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20250413004499I

Incident · No damage
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FAA incident report · Aircraft · Nephi, UT · April 13, 2025

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
April 13, 2025 · 10:21 local
Place
Nephi, UT
Airport
Nephi Municipal
Phase of flight
Other, Specify
Operating rules
Parachute jumping (Part 105)
Damage
No damage
Aircraft
NONE
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
1

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Student and instructor were doing an training evaluation flight. At some point in the fall the instructor/examiner checked their altimeter and interpreted being 2,000 feet lower than actual. In a panic he deployed the reserve parachute simultaneous with the student pulling the main parachute so both were deployed. This caused the reserve parachute to not deploy properly and tangle. The instructor/examiner instructed the student to cut away the main parachute, which they did. At this point they were operating with the reserve tangled parachute. During the landing there was no forward penetration due to issues with the parachute, so they impacted the ground straight down. The student sustained serious injuries to thier back and was hospitalized following incident.

As the FAA filed it

STUDENT AND INSTRUCTOR WERE DOING AN TRAINING EVALUATION FLIGHT. AT SOME POINT IN THE FALL THE INSTRUCTOR/EXAMINER CHECKED THEIR ALTIMETER AND INTERPRETED BEING 2,000 FEET LOWER THAN ACTUAL. IN A PANIC HE DEPLOYED THE RESERVE PARACHUTE SIMULTANEOUS WITH THE STUDENT PULLING THE MAIN PARACHUTE SO BOTH WERE DEPLOYED. THIS CAUSED THE RESERVE PARACHUTE TO NOT DEPLOY PROPERLY AND TANGLE. THE INSTRUCTOR/EXAMINER INSTRUCTED THE STUDENT TO CUT AWAY THE MAIN PARACHUTE, WHICH THEY DID. AT THIS POINT THEY WERE OPERATING WITH THE RESERVE TANGLED PARACHUTE. DURING THE LANDING THERE WAS NO FORWARD PENETRATION DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE PARACHUTE, SO THEY IMPACTED THE GROUND STRAIGHT DOWN. THE STUDENT SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES TO THIER BACK AND WAS HOSPITALIZED FOLLOWING INCIDENT.