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British Soldier Cheats Death: HALO Jump Gone Wrong
July 12, 2021, 11:01 AM
PASigBritish Soldier Cheats Death: HALO Jump Gone Wrong
Holy shit

As my Dad would say: "It wasn't his time"
quote:
British soldier cheats death after smashing through a ROOF and landing in a kitchen when his parachute failed to open fully after he leapt 15,000ft out of plane in training exercise over California
--The British parachutist spiraled out of control during the exercise in Atascadero, California
--Soldier jumped from 15,000ft but his parachute failed to fully deploy before he used a reserve
--The homeowners were out when he crashed through the tiled roof and landed in a kitchen at 5pm
--Incredibly, he only sustained minor injuries in the fall and has been treated in hospital
By JACK NEWMAN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 04:07 EDT, 12 July 2021 | UPDATED: 07:59 EDT, 12 July 2021
A British soldier has cheated death after crashing into someone's roof and falling into their kitchen when his parachute failed to fully deploy during a training exercise in California.
The parachutist jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft in a High Altitude Low Opening exercise known as Halo, which is used by the SAS and SBS for covert missions in hostile territory.
But the soldier started to spiral out of control when the parachute failed to fully deploy over the skies of Atascadero.
He deployed his reserve parachute but it was too late for him to be able to reach the designated drop zone and he continued his rapid descent towards the ground.
'It's a miracle in my estimation, really. I mean, who lands like that without a parachute and lives?,' neighbor Rose Martin, who discovered the soldier, told KSBY.
Residents in the town about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles called 911 after seeing him falling before he smashed into the house.
'I was in shock. I'm like, what?,' Martin said. 'So I ran in to make sure he was okay and I checked on him and his eyes were open but I wasn't sure if there were any injuries. I didn't want anyone to move him.
The impact left a huge hole in the tiled roof of the bungalow as the soldier fell through the loft and into the kitchen.
A picture shows the soldier in a sitting position, surrounded by broken tiles and with his parachute still attached. Someone can be seen standing over him as he removes a glove.
The homeowners were out at the time of the incident at 4.55pm on July 6.
The soldier, wearing British special forces uniform, was pictured in the kitchen surrounded by dust and debris in the house, still attached to his harness.
Link and more pics on UK Daily Mail
July 12, 2021, 11:08 AM
divilThe article is a bit confusing, did he pull his reserve too late for it to fully deploy or did it also malfunction too? It seems a paratrooper under fully inflated parachute would not have impacted the roof that hard. That said I am glad he cheated the reaper and didn’t mangle anyone in the impacted house.
July 12, 2021, 11:09 AM
IntrepidTravelerWas he charged with breaking and entering?
Bet the Ring Doorbell didn't catch that one!
Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet.
- Dave Barry
"Never go through life saying 'I should have'..." - quote from the 9/11 Boatlift Story (thanks, sdy for posting it) July 12, 2021, 11:09 AM
a1abdjquote:
The parachutist jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft in a High Altitude Low Opening exercise known as Halo
12,000-15,000 is generally the regular altitude for standard skydiving. He was only about half way to where he needed to be for it to be a HALO.
I see his lines going up to the roof. He had something slowing him down.
July 12, 2021, 11:10 AM
WarhorseWhat a lucky MoFo!!

