http://ozreport.com/14.125#4

Nestle Shane <<president>>
writes:

Here is some of the report submitted to USHPA regarding the death
of John Seward at Packsaddle Mountain. It has been re-edited and the last names
have been deleted for the sake of privacy.

I had only recently met John Seward several weeks earlier through my
interactions with his instructor and through flying at Packsaddle. The first
flight of his I witnessed was from the vantage point of the LZ directly below
launch, where his flight ended with him coming up short of the LZ and landing in
the parking area about 30 feet short of parked vehicles. He had misjudged the
penetration rate of the glider and finding himself short of the field, correctly
made the decision to quickly lose altitude and land in the clearings around the
parking lot rather than risk running into the trees or barbed wire fence looming
in front. The following weekend I met him already on the hill waiting for
conditions to become right for him to soar. While we waited we discussed the
site's flying characteristics and I would quiz him on “what if” scenarios,
including what to do if he ever did find himself heading towards the hill. The
conditions remained too strong for safe flight that night so we met up before
sunrise the next day to try again, but the conditions were still too strong and
gusty for safe flight. John recognized the conditions, and while anxious to fly
again, did not indicate being overeager.

The next weekend he was assisted off the ramp by a very experienced H4 pilot who
pointed out John’s parachute was missing the safety bungee on one of the
latches. John made the decision to fly anyway. I was in the LZ at the time and
witnessed John making a few passes along the face before coming in for a well
executed landing.

On Wednesday, June 26, 2010, I noticed John had posted an e-mail notifying me he
would be going out with a couple of other pilots that day - Dan and Nathan. I
contacted him and made arrangements to pick him up at his house after he got off
work. I was hoping to get some flying in, but figured I would first make sure
John was safely launched since the two pilots he was going with are experienced
pilots and typically will want to get launched quickly. I picked up John at his
house about 5:00 for the 1.5 hours drive to Packsaddle Mountain and we loaded
the Wills' Wing Falcon hang glider and pod harness he had borrowed from his
instructor (his equipment was on order.) Along the way I once again quizzed him
on the right of way rules for the ridge and discussed flying scenarios, and once
again we discussed what to do if you find yourself heading towards the ridge. We
also discussed stalls and how a glider will respond to a shallow stall versus a
steep stall.

Once we arrived we found Nathan was setting up his new glider. Dan showed the
hill to his guest, Lori, and then began setting up his glider. John and I setup
our gliders and each proceeded through our safety checks. During this time
another pilot arrived (Johnny) to fly his remote control planes and watch the
other pilots fly. I double checked with John to make sure he had completed a
thorough safety check of his wing before moving my glider and harness down to
the ramp and securing it in a wind shaded parking area. When I went to check on
John’s progress, he was in his harness, hooked into the glider, and working his
way from the setup area to the ramp. Frequently pilots will ask for assistance
while walking down to the ramp due to part of the path also being a foot
launchable area, and thus subject to some strong winds and gusts. As we were in
non-gusty, light winds (about 10 MPH), I encouraged him to carry it with no
assistance, while I kept my hands near the nose wires in the event he ended up
requiring assistance. He had a little difficulty with the handling as the slope
is South facing and the winds were SSE to SE, but he managed to get it to the
launch area without my assistance.

As I had been informed of the missing parachute bungee by Rich the week before,
I had him secure the glider in the wind shadow behind launch and remove his
harness so we could correct the issue. Dan rigged a parachute latch bungee out
of a small hair band bungee to secure the parachute pin. John then put his camel
back into the rear of the bag and ran the hose through the top shoulder tow
strap. Once he had put his harness back on and secured it to the glider, we
rerouted his hose to a chest loop for easier access. I then personally checked
the chute container to make sure the Velcro was properly latched. I also checked
the leg straps, the side latches, his harness hang loop latch, and his chin
strap. During the inspection of the harness to make sure the lines for opening
and closing the harness were properly routed and secured, we discovered one line
was completely missing. The other line was properly routed and velcroed in
place. He didn't have plans on zipping up anyway, so we considered it a
non-issue. We then unfastened the glider and moved out to the beginning of the
ramp where we did a hang check and made sure he had plenty of clearance over the
bar and his chute was not interfering with his forward movement. Dan and Lori
were with us to watch his launch while Nathan and Johnny were up checking out
Nathan’s new glider.

