2015/03/27 Jean Lake crash

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)

Jim Gaar - 2015/06/03 19:21:06 UTC

Yeah I was going to say something along those lines with the obligatory "No good deed goes unpunished."

A huge number of your good deeds have gone unpunished but your political capital has been going down the toilet for a long time now and I'll be putting a bit' o' effort into ensuring that you get everything you deserve.

...but I'm too busy!

Yeah...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/04 19:31:36 UTC

So, if you're interested in discussing something, let me know.
If you're just here to argue, dude, I've got so much better shit to waste my time with.

We know. The work of a good privileged information decimator is never done. And beyond that...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23813
Threaded bridle system

Jim Gaar - 2011/05/26 15:44:33 UTC

Beyond that I'm a Rooney follower...

...you're a Rooney follower. So why don't you just follow him out of The Jack Show and start posting more over at Davis's sycophants dump.

Thanks

Don't mention it.

So you all good with this now Brian?

I sure hope not. There is NOTHING you can do - including getting snuffed in a good lockout crash - to merit being taken off the hit list.

Brian Scharp 2015/06/03 20:22:20 UTC

Acknowledging the following statement was a bad idea is what I was after.

Jim Gaar - 2015/06/01 14:34:27 UTC

However one does NOT need to read the report to learn how to be safe. The "privileged info" should come out through folks like me and many other "mentors" through a method or information decimation and discussion with both current and new pilots.

I'm after his ass.

I'd like safety related information to be more accessible.

NMERider - 2015/06/03 19:17:25 UTC

Frankly, the link to the original report should never have been posted on the org in the first place because it opens the entire organization to further potential liability as well as possible frivolous lawsuits that drain our limited resources and make the sport even less accessible than it already is.

This report is probably...

Most definitely. Ya think they spent a moth and a half just assembling the facts and evidence?

...already tailored to reduce liability risk.

And thus usefulness to anyone wanting to understand what the core problem was.

Michael Grisham - 2015/06/03 21:18:34 UTC
Las Vegas

I suppose I was not in the demographic for the accident report to be disseminated...

Decimated.

...too as I do not have ratings for towing and tandem and am not the father of an eleven year old.

Eh. Just send your ten year old up on one of these rides. u$hPa's planning on decimating some recommendations that everybody will be able to read.

NMERider - 2015/06/03 19:17:25 UTC

...why safety information needs to be directly issued to any interested USHPA members...

Maybe parents of eleven year olds would find the information helpful in making decisions that affect...

Read: end.

...the lives of their children.

People of varying ages.

Manbirds
Maralys Wills

Yet flyers continued to fall, one after the other. . .Though each death had an “explanation”, nobody needed to have a "killer sport" explained. There were moves to ban it.
Eric's father, Robert Wills, Sr., formed the United Sates Hang Gliding Association's Accident Review Board to study, record, and disseminate the causes of accidents. Only then, he felt, could their reduction begin. Only when people knew what was happening and in what numbers would the industry find the means of responding. Slowly it began to work as he thought it would. (page 81)

Must be really proud of the job u$hPa and Mitch are doing today.

R.V. Wills bravely understood after losing sons to the sport of hang gliding that candid dissemination of accident review reports would in the long run save lives and make the sport of Hang Gliding safer and keep the sport from being banned.

Who doesn't? But u$hPa's mission is solely to protect u$hPa.

NMERider - 2015/06/03 19:17:25 UTC

...it opens the entire organization to further potential liability...

Do you really want a lawyer to design your hang glider?

Nah, just my release and weak link. (Robert Wills was a lawyer, by the way... But not the total scumbag Tim Herr flavor with less than zero concern for hang gliding and the people who engage in it. Find a single word of his online or in the magazine.)

Do you really what a lawyer to decide what is in the training syllabus?

Must be totally happy with it. That's EXACTLY what we have now and nobody's making a stink about it.

Do you really what a lawyer to filter the accident reports of information that may save your life?

Jonathan doesn't need any of these reports to save his life. He pretty much knows what the fuck he's doing. But he doesn't have all that much interest in getting standards established and brutally enforced to get training and tow operations cleaned up and operating in safe and sane manners to keep non Jonathan people of varying ages from getting mangled and killed.

In this sport we must be honest, candid, and true to our brothers and sisters, because theirs and our lives may depend on the truth and sharing that truth.

Join The Bob Show - where all of the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Tom Galvin - 2015/06/03 21:44:51 UTC

The report was not posted here.

And there's absolutely nothing happening on any other of the fine sites on which T** at K*** S****** has been declared poison to the sport. Maybe check out K*** S******.

A link to the report was posted, which is only accessible by USHPA members.

So what's the thinking behind only sending the code to the elite privileged information decimators but making it accessible to all u$hPa muppets?

When Liability is more important then Safety, then you will have more of the former and less of the latter.

And keep not teaching hook-in checks because they give a false sense of security - motherfucker.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)

NMERider - 2015/06/03 21:59:31 UTC

Giving away potentially damning information too freely is lawyer bait.

What's suppressing DEFINITELY damning information - as is very obviously the case here? How much should we be charging people for the damning information which clarifies the reason we killed this kid and are setting up the next one? Feel free to round off to the nearest hundred grand.

Nobody is under any obligation in the world to advertise or make public any information that may be used against them.

Bullshit.

- Military officers are required to submit operational and action reports in which their fuckups have resulted in lethal disasters and omissions and/or falsifications can result in courts martial that wouldn't have happened for the fuckups themselves.

- In civil lawsuits witnesses can't claim the Fifth and can be jailed for contempt for refusing to testify or convicted of perjury for testifying falsely.

- In institutions like our esteemed Accident Review Committee Chairman's alma mater failure to report on fellow midshipmen's violations can be the end of a naval career.

