You are NEVER hooked in.

[Tad Eareckson]

Gee, I wonder which LA area school rated the local novice HG pilot - the one that teaches people to do a hang check and skip the hook in-check or the one that teaches people to turn and look and skip the hook-in check.

Great discussion about what to do after you've fucked up on getting into the harness and skipped the preflight and hook-in checks.

[Tad Eareckson]

My favorite Aussie Methodist gutting, lift and tug quote:

http://http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21868
Don't Forget your Hang Check!

Eric Hinrichs - 2011/05/13 21:31:06 UTC
West Coast US

I went to Chelan for the Nationals in '95 as a free flyer. They were requiring everyone to use the Australian method, and you were also not allowed to carry a glider without being hooked in.

This was different for me, I hook in and do a full hang check just behind launch right before I go. I was also taught to do a hooked in check right before starting my run, lifting or letting the wind lift the glider to feel the tug of the leg loops.

So I used their method and I'm hooked in, carrying my glider to launch and someone yells "Dust devil!" Everyone around runs for their gliders (most of which are tied down) and I'm left standing alone in the middle of the butte with a huge monster wandering around. I heard later that it was well over three hundred feet tall and some saw lightning at the top. After that it was clear that no one is going to decide for me or deride me for my own safety methods, someone else's could have easily got me killed.

My favorite lift and tug video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHWbu0su1fA


But I had no idea who my YouTube hero was until sometime this past week when I stumbled across this post:

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27166
Top landing a crowded launch and a spot landing

michael170 - 2012/09/18 21:35:40 UTC

It sure is great to see someone doing hook-in checks JUST prior to launch. You're setting a fine example Eric.

went back and checked out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKyTBjUr0gc


and recognized the harness.

"Oh! That's the same guy as the one in my lift and tug video. His name is Eric Hinrichs! Eric Hinrichs is also the author of that post!"

Thanks once again, michael170 (whoever you are).

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/9.201
Unhooked

Dean Funk - 2005/10/02

Bill Priday, a pilot from Richmond, launched unhooked yesterday (Saturday) from the Whitwell site here in Tennessee. Whitwell is a cliff launch with a mixture of trees below, extremely steep terrain, and multiple cliff bands. The pilot separated from the glider at tree level and did not survive the fall.

This terrible accident happened on the first day of our Team Challenge.

We delayed sending this information until we had notified his family. The accident and circumstances are being reviewed and the folks most emotionally devastated by this ask for the respect and understanding of their pilot community. A full accident report is pending.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=924
Tragedy at Team Challenge

Hexenwolfe - 2005/10/02 14:19:48 UTC

More information.

I arrived after the accident, but here is the consensus as of last night.

Whitwell is a mountain site with a semi-developed launch. The launch ramp is a rounded earthwork that has been in use for years. The initial vertical is about 150 foot with a secondary drop-off into the valley of about 200 feet. Total vertical to landing is 1350 feet with a five to one to primary landing area. First bench has been cleared, but everything below the drop-off at the edge of the first bench is heavy forest of mature hardwoods.

Yesterday was a typical autumn day with light and variable SSE 5-7 mph. The day began with a low overcast, and the valley was hazy all day. About 13:00 the clouds cleared and the setup begun. The accident occurred before the launch director opened the launch window.

Bill was the very first flight of the day, and no one is certain of why he decided to launch. The teams were setting up their gliders and arranging strategy, but the safety and launch directors were not at launch since the launch window had not been declared open.

"Wind dummies" were on hand to demo the launch for out of town pilots, and they were intended to launch before any comp pilots flew. The wind dummies had not launched prior to Bill's flight.

According to at least five local pilots, Bill had set up his glider and was moving it closer to launch. Again, according to at least five pilots, Bill was asked if he wanted a hang check, but was heard to say "It has been taken care of."

The thought of the pilots present, was that Bill was just moving his glider to be closer to his team and ready for launch. Wind conditions were such that wire men were not needed at the time of the accident.

The launch and accident were captured on at least two videos. Bill approached launch and had a seemingly normal launch, but was was observed to be hanging onto the uprights and diving into the trees. As the glider gained speed it began to recover from the dive and pitch up. Bill fell from the glider into the forest below the second bench about 400 feet. There was no observed effort to climb into the bar.

Because of the terrain, access was difficult. Bill was dead when the first pilots arrived on scene.

This accident is inexplicable in that the procedures had been covered well in the pilots meeting. There were plans for the meet director and the safety officer to observe every hang check and every launch, but Bill launched before the official launch window was open. Bill was offered a hang check by several pilots, but declined. Pilots close to launch stated that they thought Bill was just relocating his glider.

