The decision

--rickiT

It was a normal day at the Drop Zone.

My wife, Paula, and I were socializing with our fellow skydivers.

A good turnout of 100 or so jumpers were bunched together in groups on the grass and packing area.

The school was busy too with first tandem jumpers being trained.

Paula and I were sitting with our usual group of friends when Billy said,

“Let’s get manifested.”

“OK,” said Paula. “Who wants to go?”

About ten of us gathered around Billy and Paula.

Assessing the experience of the group Paula grabbed seven skydivers and Billy motioned to the others to join him.

I went with Billy.

Paula organized an 8-way skydive (eight people to turn points in free fall).

Billy organized a 4-way group.

Each group practiced the points (grips and formations) that they would do. This is called dirt diving because we practice on the ground what we will do in the air.

Paula collected jump tickets from everyone and manifested both groups on the next airplane.

Ten minutes before the launch Paula and Billy’s groups met in the loading area with full gear.

We gave each other gear checks.

We dirt dived in full gear.

Paula decided the exit order.

Her group would exit first because it was the largest.

Exit order is always largest to smallest, then the school tandems.

Since the door of the twin Otter is in the back of the plane groups board in reverse order.

Tandems, instructors and their videographers boarded the plane first, then Billy’s group and finally Paula’s group.

Paula’s group would exit first, then my group and then the school.

I love the climb to altitude.

The race down the runway, wheels up and the roar of the twin turbine engines is always a thrill.

As we climbed through the clouds i thought with a smile,

“Just think… I could be home watching golf on TV.”

At altitude (12,500 feet), the pilot turned on jump run.

“3 MINUTES!” someone exclaimed.

The red light came on at the door.

“DOOR! yelled Paula.

The door was flung open.

Cold air rushed in.

Paula spotted, looking down for air traffic and to assure that we were over the Drop Zone.

The green light came on.

Someone in the back yelled, “EXIT, EXIT, EXIT” 

Paula took one more look out the door and climbed out.

Two others from her group climbed out holding onto a hang bar on the outside of the plane in the floating position.

The other five of her group, still inside the plane, pressed themselves into the floaters.

With a shake and a bob Paula yelled, “READY. SET. GO!”

All eight were gone in a moment.

I looked out the door just in time to see Paula’s group falling away.

Billy and I climbed out, floating.

The other two took grips on us.

Billy chanted, “READY. SET. GO!” and we were gone.

The roar of the wind in free fall was accented with the dance of skydiving.

We turned 8 points.

My skydive was fun. My grin was large.

At break off altitude (4,000 feet) my audio altimeter beeps, we four turn in free fall and track away from each other.

At 3,000 feet I reach back for my pilot chute, pull it out of the pocket and throw it into the wind.

My parachute opens.

It is suddenly quiet except for the sound of my laughing from the joy of the skydive.

I look around for my fellow skydivers parachutes.

There they all are.

I look down and see Paula’s group already under canopies.

I spot her bright pink parachute.

That is unmistakably Paula.

Paula is making her turn to final approach of landing.

Brian, another parachutist from her group is to her right making a parallel approach.

Out of the corner of her left eye is a flash of parachute fabric.

Another jumper swoops in front of her cutting her off.

Paula pulls down hard on her right steering toggle swerving right to avoid a collision. 

She is 300 feet above the ground as I watch Paula fly through Brian’s canopy lines.

The entanglement causes his parachute to collapse.

They begin to spiral toward the ground.

A moment before the entanglement Paula sees Brian, but it is too late.

She flies through his lines.

His lines wrap around her neck.

She cannot breathe.

Instinctively she slips the fingers of both hands between the lines and her neck.

Brian looks up at Paula.

He sees the entanglement.

His parachute is partially collapsed.

Paula’s parachute is also partially collapsed.

He considers cutting away (releasing) his main canopy and deploying his reserve.

They are too low. No time to cut away.

They continue their violent spiral.

Paula considers removing one hand and cutting away her main.

“I can’t breathe,” she thinks and “we are too low for that.”

The spiral continues.

I see Paula and Brian spiraling toward the ground.

There is a cloud of dust when they hit.

Paula hears a loud BANG!

It is the sound of her body hitting the ground.

I see the DZ truck racing out to them.

Dozens of people are also running out to the scene.

I bury a steering toggle to initiate a hard spiraling decent.

Moments later I land near my wife.

A friend, skydiver and nurse is attending to her.

Her neck is bleeding, but she is awake and talking.

“Are you OK?” I ask her.

“Yes, but my ankle hurts.”

“Don’t move,” says the nurse.

Brian is laying nearby, coherent but in some pain.

Someone is speaking quietly to him.

I hear the sound of an ambulance siren approaching.

The ambulance arrives and puts both Paula and Brian on stretchers, loads them in the ambulance and drives them away.

Later, after getting a ride to the hospital, I learn that Paula has suffered a broken ankle and Brian has a compressed vertebra.

Both of them went on to recover completely.

Paula has a scar around her neck to this day.

Due to the fast and logical thinking of both skydivers they are alive today.

Had Brian cut away he would have certainly died from impact since there was not enough time to open his reserve parachute.

Had Paula cut away she would have been strangled by Brian’s parachute lines and they would have both died from the impact since they only shared part of Brian’s parachute.

The irony and the fate of the situation is that doing nothing was the only correct decision.