All checks being completed we then moved out to the edge of the ramp. He had
mentioned earlier that he had felt rushed when he was being helped last week. He
also felt like he was being pulled down the ramp by the winds, so he was nervous
about being too close to the transition from flat to sloped. Once we got on the
ramp I let him feel it out and get accustomed to the wind direction and speed.
It was SSE to SE and about 10-15 MPH at the ramp. Very smooth as well. We talked
about were the lift band was going to be and that the best lift would be on the
SE point. We then went through the launch procedures where I told him I would
call "clear" when I was completely out of the way. Because the LZ had hay bales
in it, I advised that he should land down in the lowest field that had not been
cut or baled, or simply in the clearings directly below launch and before the
parking area.

Because he had felt rushed last time, I was cognizant of letting him feel the
air and take time to relax. He kept backing away from the edge of the ramp,
still feeling the winds were pulling the glider down the ramp. I kept coaxing
him back to the edge to help keep his glider at the proper angle of attack for
takeoff. After five minutes or so he yelled, “Clear!” I cleared the ramp and
responded, “Clear!” His launch was only a couple of steps due to launching nose
high. However, he smoothly flew away from the hill as he assumed the prone
position. There were no pitch or roll problems at all as he continued straight
out at trim speed away from the hill and kicked his feet into the harness.

Once he had his feet in the harness, approximately 4-5 seconds after launching,
he began a gentle turn to the left (East). He was, at this point, approximately
150’-200’ away from the hill, with a bank angle around 30 degrees. His turn
continued without any significant change in angle until he had reversed course
180 degrees and was heading back at the ramp. (Dan commented later that he felt
he had observed John cross controlling the glider during the turn.) At that
point he managed to flatten out the turn and appeared to be trying to turn the
glider back to the right - back on his intended course, but seeing the ramp and
hill rapidly approaching he reacted by pushing out on the glider’s control
frame. The glider immediately stalled, with no real altitude gain, and then
pitched steeply, nose down, into the brush and rocks below. The glider impacted
the hill about 50’ South of the ramp and approximately 30’ in altitude below the
ramp. He probably fell around 50’-75’ in all.

Dan and I immediately began making our way down the hill while calling his name
to see if he was conscious. When we didn’t hear anything we requested Lori to
call 911 and request a helicopter rescue response. Time to victim from ramp was
probably less than 45 seconds. As we arrived we heard what sounded like a low
moan or gasp. We made our way around the glider which had landed between a
couple of short trees or tall shrubs, nose down, tail up and into the wind at
about a 45 degree angle from level. The pilot was head down and being fully
supported by his hang straps. Above his head, to the right, was a small
outcropping of rocks. The glider's down tubes and base tube were intact and
appeared undamaged.

There was no movement nor any sign of life from the pilot. We both quickly
checked for pulse and breathing and found neither. In order to begin CPR we had
to remove his harness from the hang point. As he did not have a hook knife on
him, we had to lift his harness strap up enough to disconnect it. During this
process we could see a long, severe, bruise formed across the entire length of
his upper shoulders. Assuming that he would have a neck or back injury, we
secured his head as best we could while we rolled him over on his back next to
the glider. We opened his harness, unfastened his helmet strap, and and checked
for signs of life once again. Finding none, we began CPR, opting to leave the
helmet on and only use chest compressions so as not to risk any further spinal
injury (Time was 8:04 PM) We requested Johnny get us a hook knife to cut him out
of the harness for when Rescue arrived, as well as send someone down the hill to
unlock the gate. Dan and I alternated doing compressions over the next 40
minutes until a paramedic arrived. The paramedics immediately got permission to
stop CPR from a doctor via cell phone and did an EKG to confirm no signs of
life. At that point the rescue became a recovery. The Life Flight helicopter
ended up doing a basket extraction using night vision goggles.