I am certain that some of the details posted here will be clarified in future posts. It is a tragedy that shouldn't have happened. It is a terrible loss to all.

[Steve Davy]

HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS
By Peter Cheney
Published by Matt Taber
Official Flight Training Manual of the U. S. Hang Gliding Association

Hooking in

Before you launch, you must hook in by clipping the D-shaped carabiner at the top of the harness straps to the suspension loops attached to the keel.

After you hook in, you must perform what's known as a hang check. The hang check ensures that you're hooked in to the glider, and that your harness and support system are correct. Hang checks are a vital part of a safe pilot's routine. Never take off without doing a hang check.

Here's how:

- Have someone hold the glider by the nose or tail, then lie down in your harness so you're suspended as in flight.

Now check the following:

- Are you hanging the proper distance above the base tube? There should be three to six inches of clearance between your chest and the bar. If you're hanging too low or too high you won't be able to control the glider properly.

- Are the main harness straps and other suspension lines straight and untwisted?

- Is your carabiner hooked though both the suspension straps that hang from the keel? The second strap is there as a back-up. Never fly without it.

- Is your carabiner locked? You should also make sure the carabiner is hanging straight.

[Steve Davy]

HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS
By Peter Cheney
Published by Matt Taber
Official Flight Training Manual of the U. S. Hang Gliding Association

Failure to hook in

Though most pilots scoff at the idea that they could ever fail to hook in to the glider before launch, this oversight has claimed a number of lives. Though the primary defense against failure to hook in is performing a hang check and takeoff checklist before every flight, you should be aware of what you should do if you ever takeoff unhooked.

If you're are launching from a shallow slope and notice that you're not hooked in as the glider lifts off your shoulders during the launch run, let go of it and let it fly away. But on many launches, particularly at sheer cliff sites, there may be no choice but to continue with the launch and hang onto the glider.

In this case maintain a firm grip on the glider as you leave the ground, then try to swing up into the control bar. You can fly the glider by standing in the control bar and shifting your weight side to side.

But if you have a parachute, the best response to a failure to hook in is to deploy it instead of trying to climb into the control bar and possibly falling.

Grab onto the base tube, then throw your parachute with the other hand. As the parachute opens, it will pull you away from the glider. Let go and ride down under canopy.

This is a situation where an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Never launch without performing both a hang check and a takeoff checklist. If you're waiting on launch for conditions to improve and unhook temporarily, you should do another hang check before you launch to ensure that you've hooked back in.

One proven way to guard against launching without hooking in is to attach the harness to the glider before you put it on. (This works well with cocoon or pod type harnesses, but may be more difficult with spaghetti harnesses and some others.)

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=924
Tragedy at Team Challenge

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/02 23:28:38 UTC

This is Scott Wilkinson, whom Paul quoted in an earlier message. I did in fact state there was no structure at launch, no launch director and no safety director.

No one within three hundred miles of launch who had ever in his entire idiot hang gliding career ever done or even heard of a hook-in check.

I want to qualify this statement by saying it reflects my perception of the scene at launch, as well as the pilots' meeting earlier that morning.

There were no PILOTS participating in that competition.

I was not aware of anyone serving in either capacity. There might have been someone designated, but if so, we (some of the competitors) were not made sufficiently aware of who they were, what the criteria were for us to be allowed to launch, etc. I've asked several other pilots who agreed---they didn't know of anyone controlling launch.

I don't say this to blame anyone---just clarifying what I experienced.

I blame everyone who was there - and every last one of the "instructors" who qualified everyone who was there to be there.

When we arrived at launch, more than a dozen gliders were already set up close to launch, and there was just a general hustle to find a spot and set up. When skies began to clear and the wind picked up into launch, the meet organizer made several vocal calls for wind dummies, but none seemed to appear. Meanwhile, the rest of us were setting up, with Bill in front of everyone.

Though I was standing just ten to fifteen feet from launch, I could not hear the dialog between Bill and the wire crew (and/or others) at launch. Bill did in fact have a crew member on either side wire (I saw this clearly), but I don't personally know who they were or what their qualifications were.

What does one need in the way of qualifications to help hold a glider level, note whether or not the carabiner's connected to the hang strap, insist on a hook-in check, and let go when requested? In two minutes I could train your average ten year old kid to be an infinitely more valuable wire crewman than anybody and everybody participating in the 2005 Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge - including/especially Dennis Fucking Pagen.