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July 12, 2021, 11:36 AM
HayesGreenerOne of those moments when profanity and gentlemanly decorum might be excused.
CMSGT USAF (Retired)
Chief of Police (Retired)
July 12, 2021, 11:57 AM
Expert308quote:
The parachutist jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft in a High Altitude Low Opening exercise known as Halo, which is used by the SAS and SBS for covert missions in hostile territory.
So does this mean that the SAS now considers California to be hostile territory? Glad the soldier is going to be OK!
July 12, 2021, 12:06 PM
YooperSigsLooks like the gear bag that hangs below him punctured the roof before he did. May have saved him.
End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
July 12, 2021, 12:18 PM
sigcrazy7On one hand you can say he wasn't without a parachute entirely. He'd be dead. On the other hand, he hit with enough force to crash through the roof, so he must have been falling quickly.
What must the chances be that he hits in such an angle as to be parallel to --but between two-- roof rafters and attic joists? That is a miracle of chances, for if he had hit at a different angle, I bet he'd be all broken up. I understand that California framing methods can be a little flimsy, but not so flimsy as to allow him through a couple of rafters unharmed.
Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus July 12, 2021, 12:36 PM
ensigmaticquote:
Originally posted by divil:
The article is a bit confusing, did he pull his reserve too late for it to fully deploy ...
They open low. Thus "HALO." 3,000 ft. Terminal velocity for a human being is ±120 MPH, or 176 FPS. That means about 11 seconds between the time the main canopy is deployed and the minimum altitude at which a reserve chute can be deployed and expect it to slow you to a survivable rate, which is 1,000 ft.
In that eleven seconds you have to realize your main chute isn't working, cut it away (which, depending upon the defective chute's shape, may be much easier said than done), and pull the ripcord for the reserve.
quote:
Originally posted by a1abdj:
12,000-15,000 is generally the regular altitude for standard skydiving.
Regular skydiving is closer to 10,000 ft. HALO practice from as low at 15,000 ft.
quote:
Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
On one hand you can say he wasn't without a parachute entirely. He'd be dead.
Not necessarily. People
have survived hitting the ground w/o a chute. It's rare and, when they do, they're usually pretty messed up, but it happens.
quote:
Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
What must the chances be that he hits in such an angle as to be parallel to --but between two-- roof rafters and attic joists? That is a miracle of chances, ...
Not to mention apparently narrowly missing that kitchen counter to his left.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher July 12, 2021, 12:44 PM
recoatliftWould have to be tiled roof also. Can’t catch a break.
July 12, 2021, 12:47 PM
CPD SIGHopefully he got a lottery ticket on the way to the hospital, because that was his lucky day!
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July 12, 2021, 12:53 PM
PASigquote:
Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
What must the chances be that he hits in such an angle as to be parallel to --but between two-- roof rafters and attic joists? That is a miracle of chances, for if he had hit at a different angle, I bet he'd be all broken up. I understand that California framing methods can be a little flimsy, but not so flimsy as to allow him through a couple of rafters unharmed.
Or hitting that granite countertop! He missed that by inches it looks like, that would have killed him too.
Nope, God decided it just wasn't this guy's time.
July 12, 2021, 01:54 PM
tacfoleyquote:
Originally posted by Expert308:So does this mean that the SAS now considers California to be hostile territory? Glad the soldier is going to be OK!
I don't know why that is such a surprise - reading these pages for the last nineteen years, many of you guys already do just that.

July 12, 2021, 02:36 PM
SportshooterHope he makes a speedy recovery.
July 12, 2021, 04:00 PM
Rey HRHquote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Not necessarily. People have survived hitting the ground w/o a chute. It's rare and, when they do, they're usually pretty messed up, but it happens.
One story I remember where the guy survived, attributed his survival to whatever body rolling maneuver they are trained to do. I don't think the maneuver was only for emergency use but standard. In any case, the guy survived but every joint involved snapped or was broken.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
July 12, 2021, 05:43 PM
Oregonquote:
Originally posted by a1abdj:
quote:
The parachutist jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft in a High Altitude Low Opening exercise known as Halo
12,000-15,000 is generally the regular altitude for standard skydiving. He was only about half way to where he needed to be for it to be a HALO.
I see his lines going up to the roof. He had something slowing him down.
Those are pretty standard elevations to be considered a HALO in the military.
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"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?"
-Dr. Thaddeus Venture
July 12, 2021, 05:44 PM
Redleg06The article did not say what chute sustem the soldier was using, however, a Google search shows the T11 military chute with a descent rate of ~18-19 fps and the T11R (reserve) with a descent rate of ~26 fps. That's just an example of the differences in descent rates between the primary and reserve of some military chutes. So even if the reserve was fully deployed, he would have been coming down quite a bit faster that he would under the main canopy.
"Cedat Fortuna Peritis"
July 12, 2021, 05:48 PM
Oregonquote:
Originally posted by Redleg06:
The article did not say what chute sustem the soldier was using, however, a Google search shows the T11 military chute with a descent rate of ~18-19 fps and the T11R (reserve) with a descent rate of ~26 fps. That's just an example of the differences in descent rates between the primary and reserve of some military chutes. So even if the reserve was fully deployed, he would have been coming down quite a bit faster that he would under the main canopy.
The T11 is a static line "round" chute. He's wearing a square steerable canopy. It should be a negligible difference in descent for a reserve ride unless he had a reserve malfunction of course.
There are a lot of points that are made in that article that lead to more questions that aren't answered, or that are just full of very incomplete information.
___________________________________________
"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?"
-Dr. Thaddeus Venture
July 12, 2021, 05:51 PM
ensigmaticquote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
One story I remember where the guy survived, attributed his survival to whatever body rolling maneuver they are trained to do.
The only such maneuver of which
I'm aware is a Parachute Landing Fall. (N.B.: I am
not a skydiving expert.) The idea is you want to have a degree of sideways travel going as you touch down, let your legs take some of the landing force but otherwise fold, and roll onto your shoulder.
Average descent speed of an average adult male under a traditional round canopy is ±10 MPH. Average terminal descent velocity of an average human being w/o the benefit of a parachute is ±120 MPH.
I don't see a PLF working well at terminal velocity

I have
read that the best chance of surviving contact with the ground at terminal velocity is on soil, landing as flat as you can to spread the impact out. Counter-intuitively, IIRC, the
worst surface to land upon is water. (I no longer recall the physics involved.) I've heard tell water is even less forgiving than concrete--if you can imagine that.
I can't back any of that up with cites. It's from imperfect memory from long ago.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher