what to put here yet.

Offline DREDIOCK

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17773
Luckiest skydiver EVAR
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2005, 07:19:32 PM »
"Im never going to jump again"

Looks like someone was trying to give him a message and he got it LOL
Death is no easy answer
For those who wish to know
Ask those who have been before you
What fate the future holds
It ain't pretty

Offline DiabloTX

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9592
Luckiest skydiver EVAR
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2005, 10:51:38 PM »
Lucky alright.  My oldest brother has over 11,000 jumps and this guy has more bad luck in his first than my brother has had in over 11,000.  I quit after 6.  That video brought back some memories of my AFF jumps.
"There ain't no revolution, only evolution, but every time I'm in Denmark I eat a danish for peace." - Diablo

Offline deSelys

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2512
Luckiest skydiver EVAR
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2005, 07:34:38 AM »
ROFLMAO....this is not the luckiest student skydiver to have lived ever but the DUMBEST.
Being called a "Scott Lutz" by a fellow skydiver means that he thinks that even bowling is too dangerous for you.


What happened during this incident:

The AFF dive seems to happen normally until pull altitude. There Lutz seems to forget what he has to do (wave and pull) and the AFF Instructor tries to put his right hand on the hand-deploy (BOC or Bottom Of Container). Then Lutz has a major brain fart and pulls his cutaway pillow instead (on his chest). At the same time, because altitude is decreasing FAST, the AFF I pulls for the student. The deployment bag leaves the container but the risers disconnect immediately as Lutz has just cutaway.
Oddly, the student rig is not equipped with a Reserve Static Lanyard (RSL) which pulls out the reserve pins when the risers disconnect (or Lutz has disconnected it also, I can't tell from the video), and Lutz continues his freefall on his back , now completely unstable.

The AFF Is stay with him now well below pull altitude to try to pull his reserve for him but has he is spinning, there is a serious risk to be knocked down in the event of a collision.

Finally, his AAD (set up for a student altitude) cuts the reserve loop and saves his butts.

As a genuine Darwin award material, Lutz then manages to land his canopy in the only power lines 10 miles around.... (despite normal wind/visibility conditions).

Now everybody does mistakes (backing due to heavy winds, I landed on a concrete runway 3 jumps ago and wrecked a student rig when a minor correction would have been enough) and some have done even dumber (i.e. like cutting away at 100 ft to avoid landing in trees....fortunately a tree limb caught the inflating reserve and saved the guy) but Lutz had to add insult to the injury: he contacted the media to tell how unsafe the dropzone was (when  saving his life despite his own best efforts to kill himself is a good proof of the DZ safety...) then SUED the DZ.
Fortunately, the court rejected his claim.
Then, to top it off, he sued the power company for putting lines there! :rolleyes: :rofl

Here is a link to a hilarious discussion of this incident (and others) by instructors:
 stupidest student ever (Mmmm direct linking doesn't work. Do a search on Scott Lutz and pick the first result called "Stupidest Student Ever"

And here is the video of a really lucky (and competent) skydiver:

Double malfunction

While his main is inflating, he does a stunt (not very risky but still unnecessary as he admitted it later) by going head down to film the ground for a couple more seconds. Unfortunately his foot gets caught in the lines of his main. He can't free himself and tries to cutaway. His risers disconnect but his foot stays trapped in the risers: he is now trailing the canopy which causes him to spin violently. He doesn't have any other option than pulling his reserve but Murphy is hovering around and the reserve pilot chute and bridle entangle with the main.
The jumper never gives up and he pulls his reserve out of the freebag by hand...quite amazing.

Then he manages to crash-land his barely controllable reserve due to a lineover malfunction.

THAT is a tremendous combination of luck/skill.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2005, 07:38:24 AM by deSelys »
Current ID: Romanov

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

'I AM DID NOTHING WRONG' - Famous last forum words by legoman