That is unless this becomes a completely transparent world in which there is no privacy remaining for any individual, organization or government.

Ya want max privacy? Live in a cave. Ya wanna run a tandem thrill ride operation or industry for people of varying ages? You owe the public every frame of every video of every seriously fucked up flight - and it shouldn't hafta wait for the card to pass through your digestive tract. And if it does you should get an obstruction of justice charge.

We're not talking about cameras and mics in people's bedrooms (Bob's favorite sport) here. We're talking about a public thrill ride operation being run - minus the permit / illegally - on public land.

That will never happen because any and all information of any kind can and will be abused.

What abuse of information are you anticipating here, Jonathan? We've got totally benign conditions on the most ideal truck tow site on the planet and end up with a dead Hang Five driver and eleven year old skydiving student. Why do we need to abuse information to determine negligence from the lakebed all the way up through the u$hPa chain of command?

This is well known throughout the history of mankind.

So's accountability - which u$hPa's done a really stellar job of eliminating from the sport.

People will always abuse information concerning other people.

So let's erase all memory of Sam Kellner's involvement in Terry Mason's last ride - along with Terry himself - and remember Kelly Harrison as the greatest thing since bottled beer and Arys Moorhead only as "his (nameless) 11 year old student". Privacy doesn't get much better than that.

This is the essence of the need for privacy but of course the right to privacy must be balanced against the need to know. It is a balancing act. It is and never will be a black or white issue.

So where's the balance now? Tell me about all of the invasion of privacy horrors that resulted from all the immediate, competent, detailed, honest reporting we got from Robert Wills and Doug Hildreth in the first couple decades of this sport.

That simply is not going to change ever. The reason is mentioned above. Too many people will abuse others' honesty, candidness, and truthfulness. Far too many of us have been bitten and burned in our attempts to be forthcoming and learned the hard way to remain silent.

The individual most/primarily responsible was killed on impact. So how much more and worse bitten and burned can he get and what's it matter? Just how much do we owe to his legacy and memory. It's been stated in the report that he fucked up the lanyard configuration. Is it gonna taint his memory more if we muppets are permitted to know how?

And we had to RUSH to figure out who the skydiving instructor was and get his u$hPa info:

John Kelly Harrison - 53375 - H5 - 1996/10/23 - Joe Greblo - PL TFL TPL AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC - ADV INST, TAND INST - Exp: 2015/06/30

before u$hPa shredded it out of respect for his - and Joe Greblo's - privacy.

Any other decimation of privileged information is obviously being done to protect the sacred privacy of other individuals.

What do we owe the driver? If he was an unpaid muppet who hadn't been properly trained and didn't really know what he was doing - like THIS:

022-04610
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/13746340634_a74b33d285_o.png


guy - we totally let him off the hook. We know Kelly's fucked up from the very first media and police reports. And we know he was paid 'cause the cover-up team would have made the point if he wasn't. And in the report his privacy is protected even better than Kelly's nameless eleven year old student's and he did absolutely nothing wrong in contributing to or attempting to prevent this crash. That good enough for ya?

And somebody qualified Kelly for hauling eleven year old kids up on ropes for his lucrative tandem thrill ride business. And Kelly ultimately sucked at what he was qualified for. A fuckin' Hang Two student caught hell from his Mission Soaring Center instructors for fucking up his three-string:




and making it as nonfunctional as Kelly made his idiot-proof two-string.

And while Kelly stayed FOCUSED on doing the same thing over and over hoping for better results:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8819/18267685796_64156e9c91_o.png


KSNV-9-24015-6

...Lin thought of an alternate strategy for getting his glider down and stopped in one piece:

140-20205
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8641/16488801859_aeb7073be3_o.png

166-20813
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8616/16054994633_e8a00ae528_o.png

204-23317
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8594/16536322538_2308dbc775_o.png

218-51222
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8652/16536321118_1ab1f5680d_o.png


So how come we're not hearing about any ratings administrators? The buck stops with the dead guy?

Michael Grisham - 2015/06/03 21:18:34 UTC

In this sport we must be honest, candid, and true to our brothers and sisters, because theirs and our lives may depend on the truth and sharing that truth.

I admire the sentiment but it is naive at best and damaging at worst.

- What's your data to support that statement?

- Let's say you're one hundred percent on the money with that. Is this stupid fucking sport more important than honesty, decency, courage, justice, integrity, honor? If it is then I want no part of it. When I was active in it I was swimming in a sewer.

I started seeing that on Day 3 - 1980/04/04. And for the next 28 years I was like a frog in a pan of water with the burner being very slowly cranked up. Fuck that. If hang gliding is gonna have the same morality as a crystal meth dealer then it's all yours, Jonathan. Hope you really enjoy it.

Sensitive information must be parsed judiciously out by a wise referee.

Self appointed "privileged information" decimators like Rodie, Rooney, Mitch, Mark, Rich, Pagen, and many other "mentors". Fuck being in a sport that TOLERATES scum like that - let alone elevates it to positions of trust and control.

Why don't you tell us who some of these wise referees are and why when they're posting the most important fatality report in the worldwide history of hang gliding they refer to the force transmitted by the towline as "pressure" and they call the tow system component connecting the towline to the pilot a "bridal". If they're operating at that level of competence on the simple nuts and bolts issues just how good can they be at sophisticated judicious privileged information decimation?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)

NMERider - 2015/06/03 22:04:43 UTC

Tom Galvin - 2015/06/03 21:44:51 UTC

When Liability is more important then Safety, then you will have more of the former and less of the latter.

Only a select few of the USHPA membership population was even apprised of the existence of the report let alone provided a link to it. Since I have not seen the email or internal post that was used to distribute the link...

...or bothered to look at this Kite Strings thread...

