Your worst jump experience..........share ?

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8'Duece

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Worst jump (Airborne) experiences. Share your worst jump experience.

Worst: 1987 CAPEX at night during the month of December at Ft. Bragg, N.C. over Sicily DZ. Four C-130's loaded to the max with jumpers. We started the JMPI process at Popes tarmac about 2200 hrs. As with any jump we got kitted up, JMPI'd, then told sit and enjoy em if ya got em. We lied on the tarmac for an hour and half listening the birds rail up their engines. For you non jumpers there's a reason that sitting this long behind big birds is something you don't want to do as you'll breath enough bird fuel to make you nausiated and sick to your stomach.

We finally load up and now our equipment feels like it's about twice it's orginal weight due to the slight rain we sat in for an hour and a half. Take off is smooth but we're now flying nap of the earth and this where the stomach can sometimes turn on you a bit. About five guy's decide to show their last meal all over their ruck sack and it's now smelling like dog vomit all through out the flight, which I'll again remind you was a nap of the earth flight. :bleh:

Prior to the jump First Sergeant say's "Remmber to stay away from those shiny spots when your preparing to do your PLF, it's freezing out there and those shiny spots are water and ice"...............yeah, been there done that and for the newbies and their "Cherry Jump" it's great advice since you don't want to spend the next week out in the field with a wet start to your stay in the boonies of Ft. Bragg.

We get the warning, inboard personal rise, then outboard, hook up, check static lines, check equipment, you know the drill. Doors open, deafening sound of the engines of the aircraft and that black hole of a door your about to be running out of. We get the two minute warning then "Stand in the Door"...................finally the stick starts moving, we're going and we're moving quick, suddenly the stick stops cold and I'm knocked over by the jumper in back of me. Someone had tripped himself up in the front of the stick now several of us are lying top of each other trying get to our feet and our statics are now unraveling from their stows. :doh:

Jumpmaster is frantic, wind is howling in the doors, chaos ensues. We finally get to our feet get to the door and I exit only to feel the cold wind and it feels like I'm being blasted by sub zero ultra fans. I count out my 4's and feel the sudden pull on the riser and my harness...............good, I've got full canopy and it's getting quite and now it's just me and my job. I look around and realize it's foggy as hell and I can't see any of the other jumpers in the air so I stick to my decent and do touch the risers. Suddenly , Oh shit, I'm walking on someones silk !!!! pulling the riser to the left to try get off this clowns silk and kick at it the same time and I lose my air.:eek: I fall kike what feels 200 feet before my canopy get's it full dose of air again and suddenly BANG !!!!!! I'm already on the ground and I'm in that damn "Shiny Spot" that First Sergeant told us about....................Shit, I'm soaked to the bone, I did not lower my ruck, and at that very moment as I reach up to release the canopy from the harness another BAMMMM !!!! A jumper has landed smack on top of me with both feet !!!!!

Now we are both wet, my ribs are killing me and his ruck was still in his rig and he suffered a broken tibia. Shit, we're both here, I've got broken ribs, we're wet up to chin and he's yelling liking a stuck pig due the broken tibia.

We got lucky as we had landed fairly close to the rally point at Sicily DZ and there was a medic truck there ready for injuries. We both got taken to Womack and I never saw him again for several day's. I had two broken ribs and he had a compound fracture of the tibia.

Other than having one Maywest, that was the worst jump I ever had doing the silk dance at night in the rain with heavy equipment.

VIDEO: https://www.benning.army.mil/videos/video05/index.htm
 
I broke my back on a daytime Hollywood jump from a UH-60. I'm almost too embarrassed to tell that one.
 
I broke my back on a daytime Hollywood jump from a UH-60. I'm almost too embarrassed to tell that one.

it's ok man. Mine is summed up in 4 words: Lowering Line Wasn't Attached.

that was on like my 2nd-3rd combat Equip. jump. i just wish i had broken something to have taken my mind off how stupid i was.

mistake has not been repeated.
 
