Pulpit HG Accident June 10, 2017

[Tev_Carrillo]

Pulpit HG Accident June 10, 2017

On June 10, 2017, I launched from the Pulpit and had an accident during landing. I ended up landing in a really strong tail wind in tall grass over 5 feet high in gusty conditions. I slammed chest first into the ground and got all the air knocked out of me. It was very difficult for me to breathe. My head also hit the ground and I ended up biting my upper lip which caused some bleeding. There was a lot of bruising on my chin. All my front teeth were very loose and my helmet had a big crack in it along the right jaw line. Walt came running to me and was asking if I was ok. I told him to call an ambulance because I though I had broken some ribs or punctured a lung. It was very hard for me to move and I was in a lot of pain. Eventually some local paramedics arrived. They put a neck brace on me and immobilized me on a stretcher. They called in a helicopter to airlift me to Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital in Johnstown, PA, about a 20-30 minute flight because they said there weren’t any facilities in town that had the equipment to deal with a thoracic injury which is what they though I had.

Once I arrived at the hospital, X-rays and a MRI were taken. The doctors concluded that I had a compression fracture along a couple of the thoracic vertebrae in my spine. Everything else was fine, no rib or lung injuries, and no surgery was required. I wasn’t able to walk for two days. I was in the hospital from Saturday evening until Monday evening. They put a bunch of needles in my arms, I was given some Percocet, a back brace, and a walker to help me out. Its been a little over two weeks since the accident. Today was my second day back at work. I am back to walking, albeit slowly, without the assistance of my back brace and walker, and I am no longer in need of the pain medication. I still have some discomfort and pressure in my back, especially in the morning after waking up. I can’t really lift anything. I try not to cough or sneeze because that hurts like hell. The doctors are telling me it will take about 8-12 weeks for my spine to fully heal. I am getting better day by day and look forward to getting back in the air once I have fully recovered!

I’m a H3 with approximately 40 hours and a little over 2 years of flying. I learned at Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas, CA. Over 90% of my time is mountain time with very little coastal flying at Fort Funston in San Francisco. I have experience launching and landing at elevations between 5,000 and 8,000 feet. I flew most of the sites in CA and have also flown in Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New York, Virginia, and PA. This was my second time flying at the Pulpit in my relatively new Sport 2C 135 of which I probably have 5 hours on, but feel very comfortable piloting. I believe the time of day was between 4 and 5 in the evening. Looking back, I realize I made several mistakes that day. I would say conditions at launch were a little mellow. The winds were weak and slightly crossed, nothing I couldn’t handle or wasn’t comfortable with. We were taking off from the right ramp, which I wasn’t really comfortable with. I do have experience launching off of ramps, but I wasn’t too fond of this one, maybe because it just seemed so high off the ground. I remember telling myself that I should’ve launched earlier in the afternoon when the winds were stronger and more straight in. A couple people decided to not fly and started folding up their gliders. Walt decided to fly and ended up with a sledder and landed in the alternate LZ. I don’t think I was in the right mindset to fly. I didn’t really want to fly, but I was already set up and I had told Walt that I was leaning towards flying. I didn’t want Walt to be down there by himself, plus, a sledder is better than not flying at all in my mind so I suited up and launched even though I wasn’t really in the mood. I should also note that this was the first time I flew with my new cocoon harness. I don’t think it was a contributing factor to the accident, but I probably won’t fly with a cocoon ever again because the damn thing is a pain in the ass to put on. As I was over the field, I thought to myself that I was too high so I decided to do a 360 to lose some altitude. I started the 360 and as I was downwind, the strong tailwind pushed me over a part of the field that had really tall grass, over five feet high, so now I was thinking to myself, “I’m too low and I don’t have the clearance to turn because my wing tip will hit the grass.” I was moving over the ground really fast and I think the tall grass just grabbed my base tube and slammed me into the ground. It happened too quickly. In hindsight, I should never have attempted that 360. I remember thinking how small the LZ looked before I initiated the 360. I would also like to point out that when I initiated the 360, I was over the mowed part of the field, I may have been right on the mowed/tall grass border. I had never walked this LZ before either, another big mistake. If I had, I probably would have had a better idea of how small it really was and how to initiate an approach to land there. I should have just pulled in all the way and I probably would have been fine. I remember seeing a tear on my glider's lower surface after the accident, near the nose cone, about 8 inches in length. The guys who broke down my glider said it didnt look like there was a lot of damage. When I fully recover, I will set it up and do a very thorough inspection and try to determine the extent of the damage.

So in the future, I'll be sure to familiarize myself with all LZ’s at a particular site, not just the primary, but the alternate LZ’s as well. You never know when your going to need them. Another lesson learned is initiating 360s while low and over the LZ is probably not a good idea. I had a strong head wind, I would have been fine if I had just pulled in and continued the approach, but the small size of the LZ really messed with my head. If you HG or PG, its important to have medical insurance. My little helicopter flight alone ended up costing $55,000. Luckily, I have insurance and I won’t have to worry about paying a single cent for any services I received. But what if I didn't have insurance? So hopefully other people learn from my mistakes.

Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation for Walt and Anthony folding up my glider and driving my truck to the hospital. I owe you guys. Feel free to send me an email with any questions.