...I do not know whether there was a caution to the selected readership not to share or distribute the link or the report. Since I did not receive an email from USHPA HQ concerning this accident report I can only assume that USHPA did not want me to know about it.

You can safely assume that u$hPa doesn't want ANYBODY to know about it. Some backwoods in-house truck tow fatality like Terry Mason... Who gives a shit? Cute little eleven year old thrill rider with his family at a commercial operation at the center of the Entertainment Universe, scores of witnesses, swarms of cops and news choppers, days of intense television coverage, Joanna DelBuono Shaking Her Head... Ya gotta make a big show of putting SOMETHING out and ya gotta pretend to care and do something to make certain that nothing like this ever happens again again.

Until I have seen the distribution document myself, I won't know.

And make sure to keep avoiding this topic.

Like I said to MagentaBlueSky in my previous comment, this issue is a balancing act and somebody must be the judge as to what gets shared and to whom.

- The Holocaust was a balancing act. Ya wanted to gas as many Jews as possible in the shortest amount of time but you didn't wanna be so obvious about it that the rest of the world would be unable to keep pretending it had no idea what was going on.

- Yeah Jonathan, we know that...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25321
Stop the Stupids at the USHPA BOD meeting

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/30 23:21:56 UTC

Here's how it really works:

- Member submits an accident report. Could be the pilot who had the accident, or some other witness.

- Accident report is sent to Tim to maintain legal privilege. Tim reviews the report and determines whether there's significant legal risk associated with it. He may redact certain parts (personally identifiable information, etc.) if in his opinion exposure of that information poses a risk to us. If the report is very risky, he may decide that it can't be shared further, and will notify the ED about it. He may also notify our insurers if he sees a potential for a claim, as is normal practice for any incident where we are aware of such a potential.

- Redacted report goes to the accident review chairs, for incorporation into periodic articles in the magazine. Articles focus on root causes of accidents, not on personal narratives or details.

The whole procedure is outlined in SOP 03-16, which you can read by logging into the USHPA website and clicking on "Policy Manual".

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27736
Increase in our USHpA dues

Mark G. Forbes - 2012/12/20 06:21:33 UTC

There are also numerous legal issues associated with accident reports, which we're still wrestling with. It's a trade-off between informing our members so they can avoid those kinds of accidents in the future, and exposing ourselves to even more lawsuits by giving plaintiff's attorneys more ammunition to shoot at us.

Imagine a report that concludes, "If we'd had a procedure "x" in place, then it would have probably prevented this accident. And we're going to put that procedure in place at the next BOD meeting." Good info, and what we want to be able to convey. But what comes out at trial is, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, my client suffered injury because USHPA knew or should have known that a safety procedure was not in place, and was therefore negligent and at fault." We're constantly walking this line between full disclosure and handing out nooses at the hangmen's convention.

Well stated. I think you may have a bright future with u$hPa.

Brian Scharp - 2015/06/03 22:19:13 UTC

NMERider - 2015/06/03 21:59:31 UTC

Sensitive information must be parsed judiciously out by a wise referee.

Kinda like being filtered down and regurgitated to us nesting chicks by the elite cadre of chosen feathered ones?

NMERider - 2015/06/03 22:28:50 UTC

Ironic, isn't it?

Tom Galvin - 2015/06/03 23:13:51 UTC

NMERider - 2015/06/03 22:04:43 UTC

...I can only assume that USHPA did not want me to know about it.

We are USHPA.

Since promulgation of safety is a core part of our organization's reason to exist, I can only assume that all accident reports be available to all members.

Just make sure none of the solutions are activated and we'll all get along just fine.

Jim Gaar - 2015/06/03 23:32:02 UTC

What is your point?

Brian Scharp 2015/06/03 20:22:20 UTC

I'd like safety related information to be more accessible.

Brian I get that.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/16 05:05:41 UTC

And yes. It is my call. PERIOD.
On tow, I am the PIC.

Now, that cuts hard against every fiber of every HG pilot on the planet and I get that.
Absolutely no HG pilot likes hearing it. Not me, not no one. BUT... sorry, that's the way it is.
Accept it and move on.

Sometimes you have to ask for it.

I get that. And you would be one of the sport's foremost authorities on asking for it.

BUT you are a member. What are you personally complaining about?

Fuckin' assholes like you and Rooney telling us what you're over and what you get.

You have the info at your finger tips. Are you complaining to make a point? Why do you seem to categorize yourself as a "nesting chick(s)" and then seem to label me as "elite cadre" ?

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/05 01:32:20 UTC

Carful who you put stock in mate.
Calling blindrodie a fool? Seriously? Easily discounted?
You may not have an understanding of who you're brushing off... In lieu of some people that have been listening to the rantings of, I kid you not, a convicted pedophile. I'm willing to look past the messenger... To a point. But gimme a break... You're blowing off a tug pilot instead?

Should I call the WAAMbulance now?

Nah, we'll all be pretty happy if you just take your smilies and go off and fuck yourself somewhere.

To me you come across as a demanding troll. Simple as that...

Odd that to no one else over in that dump he's coming off as a demanding troll... But, then again, no one else over there is in the elite cadre. So you must be right.

We know how well that goes over on the internet.

'Specially the sectors of the internet controlled by pigfuckers like Jack, Davis, Peter, Bob who can hit lock, delete, and ban buttons to keep pigfuckers like you, Rooney, Peter from getting annihilated after you've set yourselves up.

I know what you're doing, dickhead... You shot your foot off with your bullshit about the glider having released while explaining to us muppets why sensitive information needed to be decimated by wise old sages such as yourself before consumption by the unwashed masses so now you keep up the drumbeat of portraying Brian as a socially retarded freak.

NMERider - 2015/06/04 00:21:04 UTC

I wish accident reports were all available, indexed and searchable.

