wingspan33 wrote:There's a third group that might be the safest collapsible canopy occupants. That would be long term Advanced level hang glider pilots who know and understand the "turbulence problems" inherent with collapsible canopies. They would be very likely to ONLY fly their collapsible canopy when there was very low, or no, threat of turbulence. Basic early morning of late evening "sled ride" conditions may be an example.
You might remember the death of Pam Hargett at Torrey in the spring of 2012. The air at Torrey is generally very smooth, but I believe that her death was caused by mechanical turbulence from a change in wind direction that she might not have expected. The topic was discussed in the Torrey Hawks forum here:
http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1031It was also discussed on paraglidingforum.com here:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=47773However, parts of that discussion were removed by the forum "moderators" and I was subsequently banned for trying to point out some of the problems that might have contributed to her death. They do still have an incident report allegedly from David Ledford:
Incident Report: (as written by David Ledford)
Date: 5/12/2012
Name: Pam Hargett
PG
Address: XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX SC 29349
USHGA # 86431
Weather Conditions: Clear: Wind W – WNW 10 mph
In your own words, describe what occurred:
Glider flying from north to south at cliff level or 10% below. As per eye witness on the beach "Left side wing (cliff side) partial collapse, glider rotated into the cliff”. Pilot had no room for recovery. l2:00 early in the flying day. Flying started at 10:30. Pam started flying at 11:30. The air was a little unstable due to the early thermal condition. Pilot was not flying out of bounds, and was flying in an area we all fly.
Evaluation: Partial collapse with no room to recover. Pilot has over 500 flights and 400 hrs at this site. Pilot was conservative, safe, and proficient. Note: County of San Diego Medical Examiner Michael Ellano ID#5 Cause of Death: Accidental-Multiple Blunt Force.
Witnesses:
David Ledford
USHGA# 16498
I captured the wind direction history for that day (see the Torrey Hawks link above), and it showed a northwest switch at a time coinciding with her death. Her collapse happened along a part of the ridge where she might have experienced mechanical turbulence from palm trees on a projecting land mass that would have been directly upwind of her location in such a northwest wind (see maps and diagrams at the Torrey Hawks link). I dared to question what kind of training she might have gotten for such circumstances from the Torrey crew. A banning from paraglidingforum.com was my "reward" for my investigation of the incident.
It's hard to believe that it will be 4 years ago this spring.
How many deaths will it take till we know,
that too many people have died?
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.
The answer is blowing in the wind.
Home
