Adam Parer <<adamparer>> writes:

I got out of hospital 3 days ago and tried to put something
together about the accident last night. It’s a scary incident but the outcome
has nothing but positive implications for all of us. We can survive a parachute
deployment at terminal velocity after separating from our glider. Best to avoid
such an event but if it does happen it need not be a death sentence. I am very
lucky to be alive, and extremely grateful to still be here. Hoping what follows
covers all questions but have also attached a more formal report too.

Adam's Formal Report.

It was the 2nd task of the Gulgong Classic and just like the day before the wind
gusts and turbulence in the tow paddock were moderate to heavy. It was about
30-35 degrees Celsius at ground level and the conditions seemed stable although
the weather report had predicted good instability. Due to the rough conditions
weak links were breaking just about every other tow and the two tugs worked hard
to eventually get everyone off the ground successfully. The task was 209km,
north, to Manilla Airstrip.

I towed out of the airstrip around 1:30pm and went to release height behind Pete
Marhiene. During the first thermal I noticed several light inversion layers.
Eventually I drifted downwind and met up with Chris Jones, Phil Schroder, Oliver
Barthelmes and Dave May and we topped out at 6500' before heading NW in a
cross-tail direction to get on the upwind side of the course line.

Chris was ahead by 200m and after a 5km glide I watched him complete two turns
in what looked like solid lift. Eventually Dave, Oli and Phil would also head
for Chris. Before I got there he had already straightened up and was back into a
search pattern. This was typical of the conditions for the day; very short lived
'bubble' climbs, mild to moderate turbulence and generally a stable type of feel
to the weather. Way off to the north great looking clouds filled the sky along
the Liverpool Range and beyond, we needed to get there but for now we continued
to hunt for a core that may be lurking around in the stable conditions of
Gulgong.

While Chris, Oli, Phil and Dave tended to search upwind I turned downwind for
about 100m and noticed the air felt much better there, still bumpy and stable
but at least it was more buoyant I fully expected to only gain a few turns out
of any climb I may find before it too petered out. Soon I felt some lift ahead
and more to the left so I began a shallow turn in that direction and the vario
started to chirp at about 200-300'/min. VG was off except for about 1 arms
length of rope. I was flying at about 50kph with a bar position faster than best
glide speed.

As I climbed for about a ¼ of the first turn the 'G' began to lighten and the
nose started to ease over. For that first split second I expected a 'wire
slapper' to precede a return into normal flight. This did not happen. The 'G'
went to zero and the nose continued over. I braced onto the basebar and
attempted to pull in and maintain hang position. This however could not be
maintained. The 'G' went negative and the nose went over. I maintained some grip
on the basebar and kept the torso as close to it as possible but the leg/boot
end of the harness could not and continued to move toward the undersurface and
my upper body would eventually follow. The nose-over motion accelerated and then
I lost contact with the basebar.

As I fell weightless through the air the glider proceeded to tumble and I clear
the wing without making contact as it passed underneath inverted. Just as the
glider came around upright I bottomed out with a thud when the hang strap went
tight and for a split second I thought the glider may stabilize however it had
more than enough momentum to enter the 2nd tumble. Again I don't recall hitting
any part of the glider as it went over a second time. Once again I fell with
another thud when the hang straps went tight but this time the tension lasted
for a much shorter period of time. I went weightless as if falling straight down
for several meters before feeling the beginning of a rotation/spin in the
horizontal plane (like a sycamore seed). We suspect the side wire had broken at
this point and the wings began to fold together.

The first spin finished quickly but I entered the 2nd spin with much more speed.
I tried to go for the parachute handle but the 'G' force had already built up
significantly. Soon my arms (and eventually my head) were forced and held out
away from the center of rotation preventing me from reaching the parachute
handle. I realized I was in a bad way but my life depended on getting to the
parachute. Hard as I tried and with all of my strength my arms remained straight
pointing away from the harness.