[Ward Odenwald]

Tev, thanks for sharing the details! Remarkable write up considering all the sh**t that you are currently suffering! Your description is loaded with details that will help us - especially your mindset leading up to flying, the LZ conditions/approach decisions and your foresight for medical insurance. Collectively, we (our flying community) have made all the mistakes that triggered to your crash but have been lucky enough to escape major injury. It's my hope that we use your recommendations to improve the safety of our flying.

Thanks,

Ward

[Brit_in_SoMD]

When you say you have "medical insurance", do you mean you have specific additional coverage for flying HG/PG, including medevac? Or is it just regular coverage for "normal-people"?

[Tev_Carrillo]

When you say you have "medical insurance", do you mean you have specific additional coverage for flying HG/PG, including medevac? Or is it just regular coverage for "normal-people"?

Well, I'm in the Air Force so they pretty much pay for everything. I'm not sure how it works on the civilian side.

[bowen.tim]

Tev,

We appreciate you writing this up and glad you are on the mend. When your mind says it doesn't feel right, listen to it! I was one of the pilots that broke down my glider at launch. I have always told myself that if it doesn't feel right, don't do it. There is no shame to walk away from launch. My mindset that day was that, even though the thermal cycles "looked" good, I didn't see any of the locals flying in them.

As for medivac, I know in the State of Maryland, if you are airlifted by a MD State Police Medivac, it's a FREE ride. My Maryland taxes pay for the service. It would be a good time for all of us to review our insurance coverage.

I highly recommend that you take your glider to a WW dealer, BlueSky in VA, to do a sail-off inspection. I broke a down tube last year and when i went to put the new one on I had additional damage. I replace a keel and the control saddle. Leave it to the experts.

Good luck and see you out there soon!

[Tev_Carrillo]

Tev,

We appreciate you writing this up and glad you are on the mend. When your mind says it doesn't feel right, listen to it! I was one of the pilots that broke down my glider at launch. I have always told myself that if it doesn't feel right, don't do it. There is no shame to walk away from launch. My mindset that day was that, even though the thermal cycles "looked" good, I didn't see any of the locals flying in them.

As for medivac, I know in the State of Maryland, if you are airlifted by a MD State Police Medivac, it's a FREE ride. My Maryland taxes pay for the service. It would be a good time for all of us to review our insurance coverage.

I highly recommend that you take your glider to a WW dealer, BlueSky in VA, to do a sail-off inspection. I broke a down tube last year and when i went to put the new one on I had additional damage. I replace a keel and the control saddle. Leave it to the experts.

Good luck and see you out there soon!

Thanks Tim. That's really good advice. I definitely want to have an expert look it over.

[theflyingdude]

Nice write up, Tev!

One thing I learned the hard way was landing in tall grass/hay. Under no circumstances can you allow the basetube to touch the grass/hay as you're gliding over it. You must treat it like it was solid ground. Otherwise, the moment the basetube settles into the tops of the grass/hay, it will be grabbed like an arrestor cable on an aircraft carrier and the glider will rotate nose down pounding into the ground with great force and speed. It's happened to me and just about everyone I know at one time or another. You're far better off flaring early and dropping into the tall grass/hay from a distance than to risk a catastrophic pounding.

I'm glad you're looking forward to getting back in the air!

JR

[Dave Proctor]

Tev,

Thanks for posting. Glad you weren't seriously injured. And JR is absolutely right. Never let the basetube hit the grass before you flare. Believe it or not, you are lucky.

Dave

[Dave Proctor]

I should add. Don't even let your legs drag thru the grass. The grass can grab your feet, and before you can flare your body is dragged back far enough that you cannot flare. Once your feet get slowed down, your weight is too far back to flare...you are going to pound in.

[Tev_Carrillo]

Nice write up, Tev!

One thing I learned the hard way was landing in tall grass/hay. Under no circumstances can you allow the basetube to touch the grass/hay as you're gliding over it. You must treat it like it was solid ground. Otherwise, the moment the basetube settles into the tops of the grass/hay, it will be grabbed like an arrestor cable on an aircraft carrier and the glider will rotate nose down pounding into the ground with great force and speed. It's happened to me and just about everyone I know at one time or another. You're far better off flaring early and dropping into the tall grass/hay from a distance than to risk a catastrophic pounding.

I'm glad you're looking forward to getting back in the air!

JR

Yep, this is exactly wat happened to me.

[Tev_Carrillo]

Tev,

Thanks for posting. Glad you weren't seriously injured. And JR is absolutely right. Never let the basetube hit the grass before you flare. Believe it or not, you are lucky.

Dave

I definitely Consider myself lucky. I'm glad I didn't break any of my limbs.

[markc]

Really glad to hear that you are recovering Tev. Tall grass... It can hand you your... Yeah.

I've landed out a few times in the tall stuff. Thinking back, I wonder how much was luck, that I pulled it off? I knew/know the "treat it like the ground" rule, but it just takes a moment, and.... Wham!

From your description, it sounds like you might have been flying downwind when the grass grabbed your base tube, is that the case? If so.... Yikes, that makes things go from bad to worse.

*edit* Never mind, I see that you were downwind from your post... That truly sucks, glad that you are walkin' and talkin' dude!