[Rick Masters]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26pgq ... h-fail_fun

[JoeF]

"Unfortunately, Dan Murphy (this pilot) was murdered several years ago at Fort Funston, California. He was one of the best Hang Glider pilots who ever lived"

Telling article of 2006:
August 28, 2006
Fort Funston shooting victim succumbs to wounds

Master HG rating apparently; commercial pilot apparently.
A ballistic chute may have helped; but a spinning mess might snag the chute shroud lines and reel the mess in.
he lived through such incident only to be gunned down by someone who then also took his own life at the scene.
Second Chantz http://www.secondchantz.com/

[wingspan33]

Rick,

That video hits home. I was in Telluride where/when that happened. The late Dan Murphy was the pilot.

I wonder though, would a ballistic chute have worked better in this case? A ballistic chute doesn't inflate itself - that I know of. The thing was, Dan's glider was "falling" so slow AND spinning so fast (effectively "helicoptering") that both chutes (he had two) got wrapped up in the spinning wing. It can be seen that the second chute even falls faster than the glider before also getting wrapped up.

[Rick Masters]

A ballistic chute doesn't inflate itself

No. But it does unravel and straighten out the parachute, giving you a better chance than a hand-thrown chute ever could.

Dan's glider was "falling" so slow AND spinning so fast (effectively "helicoptering") that both chutes (he had two) got wrapped up in the spinning wing. It can be seen that the second chute even falls faster than the glider before also getting wrapped up.

Yeah, you see the same slow speed in a lot of PG incidents like cravats. I've known hang glider pilots who have helicoptered to the ground under broken hang gliders and, despite being unable to successfully deploy their reserve, walked away without a scratch. Of course, in a helicopter spin, the hang glider pilot is near or at the center of rotation with little angular momentum. A soaring parachutist in a spiral, on the other hand, is getting whipped around at high speed and the results can be pretty grisly.

[wingspan33]

I go right along with the evidence presented that an airframe can save you even if it's busted - and deploying your chute(s) doesn't work.