Wingsuit B.A.S.E. jump fail.

December 7, 2011 2:59 PM

This B.A.S.E. jump went very, very wrong. For reasons unknown, after a good exit from a 450 meter cliff this jumper's wingsuit did not inflate on one side, causing him to go completely unstable. Out of desperation he deployed his canopy which, as you might expect, opened with massive line twists. Yet somehow he managed to walk away unscratched! Watching this = drinking 3 cups of coffee! SLTY
posted by Dean358 (50 comments total)

I've cleared a few line twists, and even when you're not BASE jumping, they're scary as hell.

You're not kidding about the shot of adrenaline; my heart is still fluttering.
posted by ChrisR at 3:05 PM on December 7, 2011

I can't really figure out what is going on here, is there any other youtube video from the side showing what happened?
posted by mathowie at 3:06 PM on December 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

As someone who has never jumped more than ~5 ft, I still need three cups of coffee. To me it looks like he is perhaps untwisting a large headphone cable under a tent by the side of a mountain?

Not sure.
posted by nutate at 3:09 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Zen koan: Is it still a SLYT if there are two links to the same You Tube?
posted by cmoj at 3:11 PM on December 7, 2011 [11 favorites]

I don't know which would have been worse: the thought that I'm going to free fall 450m to my imminent death, or that just when I think I've saved my own ass I nearly slam into the side of the cliff.

Also: this reminds me why I won't be BASE jumping any day in this lifetime.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 3:13 PM on December 7, 2011

OMG I am so dizzy. 3 cups of coffee? NONSENSE! more like about five beers
posted by zomg at 3:13 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's kind of similar to this, but without the bird, mathowie. The two parallel sets of lines were twisted around each other which required him to spin until they were untwisted and he could regain control.

He's incredibly lucky to have avoided flying right into the cliff when he didn't have any control.
posted by Awakened at 3:14 PM on December 7, 2011

The description seems clear enough (if a bit garbled in English):
* Wingsuit guy jumps. Only one wing inflates; the intake valve is too close to some other equipment. You can see how crumpled it is at about 0:30.
* Pulls canopy. Canopy comes out twisted. At this point you see him spinning without much control. He comes dangerously close to the wall.
* At the last minute he catches some air and gets to a safe distance, after which he continues to try to untwist the canopy, or is twisting involuntarily -- it's hard to tell.
posted by dhartung at 3:16 PM on December 7, 2011

"Reports coming in indicate that BASE jumping might be dangerous to your health. We'll have more on this shocking news later..."
posted by The River Ivel at 3:25 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

At around 1:17 it looks like actually does contact the cliff wall. Lucky it had a gentle touch! Yikes!
posted by orme at 3:30 PM on December 7, 2011

So this guy didn't speak the whole time? I would've expected some "omigodomigod" at the least.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:31 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

Awakened: Yikes! That poor bird. Very skilful save by that parasailer.
(and now i know how to say putain! in Russian)
posted by zomg at 3:40 PM on December 7, 2011

why is there not more screaming
posted by o2b at 3:42 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

why is there not more screaming

I screamed several times if that helps.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 3:43 PM on December 7, 2011 [24 favorites]

It wasn't really scary to me since it was really hard to tell what was going on.

I almost posted this really stunning BASE jumping video today, but then figured that it wouldn't be appropriate since it looks like the footage came from a larger movie. This video really had my heart pumping, even though nothing bad happened.
posted by OmieWise at 3:50 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

Why does a wingsuit have valves? How does a wingsuit work for that matter? They inflate? I kinda thought they just increased air resistance to decrease terminal velocity.

Where can I do this?

According to wikipedia there are jet powered wing suits. Why does this guy not have jets, seems like a no brainer you would want a couple jets on your suit.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:53 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

In related news: Espen Fadnes, Wingsuit Flyer, Hits 155 Miles Per Hour In Norwegian Gorge (VIDEO)
posted by ericb at 3:56 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

According to wikipedia there are jet powered wing suits.

Just last week ...