Though I didn't watch Bill every minute, I do not remember ever seeing him do a hang check, and I'm sure he didn't.

Which is in any way relevant to the discussion HOW?

What most disturbs those of us who knew Bill is that of all the people at launch---including his wire crew---nobody seemed to ever actually look at his harness mains.

Why should they? Everyone there - yourself included - was trained to do a hang check behind the ramp, assume he's hooked in from that point on, and run off the cliff. They all make that assumption for themselves so why shouldn't they make the same assumption for everyone they help or observe launching?

In previous posts in this thread, there has been some discussion about Bill possibly being asked about a hang check and him declining. This is completely irrelevant...

Yes. For way more reasons than you realize.

...someone should have noticed that his carabiner was still hooked to the side of his harness!

Bullshit.

- EVERYONE should ASSUME that EVERYONE'S carabiner is still hooked to the side of his harness for EVERY LAUNCH right up to the point at which it's too late to do anything about anything.

- And EVERYONE assisting or observing should insist that EVERYONE comply with the fucking USHGA regulation that mandates a hook-in check JUST PRIOR TO *EVERY* LAUNCH.

In other words, how could anyone ask a pilot if he'd done a hang check without looking at his harness mains???

'Cause that's all fucking Steve Wendt...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1166
Thoughts on responsibility...

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/13 21:12:20 UTC

Steve Wendt (Bill's instructor) has already talked about instituting preflight hang checks (meaning literally getting down on the ground and hanging in your harness, just like you'd do in the mountains) for all of his students at the flight park---just to get them into the habit of doing it---even if they don't need to do it for a towed launch.

...Matt Taber...

Matt Taber - 1990

After you hook in, you must perform what's known as a hang check. The hang check ensures that you're hooked in to the glider, and that your harness and support system are correct. Hang checks are a vital part of as safe pilot's routine. Never take off without doing a hang check.

...Hank Hengst...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1152
Bill Priday's death

Cragin Shelton - 2005/10/03 15:13:27 UTC

As we were walking Bill up to the old ramp, with me on right wing and Hank on nose, Hank asked bill if he wanted a hang check. Bill's reply was something like, "No thanks, I'm good." Hank then pointed out that he was not hooked in.

...and Cragin Shelton...

Cragin Shelton - 2005/10/03 15:13:27 UTC

I remarked that 'you are not hooked in until after the hang check.' We ran Bill through a routine lay-down hang check at the back of the ramp, and he had a fine launch.

...give a rat's ass about. If you've done a hang check in the setup area or at the back of the ramp you and everyone and his dog can assume you're hooked in at the front of the ramp and start worrying about how to get a fine launch.

(I have reliable information from Bill's best friend who inspected his harness at the accident scene that his 'biner was still hooked to the harness.)

Where was Bill's best friend five seconds before Bill's foot moved and what was he thinking?

Again, nothing I'm saying is intended to cast blame on anyone.

Too bad. 'Cause the key to breaking this cycle is to cast blame on pretty much everyone - particularly the people who think that Steve Wendt is a really great guy.

Like any accident...

Accident? Was there an accident down there that day in addition to Bill's effort at flight?

...this one resulted from a variety of factors, all contributing in various ways and to varying degrees.

BULLSHIT. There are - depending upon whether or not the launch is assisted - two to four closely related reasons anybody ever runs off a cliff with a carabiner still hooked to the side of his harness.
- The "pilot" assumes that the carabiner ISN'T still hooked to the side of his harness JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH.
- The "pilot" NEVER does ANYTHING to verify that the carabiner isn't still hooked to the side of his harness JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH.
- The crew assumes that the carabiner isn't still hooked to the side of his harness JUST PRIOR TO *EVERY* LAUNCH.
- The crew doesn't give a rat's ass about the fucking USHGA regulation that mandates a hook-in check JUST PRIOR TO *EVERY* LAUNCH.

There may well have been a detailed plan in place that was simply not properly implemented on the ground at launch---for whatever reason.

Whatever the plan was - it sucked.

This plan:

2012 St. John Fly In Launches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqhSYd_cLCo
andylong610 - 2012/08/20
dead

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=292637
Video: St. John Fly-In Launches On Saturday

Andy Long - 2012/08/22 01:13:32 UTC

The first thing I do is see if they are hooked in. Then I walk right up to them and fully inspect their hang loop and carabiner area. By hand usually. On Saturday, I found one pilot's carabiner turned sideways, with the hang loop right on the gate area. I told the pilot about it and fixed it.