And here I was thinking you didn't really want legitimate accident reports available.

Does anyone know if this is in the works?

I'm sure it is. Obviously, with the totally needless (extremely high profile) death of this cute little eleven year old, u$hPa has realized the folly of shredding every report that comes its way as a possible liability threat, do a full one eighty on its policy, and return us to the kind of program we had for fourteen years under Doug Hildreth. I think I'll start holding my breath now.

Brian Scharp - 2015/06/04 02:23:15 UTC

Brian Scharp 2015/06/03 20:22:20 UTC

I'd like safety related information to be more accessible.

Jim Gaar - 2015/06/03 23:32:02 UTC

To me you come across as a demanding troll. Simple as that...

Fuck you, Brian. Shut the hell up on all this accident bullshit and post something about cats.

Brian Scharp - 2015/06/04 02:34:02 UTC

NMERider - 2015/06/04 00:21:04 UTC

I wish accident reports were all available, indexed and searchable.

Now you with the demanding and complaining.

'Nuther goddam obnoxious troll.

John Williams - 2015/06/04 04:46:02 UTC
Kingman, Arizona

I used to work in the mining industry. The first time we sat down for our Mining Safety and Health Administration orientation the safety director plopped down a book, a large book, and said these are the rules of your workplace. If you manage to get yourself killed without violating one or more rules in this book you will get your own rule in the next edition.

MSHA issued a notice every so often stating how the last fatalities happened. They were pretty much cut and dried with names, ages and facts. There wasn't much speculation.

The national electrical code is the same way but without bulletins - just the rules.

I remember in the pilots' magazines they had some bulletins about what caused a fatality but never heard anything about lawsuits.

Fuckin' demanding troll! Everybody knows you've gotta balance decimated privileged information if you wanna keep anything running for long - 'specially when you're killing people of varying ages.

NMERider - 2015/06/04 05:03:13 UTC

Brian Scharp - 2015/06/04 02:34:02 UTC

Now you with the demanding and complaining.

Now, now Brian. Don't take your frustrations with blindrodie out on other posters. <wags his finger>

Wanna make a low cost effort to do something significant to slow the degradation of the sport? Help us annihilate Rodie.

Bill Jennings - 2015/06/04 12:31:18 UTC
SE Tennessee

The NTSB and FAA are forthcoming in their reports on GA accidents.

Well yeah, but General Aviation doesn't advance its safety by promoting power failures on takeoffs and forcing its pilots to constantly practice whipstalling their planes to dead stops on old Frisbees on the centers of runways. This is why hang gliding's accident reporting program is under the total control of a corporate lawyer who's never once in his life flown anything with a better glide ratio than an armchair.

As for HG, I want the straight facts, not filtered or sugar coated.

How 'bout shit coated? Like this one?

I want to know so I can do my best to avoid the mistakes of those who have fallen before me.

Just pay careful attention to the opinions and advice of the self appointed privileged information decimators and do the opposite.

[<BS>]

So what's the thinking behind only sending the code to the elite privileged information decimators but making it accessible to all u$hPa muppets?

Sensitive information must be parsed judiciously out by a wise referee.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis

2015/05/11

Dear Tandem / Tow pilot,

In USHPA's ongoing effort to improve the safety of the sport...

Dear u$hPa sleazy lying pigfuckers,

Let's hop in the ol' time machine, dial it back to 1985/03/27, and hit "enter". What safety issues am I gonna see that you've successfully addressed in your three decades of ongoing effort to improve the safety of the sport?

Let's dial it back another five years minus one week to 1980/04/02 - the day I first clipped into a hang glider. Back then gliders were towed off the control frame - and that's how I got my first high flight (five hundred feet, Yarnall winch) in the fall of that year. Tell me about USHGA's role in taking the attachment off the basetube and putting it on the pilot - the way Kelly and Arys were hooked up on 2015/03/27.

I've seen you motherfuckers do NOTHING but DEGRADE and intellectually castrate the sport in all of my time in it. Present SOMETHING, ANYTHING to prove me wrong.

...we are notifying all tandem and tow rated pilots of the facts of a recent hang gliding tandem/towing fatality.

ALL of the facts? Or just the least inconvenient ones?

USHPA's purpose in providing this information to you is to assist you in better evaluating the risks that exist in the sport of hang gliding, particularly those risks that apply to tandem and towing flights, so that you can take measures to reduce those risks in your own flights.

What makes you think I'm stupid enough to need the facts of this total clusterfuck to assist me in better evaluating the risks that exist in the sport of hang gliding, particularly those risks that apply to tandem and towing flights, so that I can take measures to reduce those risks in my own flights?

You've supposedly had this ongoing effort to improve the safety of the sport since the beginning of time and you've been very conservatively and judiciously signing off tandem and tow ratings earned through your sterling Pilot Proficiency System under the control of the best of the best - your Mitch Shipley, Steve Wendt, Jim Rooney, Steve Kroop Matt Taber, Dr. Trisa Tilletti types - but there are one or two things that happened on this one that nobody had previously experienced and couldn't have been easily predicted and thus weren't in the syllabus? Are you quite certain our intellects are keen enough to adequately grasp these concepts?

Immediately upon learning of this accident, USHPA's Hang Gliding Chair of the Accident Reporting Committee assembled a special ad hoc committee to gather facts and assist local officials in their investigation of this accident.

Were you able to get to them quickly enough...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41697
Two Dead on Hang Glider

Mitch Shipley - 2015/04/17 21:44:06 UTC

Since then we have independently analyzed what we have and continued to assist the local police with their investigation, which likely will take some time (weeks) to finalize, as is the case with most aviation accident investigations. Barring any findings that warrant telling USHPA pilots immediately for safety reasons (and we don't have any findings like that to date) there will be no reports about what happened until after the investigation is complete to preclude putting out speculative or incorrect information.