What followed is something I could never have imagined, a force developed by
these rotations, an incredible rapid acceleration in speed and the rapidly
increasing 'G'. I have watched video of similar motion when a glider folds its
wings but on those occasions the rotation seems to reach a maximum after a
number of rotations. Not in this case. The 'G' force continued to increase and
was transverse to my prone position, pooling blood ventrally in the front half
of my body. The eyes sustained advanced hematoma from this force. By the 5th and
6th rotation the load was so severe I knew the equipment would have to fail soon
and hopefully before I sustained serious injury. Then in a split second the 'G'
force went to zero and I was being thrown through space. At least I could move
my arms and hold my head up. I reached for the parachute handle.

I was aware of moving horizontally with a lot of velocity and could also hear
the airspeed accelerating very quickly. Motion through the air was like a
projectile but soon turned into a freefall. I realized then I had definitely
separated from the glider. I located the parachute handle and pulled with my
right hand but it didn't budge, and after a few more heaves I was convinced the
parachute was going to need a lot more persuasion to come out. (We would
discover the back plate had failed catastrophically and the opening of the
parachute port was deformed as a result).

As I fought to remove the parachute I was aware of free-falling straight down in
a boot-first/head-up/'pencil' position. This would later be confirmed by eye
witnesses. Over the next 5 seconds while I continued to struggle with the
parachute the sound of the airflow achieved a maximum and I realized I was at
terminal velocity.

One arm was not enough so I reached down with the left and with both hands
heaved on the handle. After another couple of seconds I felt the parachute
finally come loose. I threw it sideways, let go and waited.

What came next was the most painful and violent impact I have ever felt in my
life, like I had been torn in half. Extreme pain instantly filled the body with
the worst of it concentrated in chest and upper back. I knew I had sustained
serious injury and immediately suspected my back was broken. I looked up just
enough to see one of the most beautiful things, a clean circular shape of the
front 1/3 of the parachute, taut, inflated and in tact. The airflow was quiet
now and the earth was no longer hurtling towards me. In less than 15 seconds I
had fallen 4000', the parachute and harness survived the deployment and so had I
but not without injury, and the pain suggested I was in a real bad way.

The thought of paralysis filled my mind and I needed to know. I tried to wriggle
my fingers and they moved. I thought with some dread, 'My legs?' I wriggled my
feet and they moved too. Relief mixed with the pain but concern remained that my
back was probably broken despite the spinal cord being intact. I needed a soft
landing to protect what wasn't damaged. I looked down and the remaining 2000'
came up very slowly. I could only just breathe. I needed to get down as soon as
possible and get help.

After a minute of trying to get more air into my lungs my color vision started
to fade, I was graying out. I remained conscious but gradually blacked out and
feared I may have sustained fatal internal injuries.

My thoughts immediately went to my wife who passed away earlier this year. I
hoped that if this was what was happening to me then I would be with her soon
and I felt content for the first time in 4 months. My soul mate, taken away so
early in our life with whom I had shared so much… Pain was no longer on my mind
and I felt calm. A few moments passed before awareness came over me, I was not
dying, I would survive, and this was not my time. The peace gave way to the pain
which returned with a vengeance. Shock set-in and I passed out.

When I came too I was on my back looking up at the sky. I looked around and
suddenly the realization of what had just happened came back all at once. I said
out loud in astonishment and relief, "I survived!" Then I started to get dragged
backwards at a waking pace for a few feet before coming to a stop. I looked over
my shoulder and there was that beautiful red colored parachute again, right
behind me on the ground and still inflated. A gust came through and again I
slowly got dragged along the ground a few more feet.

The pain was worse than ever now and I had to get out of the harness. I
rechecked arm and leg movement and all were still working. I unclipped the leg
loops and the waist belt. As I struggled in vain to undo the chest buckle I
heard a voice from behind, a farmer who had seen my parachute from a distance
sitting inflated on the ground drove over to check it out. "Can I give you a
hand son?" He asked as he walked into my field of view where I lay on my back.
"Yes, undo this buckle and call an ambulance", was my reply.

He too struggled with the chest strap and I thought it may be jammed from the
deployment. I had one more go and it released. I rolled out of the harness,
stood up, walked over to the shade of a nearby tree and carefully crouched in
the least painful position. There I stayed for the next 90minutes until I could
be evacuated.

