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  #35  
Old July 21st 04, 06:13 PM
Al MacDonald
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Doug,

While I don't know of any actuals, I can tell you this. My father was the
CFI for a 104 squadron for several years. They all spent lots of time in
the sim, as it was cheaper to fly than the real thing. Each year they would
do a major ride, where things started going wrong. And more wrong, and more
wrong. At some point the pilot decided to abandon ship, and the hot seat
would not fire so he/she would have to get out manually. According to my
father, some 95% of the pilots would undo all of the straps and get out with
no parachute. I think this is partly because they were under a lot of
stress and somewhat rattled, plus they were practicing what they had done
for years every day..... undo everything and get out.

We all preplan and practice our emergency procedures so we don't have to
figure it out when under the gun, so it only seems logical that this be
carried through with the parachute too.

My $.02 ($.05 CDN) worth.

al.


"Doug Carter" wrote in message
om...
"Al MacDonald" wrote in message

news:vTgLc.46462$2i3.17796@clgrps12...
Shawn, I forgot something very important!

Do NOT get in the habit of getting out of the plane without your
parachute on, as it could cultivate a very bad habit (and make you look
rather stupid in the obituary).


Freely admitting that I unbuckle my chute and leave it in the plane
(after landing...), are there any actual documented accounts of
someone unbuckling their chute *before* bailing out?