...to prevent them from issuing any reports about what happened until after the investigation was complete to preclude putting out speculative or incorrect information?

Capt. Peter Boffelli - 2015/03/27
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

The glider was supposed to release the tether from the truck itself. Apparently that tether release did not occur. So what occurred was when that truck turned around thinking that the tether was released the glider itself plummeted straight to the ground.

Apparently not. Captain Peter Boffelli of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported that truck turned around thinking that the tether was released and that was obviously speculative or incorrect information as there's absolutely no mention of anything of the kind in this top notch professional u$hPa final report released on 2015/05/11.

So what's up? You assisted the local officials in their investigation of this accident, there's a GLARING discrepancy between the local officials' speculative and incorrect information and what actually happened - and yet we've heard no retraction or correction from the local officials.

They're putting their speculative and incorrect information out in the newspapers, on the web, over the television airwaves and cables. You're leaking this out through ten or fifteen Blindrodie caliber privileged information decimators... Isn't it rather likely that the local officials and thus general public - not to mention a lot of active u$hPa members who miss out on the privileged information decimation - will get a dangerously distorted view of how our sport really works?

http://www.ushpa.aero/aboutus.asp
USHPA - About the Association

About the Association

Mission Statement

USHPA's mission is to ensure the future of free flight.

The association will pursue its mission through:

A. Advocacy. USHPA will interact, proactively when possible and reactively when required, with agencies, organizations and individuals whose interests affect our sport.
B. Communication. Externally, USHPA will advance the positive awareness of hang gliding and paragliding among the non-flying public. Internally, the organization will cultivate a culture of communication and transparency.
C. Community. USHPA will promote a sense of community among members both locally and nationally.
D. Flying sites. USHPA will support the development of new flying sites and the preservation of existing sites.
E. Learning. USHPA will support learning, in part by providing an organizational framework for instructor and pilot training and certification.
F. Safety. USHPA will steadily foster a culture of safety.

Sounds to me like you're running into some real serious decimation issues with the ol' Mission Statement.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis - 2015/05/11

The committee members visited the scene, met with local law enforcement, reviewed the flight instrument track log, reviewed onboard- and ground-based videos, reviewed witness testimony, reviewed accident scene photos taken by local law enforcement at the scene, and inspected all the equipment involved. From this investigation, the committee was able to determine the following facts.

I notice ya didn't mention the driver. Didn't think he was worth talking to?

Capt. Peter Boffelli - 2015/03/27
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

The glider was supposed to release the tether from the truck itself. Apparently that tether release did not occur. So what occurred was when that truck turned around thinking that the tether was released the glider itself plummeted straight to the ground.

Sounds like Captain Peter Boffelli did. I'm guessing he would've been about the FIRST person he talked to. And we know he talked to him because he reported what the driver mistakenly THOUGHT. And that horror scene was SWARMING with cops and I'm guessing they weren't making casual statements that might really come back to haunt them in something as astronomically high profile as this. And they knew there was a camera and a card nobody'd had a chance to swallow. Probably had watched the video by that point and wouldn't want the kind of glaring inconsistencies with which you privileged information decimators like to try to bury us.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/04/01 03:46:29 UTC

We each agree that we are personally and individually responsible for our own safety. If we have an accident and get hurt, we agree in advance that it is solely our own fault, no matter what the circumstances might be. We sign at the bottom saying that we fully understand these things, that we accept them, and that we know we are giving up the right to sue anybody if an accident happens.

Those are fundamental tenets of our sport. We are all individually responsible for ourselves and our safety. We need to see and avoid all other pilots, avoid crashing into people or property and use good judgment when flying. If someone doesn't agree with those principles, then they don't need to be involved in our sport.

I don't think the local officials buy that, Mark. They seem to think that the guy on the other end of the tether DOES have a significant bearing on the safety of the flight - probably especially when the tether release doesn't occur.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis - 2015/05/11

At 2:43PM on Friday March 27, 2015, Master rated hang glider pilot, Advanced Instructor and Tandem Instructor Kelly Harrison perished with his 11 year old student during a tandem hang gliding flight. The flight originated as a platform launch, using a payout winch while circuit towing around Jean Dry Lakebed near Las Vegas, NV. The counter clockwise circuit tow around the lake bed was a typical operation for pilots in the area.

What "pilots" in the area?

- Hang? Para?

- All behind Kelly's rig or were there half a dozen setups?

- All flying two-strings because they had the best known and accountable safety record (in their personal books anyway)? Anybody flying three-strings - regular or Mason, one of Peter Birren's award winning and highly recommended Linknives, very very reliable bent pin barrels like Todd Jones', Kochs, Russians? If the two-string were the only game in town then shouldn't Kelly have been a bit better wired into it than subsequent events indicated?

- All spotterless or was there a range of opinions on that issue?

- How come NOT ONE of them has made ONE SINGLE COMMENT about ANY of this on ANY of the forums?

Winds were light on the ground (<5MPH), with recorded weather data indicating winds from the NE at 9-12 MPH during the hours around the tow operations.

They were flying a Wills Wing Falcon I 225. The glider had eight inch diameter pneumatic wheels mounted on a short axle extension off the base tube - outside the control frame.

And NOT ONE of the other pilots who typically ran the counterclockwise circuit around the lakebed commented on this glaring hazard that precipitated the 1991/06/09 Harold Austin tow fatality? What do you motherfuckers cover in your tandem and tow clinics? Backup loops? Hang checks? Hook knives? Weak link functions? Spot landings? Do they ALL fly with eight inch diameter pneumatic wheels mounted on short axle extensions off the basetube 'cause that's what's TYPICAL in that region?

The payout winch was a typical...

Big surprise.