DZ wadi, Jordan 1989

First overseas deployment and still a cherry in Batt, mid deployment we did a jump with the Jordanian SF out of creaky C-130A's (Had to snaplink to the floor) into a moonless night with a stiff breeze. I landed in a wadi snapping my right ankle and popping my boot laces. Being a cherry I was not about to pop a red chem so I used my weapon as a crutch to hobble back to the DZSO, along the way I got yelled out by an unknown person for using my weapon as such. Me and a few others got airlifted to King Hussein Hospital and finally to Germany for surgery.
here is a Wadi
http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/media/blogs/kuwait/SAANR-Wadi.jpg

Second worse was jumping into Ali Al-Saleem in '91, very windy, lots of rubble, barbwire and mines to avoid....lots of guys got hurt that jump.
 
The landing area was the plateau, but due to the wind a lot of us landed off the side.
The trip to the hospital was interesting. For some reason they had to use a Land Rover to take us to a location where a Super Puma could land. All I could think of was the Puma that crashed a few days before in front of our tents...but we arrived safely, I felt so bad for (Now CSM Hall) as he broke his pelvis and any movement was torture. At the hospital I was so ashamed to have not listened to my mother and put fresh skivvies on (You know the deal, you never know!)...2 weeks in the desert I was pretty ripe plus going commando...and with the nurse cutting my pants off I thought she was going to shorten Mr Willy. But they were all professional even if I couldn't communicate with them. Eventually a doc came in asking me if I wanted them to operate or I could go to Germany, I didn't think twice when I said Germany. So I got on a C9 that stopped at every place in the Mediterranean to pick people up. It sure did have a pretty flight crew :D
 
Actually, Polar Bear saw a picture (8x10) of me about to land with both main and reserve canopy deployed on my maywest adventure. If I can ever get this damn printer to scan properly I'll share it in this thread.
 
Overall I count myself lucky not to have been seriously injured on any of my jumps. That being said, my worst jump was my last one, December 19th, 2000. The good part was that it was a hollywood jump on Sicily DZ. We hotloaded right on the tarmac so it was pretty sweet. There were high winds and the jump should've been scratched, but of course it wasn't because the Venezuelans were in town and the powers that be wanted to make sure it went off. In fact, they suspended the jump for a bit because of the high winds for the chalk right in front of me. They eventually resumed the jump and I wished I'd stayed in bed that morning by the time it was all through. All went well all the way until my 4th point of performance. About the time came to "prepare to land", the wind once again had picked up and I was flying across the DZ. When I landed, I got the wind knocked out of me and my ankle was fucked up. On top of that, I heard and felt my back pop all the way up. As I lay there like a drunk who got hit with a taser, all I could think about was how fucking cold it was. When I regained my breath I felt kind of fucked up and I hobbled my ass off the DZ. The next morning when I woke up I knew I was fucked. I felt like Hulk Hogan had given me a backbreaker in the ring. That was the beginning of the end of me. I went to sick call and that was the beginning of many visits to the hospital, physical therapy, etc. Finally they called no joy on me. I was given a choice to reclass to a "desk MOS" or I'd be put out. I couldn't see myself going to some bullshit unit off status so I chose to get out. The rest is history.....
 
Overall I count myself lucky not to have been seriously injured on any of my jumps. That being said, my worst jump was my last one, December 19th, 2000. The good part was that it was a hollywood jump on Sicily DZ. We hotloaded right on the tarmac so it was pretty sweet. There were high winds and the jump should've been scratched, but of course it wasn't because the Venezuelans were in town and the powers that be wanted to make sure it went off. In fact, they suspended the jump for a bit because of the high winds for the chalk right in front of me. They eventually resumed the jump and I wished I'd stayed in bed that morning by the time it was all through. All went well all the way until my 4th point of performance. About the time came to "prepare to land", the wind once again had picked up and I was flying across the DZ. When I landed, I got the wind knocked out of me and my ankle was fucked up. On top of that, I heard and felt my back pop all the way up. As I lay there like a drunk who got hit with a taser, all I could think about was how fucking cold it was. When I regained my breath I felt kind of fucked up and I hobbled my ass off the DZ. The next morning when I woke up I knew I was fucked. I felt like Hulk Hogan had given me a backbreaker in the ring. That was the beginning of the end of me. I went to sick call and that was the beginning of many visits to the hospital, physical therapy, etc. Finally they called no joy on me. I was given a choice to reclass to a "desk MOS" or I'd be put out. I couldn't see myself going to some bullshit unit off status so I chose to get out. The rest is history.....

For those of us that are "Airborne" and not just "five jump chumps" we are a brother hood. All it takes is just one jump and we can be staring a desk in the face or get our VA benefits and or try our best to get off profile and get back in the game........................Here's too ya.
 