Next, I ask them if they want a hang check. I also ask if they are in their leg loops. Then I give them an update as to what the conditions have been doing as I guide them up the ramp, holding on to a side wire.

I assess each pilot's mental state if I don't know them very well and give them feedback as to what the conditions have been doing over the last ten minutes. Then as we are standing on the launch mound together, I share with them what I would and would not launch in. If they seem a bit nervous, I tell them to not worry about the pilots in line behind them and take their time.

At St. John, the launch mound prevents the pilots in line from seeing what's going on at the launch ramp and down below. So I give the pilots in line updates as to what's happening as well. That way they know the thermal cycle sequence already before they even walk up to launch.

...sucks.

Yes, it virtually certainly would've prevented Bill from going off unhooked that day - but at a cost of predisposing him AND EVERYONE ELSE FLYING, ASSISTING, OBSERVING in that event to precipitating and/or facilitating a similar future disaster.

If you suppress wildfires in ecosystems which have evolved with fire you're gonna have lotsa stuff blowing up in your face bigtime in the long run.

If you have somebody running around the staging area, checking everybody's connection and leg loops and talking about the weather so that everybody can feel nice and secure on the ramp JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH and skip the hook-in check you're gonna train everybody to not sweat the unhooked launch issue and not bother with the hook-in check on the ramp JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH. Your gonna be churning out even more...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4247
Hook in failure in New Zealand

Jim Rooney - 2006/09/24 21:19:29 UTC

Ok, this thread's a million miles long already (and mostly my fault at that), so I'm not going to feel bad about making it a tad longer.

A couple things to chew on here...

There isn't one sure-fire answer.
If there was, we'd all be doing it already. This thread I think makes this obvious... every single thing people have put forth as "the way", someone else has show how it can fail. Every single one. Argue about the details, but every single one fails.

Here's the real trick of it in my book (especially with new technology, but it applies to methods too)...
Whatever you change only works on that glider/site/whatever.
What happens when you're off flying somewhere else or flying someone else's gear?

Someone suggested putting a red flag on the nose of the glider that gets removed after the hang check... this way, if you haven't hooked in, it's really obvious. Say this works for you and you get used to it. Then you borrow a glider or fly a different site on a rented glider. In your world, no red streamer means "good to go".

Take aussie vs clipin if you like... what happens when you're at a site that you can't use the aussie method with? (I can name you some cliff launches that you can't if you care). Now you're used to the security of the aussie method, and it's not there. You might say that the fear will help you, but your instincts will say otherwise (the fear is highlevel thought, and highlevel thought is the first thing that gets tossed out of your brain.. else we'd never launch unhooked in the first place).

Argue if you will about the examples (whatever), the trick of it isn't the method to me, it's how using new things doesn't work (and actually causes problems) in strange ways (like when going back to "normal" flying after getting used to the new method/device).

Enough about what doesn't work though... what does?
Since we don't have a plug that only fits one way, we fall on lesser methods, but some are better than others...

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.

...Rooney caliber total fucking morons whose survival strategy is to assume they're hooked in and hope that their friends notice that their carabiners are still hooked to the sides of their harnesses.

The solution to this problem is NOT to take actions to make people feel more secure when they get on the ramp.

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1153
Hooking In

Steve Kinsley - 2005/10/06 22:57:44 UTC

At High Rock Eddie Miller saved my sorry butt. Sure woke me up. Too bad Bill did not have a scare like that. I now have a nice DSL line through the tangle of Alzheimer's plaque. That was at least ten years ago and there is still not a blade of grass on that neuron path. So that is not how I am going to die.

What we really have to do is to vaccinate pilots, like I have been, but without the scare. How do you do that? How do you get them to internalize a procedure so that they do it no matter what distractions are present? I don't know. But I have come to feel that the communal effort to assure that pilots are hooked can be destructive of this purpose. I never intended to advocate that wire crews should not be vigilant; just that they avoid hijacking the process.

The solution is to make sure everyone is scared shitless whenever his - or anyone else's - glider is poised for commitment.

I'm just grappling with Bill's death and trying to understand how it could have happened---how so many people could have looked without seeing.

1. This has happened ZILLIONS of times before. If you had had an instructor worth shit and/or had run through the archives - even the local archives regarding Bob Gillisse and Marc Fink - you'd have known that.

2. Group intelligence, dude. Take the IQ of the stupidest member of the group and divide it by the number of people in the group.

3. People feel secure when there's lotsa other people around. The more the merrier. Security is a totally deadly feeling two seconds before someone's foot moves.