...hydraulic pressure controlled payout winch system mounted on a trailer with a remotely positioned pressure gauge/control valve/pressure release lever that was in the cab of the tow vehicle.

Cool! That way you can keep the towline tension low and steady...

Jerry Forburger - 1990/10

High line tensions reduce the pilot's ability to control the glider and we all know that the killer "lockout" is caused by high towline tension.

Towing Aloft - 1998/01

Fortunately, we have good defenses against lockouts. These defenses include limiting the tow forces by using weak links and pressure gauges...

...to prevent lockouts. Just keep your eyes on that gauge...

022-04610
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041-05012
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075-05116
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...and adjust the pressure as necessary to keep the glider straight and level.

The truck driver served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle. There was no secondary spotter.

Sorry, I missed the part where you told us about the PRIMARY spotter.

You said the truck driver served both as the driver and winch operator. So who was serving as the primary spotter?

Did you need to tell us that the truck driver served as the driver? Wouldn't top notch privileged information decimators like Rodie be able to figure that out? Why didn't you just say "The driver (we knew he was driving the truck) also served as the winch operator."? Figured if you threw enough crap into the sentence we'd miss the fact that there was no pretense of a spotter of any kind on that mission?

We can see that all he's got in the way of mirrors are the ones...

05-00520
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...that came with the truck.



That's another way of saying that smallish objects in mirror that are way the fuck back there are dust particles - if they're in the field of view at all which they're almost certainly not.

From your Figure 3:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8857/18290284792_24ac8847ee_o.png


we can determine that we've got well over eighteen hundred feet of line out (remember that we're going UP as well as BACK) when the driver starts assuming the glider's released the tether and makes the abrupt turn that dooms the tandem instructor and his skydiving student.

The first indication of the lockout to the tow vehicle operator was seeing the glider impact the ground.

Yeah, no secondary spotter. Big fuckin' surprise.
---
Edit - 2015/06/14 18:05:00 UTC

Didn't do my homework very well.

We know that the glider was maxed out at 670 feet the instant before the truck driver, who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle, "began turning for the downwind leg of the tow as the glider continued flying upwind".

Hypotenuse is 1920. Round it up to two grand to take care of some of the bowing resulting from drag and sag.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis - 2015/05/11

A typical two loop / four strand weak link for tandem surface tow operations was properly installed and positioned between the tow bridle and the tow line.

First we get Donnell Hewett's divine Infallible Weak Link...

Donnell Hewett - 1981/10

SKYTING - An Optional Towing Technique
Part 2: Limiting Towline Tension

A properly designed weak link must be strong enough to permit a good rate of climb without breaking, and it must be weak enough to break before the glider gets out of control, stalls, or collapses. Since our glider flies level with a 50 pound pull, climbs at about 500 fpm with a 130 pound pull, and retains sufficient control to prevent stalling if a weak link breaks at 200 pounds pull, we selected that value. Of course, a pilot could deliberately produce a stalled break at 200 lbs, just as he can stall a glider in free flight. But if he is trying to limit his climb rate and the forces exceed the break limit, the glider simply drops its nose to the free flight attitude and continues flying. If the weak link breaks (or should the towline break) at less than the 200 pound value, the effect is even less dramatic and controlled flight is still present.

Most people are amazed at how small a string is needed for the weak link of a tow system. In fact, many people upon seeing it in operation for the first time make a comment something like "Don't you need something a little stronger than that? It's going to break!" But, of course, that's the whole point, it's supposed to break.

...which takes the pilot out of the equation and prevents all manners of evil from befalling him - at the expense of a bit of inconvenience every now and then. Then we get Quest's...

http://www.questairforce.com/aero.html
Aerotow FAQ

Quest Air Hang Gliding

Weak Link

The strength of the weak link is crucial to a safe tow. It should be weak enough so that it will break before the pressure of the towline reaches a level that compromises the handling of the glider but strong enough so that it doesn't break every time you fly into a bit of rough air. A good rule of thumb for the optimum strength is one G, or in other words, equal to the total wing load of the glider. Most flight parks use 130 lb. braided Dacron line, so that one loop (which is the equivalent to two strands) is about 260 lb. strong - about the average wing load of a single pilot on a typical glider. For tandems, either two loops (four strands) of the same line or one loop of a stronger line is usually used to compensate for nearly twice the wing loading. When attaching the weak link to the bridle, position the knot so that it's hidden from the main tension in the link and excluded altogether from the equation.

IMPORTANT - It should never be assumed that the weak link will break in a lockout.
ALWAYS RELEASE THE TOWLINE before there is a problem.

...totally demented formula for putting the "TYPICAL" glider at one G to prevent the compromising of the handling of the glider (crucial to a safe tow but you should release just as soon as you notice there isn't any problem just in case it doesn't break when it's supposed to - like before you get into too much shit in an invisible dust devil).

The Industry knew it was totally fucked with this snake oil decades ago so then the strategy became to never under any circumstances...

http://www.willswing.com/articles/ArticleList.asp#AerotowRelease
Aerotow Release Attachment Points for Wills Wing Gliders

Always use an appropriate weak link with a finished length of 1.5 inches or less.

Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06

We could get into details of lab testing weak links and bridles, but this article is already getting long. That would be a good topic for an article in the future. Besides, with our backgrounds in formal research, you and I both know that lab tests may produce results with good internal validity, but are often weak in regard to external validity--meaning lab conditions cannot completely include all the factors and variability that exists in the big, real world.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Davis Straub - 2013/03/06 18:29:05 UTC

You know, after all this discussion I'm now convinced that it is a very good idea to treat the weaklink as a release, that that is exactly what we do when we have a weaklink on one side of a pro tow bridle. That that is exactly what has happened to me in a number of situations and that the whole business about a weaklink only for the glider not breaking isn't really the case nor a good idea for hang gliding.