That death-defying Jetman, aka Swiss pilot and inventor Yves “Jetman” Rossy, has been at it again. This time, in his jet-propelled wingsuit, Jetman has flown a formation flight alongside two jets from the Breitling Jet Team. Jumping off a helicopter with his rigid wing equipped with four jet engines and adjusting his trajectory and altitude by his body movements alone, he then performed aerobatic figures above the Swiss Alps in the company of two L-39C Albatros aircraft.

posted by ericb at 4:00 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

In related news: Espen Fadnes, Wingsuit Flyer, Hits 155 Miles Per Hour In Norwegian Gorge (VIDEO )

Thanks, I see the wings inflated in this video. Looks very different than the video in the post.

Here is another guy with jets.

Pretty cool stuff.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:04 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Why does a wingsuit have valves?

Even most recreational parachutes now depend on air flowing through them to keep them inflated and give them an airfoil shape. This makes them more controllable and allows them to fly further. I would guess that wing suit wings probably operate on similar principles.

According to wikipedia there are jet powered wing suits. Why does this guy not have jets

According to that same article, there's only one in existence that allows for sustained controlled flight and the materials it's built from are incredibly expensive. Plus I would imagine it's probably an entirely different experience with jets.
posted by Serf at 4:08 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Zen koan: Is it still a SLYT if there are two links to the same You Tube?

No, the OP specifically said this was a "SLTY."
posted by resurrexit at 4:08 PM on December 7, 2011

People really shouldn't do things like this at all. I know they like doing it but it's too dangerous. The risk is not justifiable.
posted by rubber duck at 4:14 PM on December 7, 2011

It's kind of similar to this , but without the bird, mathowie.

Recent FPP on that video: Paraglider vs. Eagle (with full 11.07 video).
posted by ericb at 4:14 PM on December 7, 2011

That's right; this is a Single Link, Two Youtubes.
posted by ChrisR at 4:30 PM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

I would love to do this sort of thing, but the only way I ever would is if I could save game and reload if something bad happened.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:41 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

For the topographically curious, I think this may be the cliff.
posted by davel at 4:43 PM on December 7, 2011

As I don't understand the equipment, it was not easy for me to tell what exactly was happening in the first few moments, but I was quite sure that nothing in a well-tuned rig of any kind is supposed to make a sudden kazoo sound. Talk about a harbinger of doom.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:45 PM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

Nothing against people throwing themselves off very high cliffs with a backpack of uncertain merit.

Looks like a riot. Go for it, and I'm even prepared to swallow the tiny fraction of a penny a year it will cost me personally if it goes wrong and you end up living the rest of your life on a ventilator funded by the socialist medicine I pay for.

Can I has reciprocal rights on psychedelics?

Oktnxbai.
posted by Devonian at 4:53 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Where is that camara pointing? It looks like it's pointing off the back of his helmet. So we're looking down his back at his backpack?
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:27 PM on December 7, 2011

Lord deliver me from ever engaging in any activity requiring life-saving equipment which, on failure, lets out a noise like somebody honking a clown's nose.
posted by penduluum at 5:32 PM on December 7, 2011 [10 favorites]

Coffee, feh. I'm pouring some Laphroaig and thanking the heavens that I have the option of being stationary.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:39 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

What's the sound at :54? Some kind of emergency kazoo? I'm intrigued by the possibility that chute deployment has some kind of noisemaker valve built in.
posted by ceribus peribus at 5:57 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Talk about a harbinger of doom.

This is how the world ends -- not with a bang, but with a kazoo sound.
posted by swift at 6:02 PM on December 7, 2011

What's the sound at :54? Some kind of emergency kazoo?

I'm fairly sure if you put me in this sort of situation, you'd hear my "emergency kazoo" going off pretty loud too.
posted by howfar at 6:03 PM on December 7, 2011 [9 favorites]

1. I totally understand why people want to do this sort of thing.

2. I'm so glad that they can take a camera with them so I don't have to do that sort of thing to see those incredible vistas.

Although I may need to consider a safer cover for my armchair.
posted by Twang at 6:21 PM on December 7, 2011

uh, you can't tell what the hell is going on in that video. It's boring, no one dies, moving on.
posted by xmutex at 6:34 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Why does time of deployment have any effect on the line being twisted? I'm not sure why that wouldn't have been an issue even if things had gone fine with the wingsuit.
posted by invitapriore at 6:55 PM on December 7, 2011

From the video link description: "In a short start or a less steepy wall I was died."