Three things I saw that day will stay with me for the rest of my life. First, a
glimpse of that High Energy parachute sitting high above and taking me safely to
earth after the wildest and most painful ride of my life. And again as I lay
unconscious in that field then waking up, looking over my shoulder to see it
there once again, that big red parachute on the ground and still inflated as if
it continued to watch over me.

Second was the sight of Oli, Dave, Phil and Chris all coming into land only
meters away from where I crouched in absolute searing pain. I watched them get
out of their harnesses one by one and I felt much better straight away. They
rallied around me in relative silence but their concern was obvious. It took 45
minutes for the ambulance to arrive but the pilots urged the paramedics on and
tried to hurry them to do what ever was necessary to get me out of there and
into hospital. I heard Oli pleading with the Ambulance Officer, "You need to get
the helicopter, just send the helicopter right now". "Dave sat next to me and
relayed my answers as I could hardly speak. I can't describe how good it was to
have them there.

Photo by Tim Ettridge

Then the red and yellow Westpac helicopter arrived! The crew was on the ball and
once airborne I finally realised I was safe. We lifted off and headed straight
for The John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.

As I was wheeled in through the hospital doors a familiar face in a green
medical gown stood there waiting, Conrad Loten, fellow hang glider pilot and
head of the Emergency Department took over my treatment and directed his staff
calmly but with obvious authority and competence. After the CAT scan Conrad came
over to my bed and confirmed the damage; 6 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken
sternum and a flail fracture of the chest. "What about my back?" I asked. With
the slight smile he assured me the back was in perfect condition, no damage to
the spine whatsoever.

Quietly but with apparent concern Conrad kept in touch of my progress and
treatment over the next week. I was very lucky indeed to have him looking after
me. Friends visited everyday and thankfully I made a quick recovery in that
first week. My family came with real food to spare me and my recovering body
what wasn't offered on the hospital 'menu'. While the prognosis is still
uncertain it seems as though I could expect to make something close to a full
recovery. Everyday I am feeling much stronger.

I was very lucky to have survived this accident and many things were in my favor
including a lot of luck. The specialists believe health and fitness gave me a
big advantage not only aiding in the healing but also preventing more serious
injury. Since my wife passed away some months ago I have lost a bit of weight
and I suspect the less momentum I had when the parachute inflated the better.
She always looked out for me in the most unusual and often in the least obvious
of ways and it feels she continues to.

In hindsight I began preparation for this accident 18 months ago. At Forbes in
2007 I watched Austrian pilot, Andreas Orgler, experience an almost identical
accident. While his incident did not involve the violent sycamore rotation he
did tumble twice and then separated from his glider. His pilotless wing then
descended straight at me, head-on, and only just cleared mine with a closing
speed that would have certainly brought me down too. Meanwhile Andreas quickly
deployed his parachute during his freefall and well before achieving terminal
velocity. Despite his much lower speed the inflation was explosively and the
parachute failed. He continued to freefall right before my eyes.

Witnessing such a traumatic event left me deeply affected for a long time but it
was the motivation to understand why it happened and then reequip with the most
advanced skyline harness and a new High Energy parachute. This equipment that
could and did survive this rare and 'unlikely' event where pilot and glider are
separated in flight. The accident in Forbes helped prepare me to survive mine at
Gulgong. This may be small consolation to those who have never met me and knew
Andreas, but the fact is there are many people here now who are very relieved
and very happy because I am alive. He helped save my life.

I am very happy to be alive.

My understanding of flying has not changed in any way and I am not left with any
doubt about the safety and risks of hang gliding. I hope to fly again but that
depends on the ribs, and if I get to fly for another 15yrs I would be surprised
if I ever come across the same air that lead to my accident last Monday. Nothing
I could have done and no sort of equipment would have behaved differently. The
air was tipping me over no matter what.

The Rev is the most stable and beautiful glider I have flown in and when I
eventually reequip it will be with the same gear.

Check your equipment and update to the best, the extra few $100 is worth it!

Adam has a lot more to say
here.

Pictures of the damage here.