See all the picks here.
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/24923 ... te-mid-air

All I can say is dayumn!

Coulda been way uglier too. Lucky couple of guys.

Gump

Poor 170

X 2 Rob

Anybody else notice the pilot's door opening in the first pic after the parachute comes dislodged?
S'pose he had it open that quickly preparing to egress?

Amazing there were not more serious injuries!

SD

Straydog wrote:X 2 Rob

Anybody else notice the pilot's door opening in the first pic after the parachute comes dislodged?
S'pose he had it open that quickly preparing to egress?

Amazing there were not more serious injuries!

SD

That's an amazing sequence of photos. Curious if the pilot was so freaked out he grabbed the door arm rest and accidentally pulled the door handle? Too bad for the 170 as it looked like a well cared for airplane.

Marc

So much for the lug nut rule.

Lets see, non powered has the right of way. I'll bet the lawyer as calling non stop. SUE SUE SUE!!!!

Cheers

Based on the control deflection, he was flying it until it stopped!

Having an active runway as a touchdown point for skydivers is just plain bad on so many fronts! It isn't like the old days with round chutes like the Paracommander I learned to jump with. The modern parafoil chutes provide excellent control and the ability to hit a landing area accurately. The LZ for the skydivers should be well removed from the active runway. I hope this jump outfit stays far away from Sun-N-Fun when I visit there this year!

That's South Lakeland Airport. It has a fairly active jump center that's been around for years. Just a few miles SW of Sun N Fun. A lot of dealers and manufacturers use it for demos during the show.
There is a separate LZ but its close to the runway. But as you know, not all jumpers manage to hit the LZ even with the new chutes. No excusable reason to be doing touch and go's while jumpers are in the air. There's a dozen airstrips in a 20 mile radius from South Lakeland. Including Lakeland Linder. Most of them never see a jumper. Far better choices for touch and go's.
Glad everyone's alright. Too bad about the mint 170.

Wow.That skydiver is a fucking idiot. Hey! Watch me swoop across the runway.!! Dipshits like that give the sport a black eye.

low rider wrote:Wow.That skydiver is a fucking idiot. Hey! Watch me swoop across the runway.!! Dipshits like that give the sport a black eye.

Wow there's a jump to conclusion.
The LZ is directly adjacent to the south end of the runway. And it is not exactly huge. Bottom line is the the pilot should have know jumpers were in the air and that they were about to land on or near the runway.
The lz is in this photo bottom right. Depending on winds the approach is directly over the runway.
Lakeland Linder (sun n fun) upper right in the haze.

Top left in this view. Hard to hit without impeding on runway airspace.

H2O AV8R wrote:Based on the control deflection, he was flying it until it stopped!

Looks to me like he was holding in right rudder when it should have been left rudder to try and get that right wing up. it may have been about impossible to get in much aileron deflection with the chute wrapped around the wing, but I would say the rudder input was opposite of what was needed to try and level the plane out. Full right rudder and lots of up elevator spell out a snap or spin to the right and thats what the pictures show happening. I'm glad they both walked away from it!

I've been flying jumpers for almost 20 years and have around 10,000 skydives under my belt. I have seen all kinds of interesting things happen in that timeframe. I'm sure that the jumper is a nice guy but if you swoop across a runway and you get hit by a plane you are an idiot in my book.... Parachutes are much more maneuverable than airplanes and should not be swooping across the runway.

Perris here in So Cal is a hugely popular skydive aiirport, although it is private I believe... we often fly in for breakfast at the strip... LZ for them is right next to the runway but we are in contact with the jump plane when we get within 5 miles... everyone orbits away from the strip till jumpers are on the ground.. we are guests at that airport and appreciate being able to use it.... everyone gives way to the jump planes giving them priority in takeoff and landings... works out well....

low rider wrote:I've been flying jumpers for almost 20 years and have around 10,000 skydives under my belt. I have seen all kinds of interesting things happen in that timeframe. I'm sure that the jumper is a nice guy but if you swoop across a runway and you get hit by a plane you are an idiot in my book.... Parachutes are much more maneuverable than airplanes and should not be swooping across the runway.

I guess I missed the section in the FAR/Aim where it says it's up to the jumper to avoid aircraft. Idiot or not, the PIC must avoid. A brightly colored chute 20 feet of the ground would be hard to not see on final. Swooping or not.
A friend of mine owns the house nearest to the jump center. I'll see what he has to offer about the incident.
My initial guess would be the 87 year old pilot failed to have the proper situational awareness and was completely focused on landing. I have flown in and out of that airport hundreds of times and I can tell you that, in the past, the jump pilots at that center are professional and very vocal when giving jumper info. There's little possibility that a pilot would not have know jumpers were about to land. The pilot should have extended or gone around long before the incident. Period. It's a huge assumption to say the jumper was show boating. It's an assumption to say the jumper had even more than a few jumps.
It's not an assumption to say that a pilot with 60 years experience should have known better.

that's it ...lets blame the old guy.....I guess when I land I shouldn't be completely focused on landing the plane......not a word on "how come the jumper didn't look toward the other end of the runway to see if anything was coming.... guess he was focused on landing....

Hey, I'm an old guy too.
But the bottom-line is that it was the pilots responsibility to avoid. Not the other way around. You can see the jumper looking around as he is landing. But he does have the right of way and was focused on landing. I assume you think the jumper should have gone around? He was moving much slower and almost on the ground. Not a lot of choices in maneuvering. And let's face facts here. This not some deer that darted across the runway. It's a brightly colored large object floating across the runway in plain sight that had be announced multiple times before. He had every right to be where he was, when he was. The pilot,regardless of age, was in violation of regulations. Regulations designed to keep this from happening.

iceman wrote:that's it ...lets blame the old guy.....I guess when I land I shouldn't be completely focused on landing the plane......not a word on "how come the jumper didn't look toward the other end of the runway to see if anything was coming.... guess he was focused on landing....

Come on Iceman. You know as well as I do. You still have to pay attention to your surroundings. Focused yes, but if you have tunnel vision on landing you're gonna end up dead.

Yea pedestrians have the rightaway also.Running across the road and getting hit by a car also makes you an idiot.