Cleveland Parachutist

 
clarkgriswold said:
Better off than these folks-

sanduskyregister.com

Disaster 50 years ago killed 16 sport parachutists

HURON — Fifty years ago this month, 16 skydivers drowned when they were accidentally dropped into Lake Erie, several miles offshore and about 12 miles away from their intended landing site.
sanduskyregister.com sanduskyregister.com
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The year after this disaster I was working as an intern at the FAA branch at Cleveland Airport. Totally one of the softest "Jobs" I ever had. One day someone called in to the office and asked if they could do a tribute jump to those who lost their lives. From the manager's office I heard such profanity that I knew a tribute jump would never be held. The Cleveland FAA branch was tasked with investigating this incident and the manager nearly had a nervous breakdown going through all the details. It was a taboo subect in the office when I was there.
 
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thavoice said:
That's insane how the hell does that happen.
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I watch a lot of "disaster in the air" shows. It's amazing how many accidents, especially those 40 years ago or more, happened due to what we would think of as common-sense failure. And each time new and stronger procedures and regs were put in to hopefully eliminate a future occurrence for the particular reason involved.
 
Zunardo said:
I watch a lot of "disaster in the air" shows. It's amazing how many accidents, especially those 40 years ago or more, happened due to what we would think of as common-sense failure. And each time new and stronger procedures and regs were put in to hopefully eliminate a future occurrence for the particular reason involved.
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and you still get some guy slamming into the side of a building in downtown Cleveland.
 
arizonawildcat said:
The law? rules? stated that you could not jump unless you could see the landing zone. These idiots jumped through cloud cover and found themselves over Lake Erie. Ergo, they drowned.
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Presume they did not have someone who's only job was to allow them to exit.

I've jumped number of times, granted this was 50 yrs ago, but man that should never happe.
 
I can tell you that the incident completely crushed the family I knew and the kids ended up a damn mess growing up.

That's an event that requires a "perfect storm" of mistakes. From the decision to go up with cloud cover to the last person following the crowd out of the plane, it was error after error after error...
 
clarkgriswold said:
I can tell you that the incident completely crushed the family I knew and the kids ended up a damn mess growing up.

That's an event that requires a "perfect storm" of mistakes. From the decision to go up with cloud cover to the last person following the crowd out of the plane, it was error after error after error...
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Usually that way...

In hindsight a bunch of small oversights lead to one giant mess.

You said "kids" so I wonder if it was the lone woman? Said she was 26 and had 4 kids. Must have been Catholic. Probably Jesuit? Too soon?

Lake Erie would have been warm enough to survive in late August but it must have been hell being in boots (presumably) and jumpsuits with a chute over the top of you. Amazed that two actually survived.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Usually that way...

In hindsight a bunch of small oversights lead to one giant mess.

You said "kids" so I wonder if it was the lone woman? Said she was 26 and had 4 kids. Must have been Catholic. Probably Jesuit? Too soon?

Lake Erie would have been warm enough to survive in late August but it must have been hell being in boots (presumably) and jumpsuits with a chute over the top of you. Amazed that two actually survived.
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Many people panic in a situation like this in the water and it would not take long to drown. From the extra weight, to tiring out from treading is a recipe for disaster. Big, slow, long kicks in the water keeps you afloat, but most panic and go fast and small kicks and tire themselves out.


Have never done a water landing before, mabye in the future but those usually fill up pretty quickly!
 
thavoice said:
Many people panic in a situation like this in the water and it would not take long to drown. From the extra weight, to tiring out from treading is a recipe for disaster. Big, slow, long kicks in the water keeps you afloat, but most panic and go fast and small kicks and tire themselves out.


Have never done a water landing before, mabye in the future but those usually fill up pretty quickly!
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I get that. I was a lifeguard on open water and had my diving certs. Excellent swimmer as well. Have free dove 50ft. Most people have no clue how dangerous open water is to them. I spent a lot of time in Quarries and on Lake Erie. I cannot imagine full clothes and heavy shoes with a chute dropped over my head. In a decent chop no less.

Not a year goes by where I do not read about some experienced swimmer (does that mean he CAN swim?) jumps in and is never seen again. Saddest stories are the ones where a boat breaks down and dad jumps in to see what is the issue with the prop. The boat drifts faster than he can swim and the family has to watch him drown.

I'll take the boat out into Lake Erie a couple miles off shore and to this day when you jump in you get that feeling of how small you are, miles from any shore, unable to touch the bottom. People "think" they can swim but there is always a ledge or shallow end nearby.
 
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irish_buffalo said:
I get that. I was a lifeguard on open water and had my diving certs. Excellent swimmer as well. Have free dove 50ft. Most people have no clue how dangerous open water is to them. I spent a lot of time in Quarries and on Lake Erie. I cannot imagine full clothes and heavy shoes with a chute dropped over my head. In a decent chop no less.

Not a year goes by where I do not read about some experienced swimmer (does that mean he CAN swim?) jumps in and is never seen again. Saddest stories are the ones where a boat breaks down and dad jumps in to see what is the issue with the prop. The boat drifts faster than he can swim and the family has to watch him drown.

I'll take the boat out into Lake Erie a couple miles off shore and to this day when you jump in you get that feeling of how small you are, miles from any shore, unable to touch the bottom. People "think" they can swim but there is always a ledge or shallow end nearby.
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Someone drowned on our lake the other day, second this year (ironically, it ties our Corona deaths for the county) Dont know the specifics but the word is he exited on his own so how knows.
Down some basic water survival with boots, fully uniform and such. Using pants as a flotation device can be a life saver.
 
irish_buffalo said:
I get that. I was a lifeguard on open water and had my diving certs. Excellent swimmer as well. Have free dove 50ft. Most people have no clue how dangerous open water is to them. ...
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You coulda got harpooned!

I'm not a great swimmer but I know what you mean about open water. Under it, eh. on top, brrrrr Bobbing up and down, feet naked to sea monsters. I'll get anxious with the boat only 10 ft away and switch to dead-man's. Somehow that doesn't bother me.

Part of scuba training was getting that mask removed at 2 atmospheres and making it to the surface without blowing a lung. Been at 90 ocean with strong current and 120 in-land, deep spring well and it's all just being in a little room looking out the window until that mask disappears. Did a free dive under a freighter and it made me feel a little vulnerable. You know that prop isn't going to start turning. The ship isn't going to fall. But still....

I love being on mountains; the space, looking forever. Did a couple sky dives (not tandem), same feeling. In water I think I prefer my comfy blanket. I want my mask. I want my dive partner.
 
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