Analysis: From my perspective, the entire accident was pilot error. The problem
began when he initiated his turn. Being that John was still very new to flying
in the prone position, I believe that he was likely not shifting his weight, but
simply turning his body in the direction he wanted to turn. Because his altitude
was nearly eye level for me, it’s difficult to judge what his body was doing in
the turn. And because the turn was smooth throughout, it would make sense that
he was cross controlling the turn. It was also supported by Dan's observations.

He managed to level out the glider, but did so on a heading directly back
towards the ramp. With the combination of his air speed and the wind speed, the
distance between him and the ramp was quickly closing. Even though he had been
told numerous times to pull in and continue the turn if ever heading at the
hill, it would appear that instinct took over. He pushed out hard on the base
tube and induced a full stall. The glider then pitched forward and dove into the
hill.

The lack of damage to the glider frame, coupled with the injury observed on his
back, would suggest that he impacted the rocks in front of the control bar with
no arrest from the glider frame until after impact. He would likely have been in
a head down, feet up, position when he contacted the rocks across the top of his
back, due to the inertial forces imparted when the glider pitched forward. There
was no damage to the helmet and no indication that the helmet had grazed or
impacted the rocks in any significant manner.

The left glider down tube was actually bent upon inspection, but very little.
The leading edge of the glider shows contact points from the trees scuffing the
fabric and is torn from the branches in a couple of places. The nose plate is
slightly nicked where it made contact with a rock, but otherwise undamaged. Due
to the glider’s location directly under the down wash of the rescue helicopter,
it is impossible to know what damage was caused be the wreck and what was caused
by the helicopter. Either way, damage to glider appears to be minimal.

We do not currently have access to a log book nor know if he kept one. Pilot
likely had less than 10 flights off the hill. I had been informed he had one
twenty minute flight off the hill, and this has been corroborated by other
pilots. His family also informed me that he had recently returned from Brazil
where he had been hang gliding. I completed an American Red Cross course on
February, 27, 2010 and was certified in CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer and
the Healthcare Provider. Dan had worked as Ski Patrolman from 1998-2000 and
received First Response Training that included CPR, but he was not current.

The funeral was held on Monday, June 28th near where John grew up. The pastor
commented that they haven't ever seen the church that full. During the service
friends and family had the opportunity to go to the front and share their
thoughts and memories of John. There were many jokes and funny stories about him
as a kid and as an adult. It was obvious that he was well respected and greatly
loved. I am saddened that we will not get the opportunity to know John better,
but thankful for that short time I got to spend with him. John was following his
passions in life, and although still tragic, John died doing something he loved,
and he is respected for that.

Those of you wishing to send cards may send them to:

John and Charlotte Seward

6910 Highway 36

Freeport, TX 77541

Thanks to those of you who have already responded with emails, cards, and calls
of support to both your fellow pilots and to John's family. It's wonderful to be
part of such a caring organization.

Gregg Ludwig <<GreggLudwig>> sends the USHPA operating limits:

C. Recommended Operating Limitations for Novice Pilots

1. Should exceed these limitations only after thoroughly mastering all required
tasks, and after acquiring a full understanding of the potential problems and
dangers involved in exceeding these limitations.

2. It is highly recommended that all flights be made under the direct
supervision of a USHPA Certified Basic or Advanced Instructor or Observer.

3. Should fly only in smooth winds of 18 mph or less and gusty winds to 11 mph.

4. If foot launching, should launch only on slopes 2:1 to 7:1, where wind is
within 25° of being straight up the slope.

5. Should maintain heading within 90° of directly into wind, and within 45° of
directly into wind below 60' AGL.

6. Flight speed. Should not attempt to fly slowly when encountering lift, but
instead, concentrate on maintaining attitude, heading, and airspeed. Slow flight
must be preceded by stall experience 500' from any object.