Bill Frogge

Bill is doing a two way and hand holding his BASE pilot chute. After a normal freefall Bill threw out the pilot chute. The pilot chute inflated, went to the end of its bridle and peeled the shrivel flap from the rig. However, the shrivel flap is not connected to the canopy. Speculation is Bill is distracted while putting his rig together and may have passed the Type-12 bridle through the attachment ring on the top of canopy but didn't complete the lark's head knot that would have secured it in place. The bridle had a bar tack on it that could catch in the ring and give the appearance the bridle is correctly attached to the canopy. Parachute Riggers have known for a long time that when you start any job you finish it. If you are distracted, and need to leave the work, you start the procedure over on your return. Not having a pilot chute connected to the canopy on a single canopy system has always been a nightmare scenario for BASE jumpers, however, this is the first time it has actually happened.