failure rate is one per low thousands, your chances
of leaving the glider are 50/50

if you lose some wing it spins, if the tailplane comes
of it bunts, then is to late......

I recall there was a deployment failure in the uk,
but apparently caused by the diy backpad preventing
proper operation of the chute
I also know of at least one case where a pilot stayed
and the glider failed to low to bail out.

if you have a stable jump platform use it. I know at
least 4 people who have baled out of gliders ok, but
they were all no brainers, one of them was a K21 which
turned into a dart shortly after being struck by lighting!
(I saw that one happen)

Pete



At 21:06 10 September 2007, Dan G wrote:
You've had a whack, but everything feels fine. Do you
stay in the
glider, or leave? Just how reliable are the parachutes
we use? I
understand that they're fairly simple quick-opening
designs, but
there's no reserve, right? Has a glider-pilot parachute
ever failed?


Dan