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BASE seasons
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BASE jumps
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WS BASE jumps
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Skydives
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WS skydives
Incident
- Incident category:
- BASE Fatality
- ID:
- BFL170
- Object:
- Earth
- Cause of death:
- Impact subterminal (near exit)
- Date:
- 07. 07. 2011
- Time:
- —
- Exit point:
-
Switzerland › Lauterbrunnen › Via Ferrata
Other incidents at this location: BFL142, BFL144, BFL184, BFL193, BFL222, BFL333, BFL370, BFL391
- Exit type:
- Short Start
Personal
- Name:
- Dave "Cable Dave" Karaffa
- Gender:
- Male
- Nationality:
- Czech
- Age:
- —
- Experience:
- —
Equipment & Setup
- Canopy:
- —
- Canopy size:
- —
- Container:
- —
- Suit:
- Tony suits › X bird
- Packing:
- Slider Up
- Deployment:
- BOC
Circumstances
- Weather:
- Winds light and variable
- Factors:
- Gear failure Clipped ledge after exiting Burble from other jumper
Description
Description: first hand account from Vick Fearless
We jumped a 2-way wingsuit from the Via Ferrata exit I was on the left side with
a v4 he was on the right with an X-bird I jumped first so I did not know what happened later on
witnesses told me that he had a good exit and after like 2 seconds he started to turn to the wall
and he impacted the ledge under the exit on full speed the canopy came out on impact it gave me some hope
because i did not see how it happened but when rescue reached him they told me he had no chance.
New information:
There seem to be a potential problem with asymmetric arm wing inflation on the early X-Birds versions. Many jumpers experienced unexpected turns just after exit. The size and location of the air inlet seem to be the major factor involved.
There is a video of such incident here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ezlTXfkIM
Cable Dave's last jump was looking similar in dynamics, it's highly suspected that his left wing experienced the same inflation issue. Given the distance he was from the first jumper, it's not yet possible to say if the turbulence of the first WS played a role or not in that inflation process, but it's very not likely to be the main factor.
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