# Incident 19960618018419I: Lehi, UT, June 18, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 18, 1996, 15:15 local time
- Place: Lehi, UT
- Phase of flight: Parachute Jumping
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 40.4171° N, 111.8711° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Lehi, UT, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.4171&lon=-111.8711&mi=10
- Aircraft: UR051 (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 2
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960618018419I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: TANDEM HARNESS DUAL FATALITY PARACHUTE JUMP. HARNESS/CONTAINER/CHUTES/DROGUE MFG. STRONG. MODEL. DUAL HAWK TANDEM, DATE OF MFG.. MARCH 1995. JUMPER (FRONT). RONALD EUGENE GREEN, INSTRUCTOR ACTING AS A STUDENT, 14000 JUMPS, 400 TANDEM. JUMPER (REAR). STUDENT MELANIE MAY COLBY, CERTIFYING AS INSTRUCTOR, 800 JUMPS. DURING A TANDEM HARNESS TRAINING JUMP AT 9000 FEET AGL, THE MAIN PILOT DROGUE CHUTE WAS HAND DEPLOYED BY THE PERSON IN THE BACK HARNESS. IN REACHING FOR THE DROGUE HANDLE (PUD) THE DROGUE BRIDLE (LANYARD) WAS INADVERTENTLY PULLED OUT. UPON REACHING FOR THE HANDLE AGAIN IT IS SUSPECTED THAT THE INDIVIDUAL REACHED THROUGH A LOOP IN THE BRIDLE WHILE PULLING OUT THE DROGUE. THIS RESULTED IN A KNOT PULLING TIGHT AROUND THE DROGUE CANOPY NEAR THE HANDLE (APEX) PREVENTING IT FROM INFLATING. STILL AT A RELATIVELY HIGH ALTITUDE THE EMERGENCY CHUTE WAS THEN ACTUATED BY THE SAME PERSON. AS IT DEPLOYED THE SPRING LOADED DROGUE AND ATTACHED BRIDAL STRAP BECAME ENTANGLED IN THE PREVIOUSLY FOULED MAIN DROGUE CHUTE. AT SOME LATER POINT IN TIME, PROBABLY BELOW 6000 FEET AGL, THE MAIN CHUTE WAS RELEASED BY THE PERSON IN THE FRONT HARNESS. WITHOUT THE MAIN DROGUE INFLATED TO PULL OUT THIS CHUTE, IT FAILED TO OPEN.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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