You and Holly didn't listen to the people with the brains - like Steve Kinsley - in this conversation. You listened to Bill's "instructor" - the asshole who set him up for this one.

And, consequently, this is gonna keep happening. There are gonna be a couple people around launch when:

2008/08/30 - Kunio Yoshimura
2011/04/09 - Yossi Tsarfaty
2007/10/18 - Bille Floyd

and lotsa people around when:

2010/01/17 - Martin Apopot
2012/04/28 - Lenami Godinez-Avila

start running with dangling carabiners. And I haven't heard either of you guys getting involved in any of those postmortems. But I guess unless it's someone who was a close personal friend and/or you were standing there watching it happen...

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3638
FTHI

Steve D - 2012/10/25 06:23:16 UTC

An article by Tad Eareckson:

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/FTHI.pdf

Mike Blankenhorn - 2012/10/26 02:39:07 UTC
Orange County

Wow, I never saw it put quite like that before.

1. You would have if:
- the shits at USHGA had allowed its publication in the magazine three years ago.
- George Stebbins had bothered to relay what I was saying after the incidents with Martin Apopot, Oscar, Lenami, or Greg Jones or - better yet - a couple of months BEFORE them.

2. This is the ONLY logical way to put it.

3. You'd have heard it put not too horribly off the mark if you'd read the 1981/05 article in the magazine by George Whitehill announcing the revision in the SOPs and its intent.

4. If you'd done your best effort to adhere to the revision you'd have rewired yourself to the extent that your reaction to the article would've been significantly more subdued than "Wow."

Great write up!

Thanks.

So what happens now? What are you gonna do with it? How's it gonna benefit you, Greg Jones, the people with whom you fly, or some bozo about to run off into the air over the LA Basin, Prescott, Sequatchie Valley, or Sea of Galilee with his carabiner dangling?

Robert Bustamante - 2012/10/26 04:01

Aussie Methodists who hit their leg loops have a reasonably good record but those who succumb to temptation and/or break their routines are majorly screwed.

Breaking routine...

This is something that eventually leads to a bad situation.

No. Someone relying on a routine and assuming that it won't be broken IS a bad situation.

The list is long on why we break our routine. Weather, talking, new gear, using gear that isn't yours, toys (camera, vario), etc.

Being human, reality interceding...

I wonder if routine is more important than the method each person uses...

I'm having a hard time seeing the distinction between routine and method - two terms for the same disaster waiting to happen.

...(Aussie, Standard, etc.).

What's "Standard" and where does this "Standard" appear in any SOPs?

THIS:

With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

is the USHGA "Standard" - and my article is how it should've been presented (not that that would've made any more difference then than it's making now with assholes like Paul, Ryan, Matt, and Steve continuing to do whatever the fuck they want with total impunity).

I use Aussie, one of the steps in my routine is to recheck if I'm hooked in at launch.

1. Fuck Aussie.

2. Yeah, ONE of the STEPS in your ROUTINE is to recheck if you're hooked in (SOMETIME) at launch. Along and right up there in importance with making sure your helmet is buckled and your instruments are switched on and properly set.

2. YOU JUST SAID THAT:

The list is long on why we break our routine.

3. Logic makes clear and history proves over and over in no uncertain terms that safeguards based on routines WILL FAIL.

4. Here's what Rob Kells had to say about methods/routines shortly after the method/routine that Bill Priday's asshole instructor taught him and his idiot community kept amplifying failed miserably seven years and twenty-five days ago:

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.

5. This isn't a method/routine dude. This is a mindset of being scared shitless you're about to go off unhooked JUST PRIOR TO *EVERY* LAUNCH.

Do yourself and the people with whom you fly a big favor and keep rereading the article until what I'm saying sinks in. And what I'm saying is completely incompatible with / diametrically opposed to Aussie.

[Tad Eareckson]

So right about the time I make the previous post Robert/Busto deletes his half-baked drivel.

And now...

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3638
FTHI

Doug Martens - 2012/10/26 19:10:21 UTC
Reseda

19 people fell into the Golden Gate bridge safety net during its construction.
They were known as the halfway to hell club.

Video of Golden Gate safety net.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLRCZAXfEa4

Robert Bustamante - 2012/10/26 19:33:36 UTC

See any safety issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqEfo3Dyn0A
dead

Mike Bastan - 2012/10/26 19:45:17 UTC

No helmet.

Robert Bustamante - 2012/10/26 20:10 UTC

Is it just my imagination or are these assholes deliberately sabotaging the thread?

[miguel]

The PDF was excellent.