57
Skydiving plane crashes in France, killing all 11 people on board
(www.abc.net.au)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
57 points (100.0% liked)
World News
2274 readers
1152 users here now
Rules:
Be a decent person.
No racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, zionism/nazism, and so on.
Other Great Communities:
Rules
Be excellent to each other
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I believe Base jumping uses different chutes (smaller) or at least a different design for low-velocity opening. They also hold a drogue chute in the hand for release - conventional chutes rely on airflow past the bag to pull the drogue and chute out.
As a skydiver there's a general rule that 5k feet is decision altitude - if you don't have a good chute then (tangled, not fully deployed, etc) you need to decide NOW if you're going reserve, because it takes time (altitude) to cut away and release your reserve - and hopefully this gets done before you hit 2k.
And there's kind of a general rule to not fuck about under 2k feet, because you have no recovery time.
Also, BASE jumpers are nuts! Haha
Decision altitude for an a license is 2500 feet. Hell, most DZ's consider it pulling high if you're over 4000 ft, and require you to exit the plane last, if there are no wing suitters.
Reserved parachutes are TSO'd to open in 300 ft and are generally seven cells rather than the standard 9 cells for main canopies.
One of the jump requirements for your a license is to do a hop n pop (where you jump and deploy immediately) at 3500 to simulate an emergency.
Now, I don't know about France as different countries have different rules, but in America you have to be buckled in with the door closed until 1000 ft.
Source: got my a license last year, have fifty jumps, and have jumped out of a jet (a DC-9), and a Huey.
If the plane is having issues under a 1000 ft, it's going to be hard to get unbuckled, get the door open, and jump out. And even If the reserve is supposed to be fully open in 300 ft, I wouldn't want to jump anything below 1500, and that only of I was certain the plane was going down and I'd be stable on exit.