Sounds like Sicily is bad luck. OK, here's mine - jumpnig the Operation Toy Drop jump in 2000. Sicily DZ. The winds were strong all day blowing from the bleachers across the DZ (west to east), so the AF and JMs had been adjusting to the point that the lift before me was released over the bleachers in order to hit center line of the DZ. Just before we thought we gonna go, the AF announced that they were out of fuel, so they were returning to Pope for gas and a new JM team (Germans that year). We finally got going, but with new aircrews, a new JM team, and apparently no hand-off brief about the wind.

I was #1 jumper on my aircraft and pretty familiar with Sicily. So as I'm standing in the door I notice that we're back over center line. Not good. I tried to tell the German JM to go around, tried to tell the new load to tell the nav to adjust the approach on the next pass. They were having none of it.

So the green light comes on and away we go. I'm pulling riser slip almost before my chute opened. As I'm trying to figure out where in the hell I'm gonna land, I hear the #2 jumper (another master blaster) holler, "Hey 1SG! Look!" He's pointing at a clearing (LZ) way to hell and gone past the DZ and he's running for it. I climbed my risers as best I could, but it was too late. Landed in the tree line, straddling a small tree. Lucky for me that those long leafed pines on Bragg are "soft woods." I walked away, but my 'chute was strung out over three smaller trees. The assholes running the jump (USACAPOC) didn't want to give up their recovery vehicle until all passes were clear, but I couldn't leave until I turned in my chute. "Fuck you, sergeant. I'll take care of it myself, but I can't guarantee the condition the chute will be in."

So, some buddies with a HMMVEE gave me a ride. We attached the harness to the brush guard and ripped that fucker out of the tree. I took it back to the NCO who refused me use of the truck and recovery gear. "Here ya go, buddy. Have an Airborne day."
 
Never really had a bad jump but plenty of shitty landings/"PLFs".

But this thread did remind me of this
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002508226_webparachute20.html
FORT LEWIS — The Army Ranger killed in a parachute training jump at Fort Lewis last week was a 24-year-old from Davenport, Lincoln County, the military said yesterday.

Pfc. Blake W. Samodell was pronounced dead at Madigan Army Medical Center after the accident Thursday afternoon, according to a press release from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Two other Rangers were injured in the jump and were reported in critical condition yesterday, the command said. Their names were not released.

The Rangers were making a training jump when their parachutes became entangled, the news release said.

Samodell was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis. He enlisted in the Army in May 2004 and arrived at Fort Lewis in December. He was deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year.

These guys were in my platoon.
Just an update on the two guys, I will use abbrevations for privacy reasons.
"TR" got medically discharged and is currently attending college. I can't remember his injuries but he walks on his own power with the help of leg braces.
"AR" is still active at this moment. He was offered a medical discharge but denyed it to fulfill his obligation and took a less physical job in Battalion. After a couple of months back at work he got sick of the work and came back to the platoon. This guy is an animal, if you would see him there is no way you would think he fell a couple hundred feet. He is currently serving as a Rifle Team Leader. He has a titanum femur and has pretty much "recovered" (he can keep up in runs). He also completed a water jump after the accident.

RIP Samodell :(
 
Afghanistan lol. Not the best place for having a bad jump, but starting with inside the bird, I wanted to hurl from the worst turbulence I had ever felt. We were packed into the 130 with some over sized equipment and an STS detachment, so I didn't really want to hurl. When we hooked up, it was a bitch to stay close to the wall with all the rocking, not to mention I weighed 170 lbs and weighed in at 300 before getting on the bird. As we exited, it was pitch black. Meaning I couldn't see any horizon, couldn't see the ground, - I couldn't see shit! The temperature didn't help either, as it was pretty cold which just increased our rate of decent...not like a T-10c really needed that at the time lol. So here I am...drifting to what I hoped was the ground because I might of well have had my eyes gouged out, since I couldn't see a thing. There was no "check canopy and gain canopy control." It was more like "it kind of felt like my chute deployed...lets hope it did!" So down down I go, when I hit the ground nobody...WHAM! The one second I separated my feet and knees from each other I hit the ground. Probably being one of the reasons why I shattered my heel. It was the first time a jump had knocked the wind out of me. At that point I'm sucking air trying to get my nods & saw into operations. To make a long story short, we did a lot of running that night, and it felt like I was running on glass (the glass being my bone :\ ).