I'm happy to have a relatively weak weaklink, and have never had a serious problem with the Greenspot 130, just an inconvenience now and then.

I'm thinking about doing a bit more testing as there seemed to be some disagreement around here about what the average breaking strength of a loop of Greenspot (or orange) weaklink was.

...acknowledge that any weak link could have a measurable strength of any level of consistency - 'specially weak links that didn't break when they were supposed to in order to prevent lockout fatalities or broke inconsistently in turbulence and fatally inconvenienced people. We're seeing more of this bullshit pattern in this latest twofer.

These motherfuckers would lick dogshit off a sidewalk before they'd say anything about pounds or Gs in a fatal - 'specially when they're endorsing the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden at the conclusion of the report.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis - 2015/05/11

The tandem instructor assembled the two string release and then adjusted it twice just prior to launch...

How did he "ADJUST" it? Did he dial it up for better mechanical advantage? Or down to keep him from being unnerved as a consequence of not knowing that it would clear for sure?

...but did not test the release before the flight.

Big fuckin' deal. He was gonna be testing it within a few minutes DURING the flight anyway no matter what. We don't check our connection status or sidewire capacity until after the flight's started. Why should we go nuts testing our release, looking at our lanyard routing at a time when it couldn't possibly matter in the least?

Several times during the flight, the tandem instructor was observed making radio communications to the tow vehicle operator through a hand held radio (mounted on his right shoulder strap) that had been radio checked just prior to the flight.

Oh. So DURING THE FLIGHT he WAS OBSERVED MAKING RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TO THE TOW VEHICLE OPERATOR on a radio that, unlike his release, had been PREFLIGHT CHECKED.

- The "tow vehicle operator"? I thought he was the truck driver serving both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle - presumably the truck he was driving.

- So we know that the communications were going through to the "tow vehicle operator". Which means you interviewed him and he confirmed this. So how come you're not telling us what they were talking about? Might that be of some casual interest to some of us muppets? Or was it deemed too privileged to decimate to us? How come you're not giving us one single quote from him or telling us what questions he was answering and what questions, if any, he refused to answer? Or did he answer all the questions honestly and accurately after obtaining a legally binding agreement that none of his privileged information would be decimated to anyone outside of the crack lawyered up investigation team?

The flight lasted four minutes and seven seconds.

$139 per tandem thrill ride... 56.3 cents per second of a unique and exciting aviation adventure and memories guaranteed to last a lifetime - or until your twelfth birthday, depending. (Taxes, video, flight log, T-shirt not included.)

During the initial approximate three minutes of the crosswind/upwind leg of the circuit tow, the pilot climbed to 670 feet AGL at between 250-600 fpm climb rates.

How 'bout the glider and the eleven year old skydiving student? What were they doing while the pilot climbed to 670 feet AGL at between 250-600 fpm climb rates during the initial approximate three minutes of the crosswind/upwind leg of the circuit tow?

The tow vehicle then began turning...

The tow vehicle then began turning? What were the truck driver, tow vehicle operator, winch operator, and primary spotter doing when the tow vehicle then began turning? Adhering to the flight plan and continuing the upwind leg?

...for the downwind leg of the tow as the glider continued flying upwind.

Stupid glider. You'da thunk that on this counterclockwise circuit tow around the lakebed that was a typical operation for pilots in the area the glider would've known enough to follow the tow vehicle around the turn for the downwind leg of the tow - 'specially if the Hang Five tandem instructor and his eleven year old skydiving student were with him at that point. But it just continued flying upwind. Obvious glider error.

Stupid tow vehicle and stupid glider. This is how accidents like this happen. This is why you really need tow vehicle operators, truck drivers, pilots, and tandem instructors making the decisions about what to do and keeping these things under THEIR control. Freakin' cart before the horse.

You lying sonsabitches. The fuckin' truck driver thought the glider was off tow...

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...and made an abrupt turn out towards the middle of the lakebed in order to retrieve the line as efficiently as possible - too abruptly for the glider to stay lined up. Put a left pull on the glider and the glider reacted by trying to roll to the right and it was too fuckin' much for Kelly to resist.

During this one minute part of the tow the glider descended to 390 feet AGL at between 0-530 fpm sink rate and the tandem instructor flew to the right of the tow vehicle track...

Oh, so now it's the tandem instructor making the decisions on where to put the glider.

...as slack developed on the tow line trailing to the left of the glider's flight path by as much as what appeared to be 120 degrees (see Figure 3: Glider and estimated tow vehicle tracks).

Thanks. I'll do that.

"Estimated Tow Line Position Between Tow Vehicle and Glider at Beginning of Descent" - The towline footprint is eighteen hundred feet. (Line out - something a bit over two thousand. See "Edit" note a couple posts back.)

The truck and the glider are diverging from the flight plan and each other.

"Estimated Tow Line Position Between Tow Vehicle and Glider at Impact" - Twenty-four hundred feet of line on the ground.

The truck and the glider are diverging from the flight plan and each other and line continues to be pulled out - as we'd expect. So why is slack developing "ON" the towline trailing to the left of the glider's flight path by as much as what appeared to be 120 degrees (see Figure 3: Glider and estimated tow vehicle tracks)? 'Cause the tow vehicle operator has hit the dump lever in preparation for reeling the towline back in with the retrieval chute inflated maybe?

The flight ended with a nine second lockout and impact with the ground.

Wow!

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Look at how abrupt that was!

Towing Aloft - 1998/01

Lockouts do not just magically happen to snatch a glider from the sky. They are generally progressive events originating from situations that can usually be terminated. The pilot and tow team must recognize these situations and the potential for acceleration into full lockout conditions so they can take appropriate corrective action prior to occurrence. To recognize the potential conditions for a lockout, we need to understand how they work.

Almost looks like the lockout just magically happened to snatch the glider from the sky.

The lockout developed after slack quickly came out of the tow line and the bridle came into contact with the glider's control frame.

And the truck driver who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle hit the rewind button while continuing the turn into the middle of the lakebed to minimize the chances of dragging the towline through the scrub? I've seen five horsepower Briggs & Strattons used for rewind motors on platform rigs. What was Kelly's using?

The payout winch was a typical hydraulic pressure controlled payout winch system mounted on a trailer with a remotely positioned pressure gauge/control valve/pressure release lever that was in the cab of the tow vehicle. The truck driver served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle.

You mean the remotely positioned pressure gauge/control valve/pressure release lever that was in the cab of the tow vehicle that you just told us about in the previous sentence? The truck driver who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle had control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle? You absolutely sure?

Glad we got that clarified. And that...

There was no secondary spotter.

...there was no secondary (or primary) spotter. Any chance you could decimate to us some of the privileged information about the hydraulic pressure setting and how that translated to towline pressure and the rewind motor and normal line recovery procedure? Just kidding.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jean Dry Lakebed Accident Report and Analysis - 2015/05/11

The glider was at 390 feet AGL with the towline appearing to angle approximately 50 degrees left of the glider's flight path. The tow bridal first contacted the outside edge of the wheel adjacent to the left corner bracket. The glider quickly transitioned into a fully developed lockout as the tow line force increased against the control frame (see Figure 4: Glider descent side view).

As the towline force (pressure) increased against the control frame TO WHAT?

- If, as you claim, the truck driver who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle, had turned for the downwind leg of the tow he'd have had no reason to adjust the hydraulic pressure / towline tension 'cept maybe to dial it down a bit to compensate for the increase in tension resulting from the decrease in spool diameter. And he probably hasn't done that 'cause you motherfuckers would've told us if he had.

- And there was no line jam either 'cause that would've gotten a lot of you motherfuckers off a lot of the hook and you - and the police on Day One - would've told us that.

- So the line tension against the control frame can only increase to normal.

UNLESS the truck driver who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle had hit the rewind button - and probably maintained speed 'cause he's going downwind and trying to keep the line in the air with the retrieval chute. Then all bets are off.

The tandem instructor initially made two unsuccessful attempts to push the bridle off the wheel.

As opposed to making one successful attempt followed by a second unsuccessful attempt.

The tandem instructor next attempted to release from the tow line by pulling on the lanyard connected to the release pin of a typical two string surface tow release system.

If this were a typical two-string surface tow release system shouldn't these surface tows typically end in a lot more fatalities than we're seeing now?

The tandem instructor pulled twice with one hand without success.

See above.

During his initial release attempts the bridle slipped off and over the outboard side of the wheel to become wrapped around the short extension axle between the wheel and the left corner bracket. The pin of the release mechanism started in a position pressed against the rubber of the pneumatic wheel and after the bridle wrapped around the axle, ended up on the tow vehicle side of the glider's tow line.

- Towlines don't really have "SIDES".

- Since the tandem instructor had rigged his state-of-the-art two-string such that it was, for all intents and purposes, impossible to blow in the air then what's it really matter how the piece o' shit was oriented?

On failing to release with his initial one handed attempts, the tandem instructor then grabbed the lanyard with two hands and pulled twice with both hands. But the release did not activate and they impacted the ground.

So how come with that rapidly increasing force of the towline against the control frame the typical two loop / four strand weak link for tandem surface tow operations properly installed and positioned between the tow bridle and the towline didn't break when it was supposed to? Why do you think it...

Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06

Actually, that is our expectation of performance for weak links on hang gliders here at Cloud 9, too. Primarily, we want the weak link to fail as needed to protect the equipment, and not fail inadvertently or inconsistently. We want our weak links to break as early as possible in lockout situations, but be strong and reliable enough to avoid frequent weak link breaks from turbulence. It is the same expectation of performance that we have for the weak links we use for towing sailplanes.

...didn't meet official u$hPa Towing Committee expectations for hang glider and sailplane weak links? Too inconsistent? If so then is it still the typical two loop / four strand weak link for tandem surface tow operations? Are you sure our consistency expectations are being met with this critically important focal point of our safe towing systems?

The first indication of the lockout to the tow vehicle operator was seeing the glider impact the ground.

As well as...

Capt. Peter Boffelli - 2015/03/27
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

The glider was supposed to release the tether from the truck itself. Apparently that tether release did not occur. So what occurred was when that truck turned around thinking that the tether was released the glider itself plummeted straight to the ground.

...the first indication that he was still towing a fully occupied tandem hang glider with a Hang Five tandem instructor and his unidentified eleven year old skydiving student. Pretty good wakeup call, huh!

So the truck driver who served both as the driver and winch operator, with control over the tow pressure control mechanism from inside the cab of the tow vehicle TOLD YOU this. So what did he tell you about where he actually thought the glider was and what it was doing and how he was managing the winch and truck direction and speed to optimize the assumed state of the operation?

NOTHING? The tow vehicle operator told you that SEEING the glider impact the ground was his first indication of the lockout and up to that point he'd been proceeding as if everything was under total control and normal?

So how did he see it? At 03:05 the truck begins its turn for the downwind run and things start going south. Sixty-two seconds later he gets his first indication of the lockout when everything's over but the dust settling. Does he just happen to be sticking his head out the window and twisting his neck around backwards to make sure everything's going as fine as the pressure gauge indicates it is? And who's monitoring the pressure gauge while he's doing this? The primary spotter?

The glider impacts twenty-four hundred feet from the truck twenty-six degrees to the port of straight aft.

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Now it's finally low and stationary enough for him to be able to see...

2015-03-26-05-00520
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...in his left sideview mirror? What's the primary spotter's take on this?