There was another time we did an exercise at Ft...(can't remember the name..rangerpsych help me out! lol) where we ended up landing on a busy interstate. It wasn't a bad jump though since I didn't get injured! lol
 
In 36 military jumps never had so much as a sprained ankle. Did a few feet, ass, head PLF's but that's about it. However I did have one high pucker factor jump. Was at Ft. Drum, back when it was still Camp Drum. Had a cigarette roll. For whatever reason I couldn't get to my quick releases so I pulled my reserve. People on the ground said it looked like it only partially inflated before I hit the ground. Either because of the snow, or the fact that I am just one tough mofo I had no injuries. The medics who came racing over were quite disappointed.
 
Working in the Womack ER during my reclass to 18D... on the same day as an 82nd Div Mass-Tac, with equipment (dropped first). 150 tib-fibs, 6 backs, 3 guys through deuce and a half windshields with multiple lacs and fractures, 3 femurs, and who the hell knows how many strains. And to top it off... Mrs COL Smith came in with a sick baby, she avoided peds sick call "too many enlisted wives, and I had bridge...", long story short - I told her she'd have to wait until the soldiers were seen, there was a mass casualty at the DZ, we can get you some peds tylenol... (Repeat about 4x over 5 hrs) Until she went ballistic on me - I'm Mrs COL Smith, who are you, I demand to be seen, repeat mantra plus My Rank name, unit, CO, quals... fever (101) broke on the kid after the 2nd dose of Tylenol, she went home. Next day - tired and back on duty after a triple ER shift, and less than 6 hrs off... I get called into the lead doc and Charge Nurse's office.... Lo and Behold! COL Smith! (I'm thinking my career is at an end, esp when the SF Tng Grp Cdr walks in and greets Smith by first name...) Doc and Maj Nurse are shitting (I was past that) until the COL (82nd Abn) reaches over to shake my hand... SGT XXXX, thank you for working so hard on the guys yesterday, and Thank You for being firm yet polite with my wife, she needed that little lesson that she has no rank, and soldiers come first in this ER... No 1/2 flight, No canopy, worst jump of my life.
 
Working in the Womack ER during my reclass to 18D... on the same day as an 82nd Div Mass-Tac, with equipment (dropped first). 150 tib-fibs, 6 backs, 3 guys through deuce and a half windshields with multiple lacs and fractures, 3 femurs, and who the hell knows how many strains. And to top it off... Mrs COL Smith came in with a sick baby, she avoided peds sick call "too many enlisted wives, and I had bridge...", long story short - I told her she'd have to wait until the soldiers were seen, there was a mass casualty at the DZ, we can get you some peds tylenol... (Repeat about 4x over 5 hrs) Until she went ballistic on me - I'm Mrs COL Smith, who are you, I demand to be seen, repeat mantra plus My Rank name, unit, CO, quals... fever (101) broke on the kid after the 2nd dose of Tylenol, she went home. Next day - tired and back on duty after a triple ER shift, and less than 6 hrs off... I get called into the lead doc and Charge Nurse's office.... Lo and Behold! COL Smith! (I'm thinking my career is at an end, esp when the SF Tng Grp Cdr walks in and greets Smith by first name...) Doc and Maj Nurse are shitting (I was past that) until the COL (82nd Abn) reaches over to shake my hand... SGT XXXX, thank you for working so hard on the guys yesterday, and Thank You for being firm yet polite with my wife, she needed that little lesson that she has no rank, and soldiers come first in this ER... No 1/2 flight, No canopy, worst jump of my life.

What year was that ??? I think that may have been my "Worst Jump" scenario in my first post.
 
What year was that ??? I think that may have been my "Worst Jump" scenario in my first post.

I remember a night like that. I had five different folks from my company in the ER at the same time. The Division G2 SGM broke his leg and damned near lost it later. Finally left Division becasue he couldn't jump anymore, although CSM Thorpe told him he could stick around until retirement.

We may be talking about the same night.
 
I remember a night like that. I had five different folks from my company in the ER at the same time. The Division G2 SGM broke his leg and damned near lost it later. Finally left Division becasue he couldn't jump anymore, although CSM Thorpe told him he could stick around until retirement.

We may be talking about the same night.

It was in 87 if that helps. :)
 
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