Indeed, my friend.
*drinks big tumbler of single-malt scotch to calm nerves even though not there*
posted by Ron Thanagar at 7:05 PM on December 7, 2011

A friend sent me this video the other day of to skydivers colliding in air, getting tangled, and surviving.
posted by Deflagro at 7:07 PM on December 7, 2011

"A friend sent me this video the other day of to skydivers colliding in air, getting tangled, and surviving."

For a couple of seconds I'd read this as:

"A friend sent me this video the other day of...skydivers coding in the air, getting tangled, and surviving"

And now I'm thinking there's gotta be somebody crazy enough to try this, getting at least a "Hello World" displayed by the time they're on the ground, hehe.
posted by fantodstic at 7:30 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I found his English very charming. "In a short start or a less steepy wall I was died."
posted by not that girl at 7:44 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

A friend sent me this video the other day of to skydivers colliding in air, getting tangled, and surviving.

Surviving, sure--but the one guy ended up a quadriplegic. People in the Flight 447 thread are saying they found reading the cockpit transcript nerve-wracking and some couldn't even do it; I had to stop watching that video after the collision when the skydiver making the video--the one who ends up landing in a cornfield without his parachute--starts saying, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" in a breathy voice.
posted by not that girl at 7:47 PM on December 7, 2011

If you jump off enough cliffs, one of them is going to kill you. I'm happy to let them do it but I don't see the drama in it.
posted by doctor_negative at 7:59 PM on December 7, 2011

not that girl: "I had to stop watching that video after the collision when the skydiver making the video--the one who ends up landing in a cornfield without his parachute--starts saying, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" in a breathy voice."

Yeah, I definitely should have included a warning that it does get a little tough to watch. Sorry about that.
posted by Deflagro at 8:21 PM on December 7, 2011

In a secluded hallway at IMAX Corporation's corporate headquarters in Mississauga, there used to be a series of exhibits showing their earliest cameras and other models progressing from the 1970s prototypes to the modern high definition digital 3D IMAX camera used today.

One of the display cases presented the smashed remains of an old 1970s model - the result of a failed early attempt to film a sky dive directly in glorious 586x magnification 70mm IMAX. The bulky camera was far too heavy to safely attach to a diver via tandem harness. Instead, it was placed inside a specially built spherical housing equipped with it's own parachute. The housing was pushed out of the plane just ahead of the divers, who were to direct the shots during freefall and then activate the parachute.

The parachute malfunctioned and the camera (over 50kg!) plummeted to earth. By random chance, the stabilized view was pointed directly down when it's chutes failed, and it continued to film the rest of the descent until impact.

The camera hit lens first and was destroyed along with the housing. Apparently this broke the fall for the film platters, which survived miraculously intact having filmed a far shorter time sequence than intended.

Somewhere, in a vault at the IMAX corporation, is the surviving footage of a 10,000 foot first person perspective sky dive that clearly shows the exit from the plane, a few playful somersaults and panoramas, and then locks onto the earth below and proceeds at terminal velocity all. the. way. down. until the ground literally rushes up and touches the lens.
posted by ceribus peribus at 8:57 PM on December 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

For those who need more context.
posted by blue_beetle at 4:35 AM on December 8, 2011

The parachute has deployed just fine. It seems to me that the lines got twisted because while the pilot chute was pulling the main he gained enough angular momentum that when the chute inflated and acceleration pulled his hands towards the axis of rotation he started spinning like a dreidl.
If I ever go base jumping I'll remember to wear something soilproof.
posted by hat_eater at 7:03 AM on December 8, 2011

That's some pretty weak coffee. I'm glad he wasn't hurt.
posted by Catblack at 7:24 AM on December 8, 2011

Not only is he silent the whole way down (too busy trying not to die), but no "woo hoos" or "thankyoujesuses" when he lands, either. To me, he even looks a little annoyed that the jump didn't go as planned. I guess there's no room in BASE jumping for people who aren't icewater-in-veins cool!
posted by Robin Kestrel at 12:49 PM on December 8, 2011

Dasein: "That's a terrifying video. Can someone who knows something about skydiving explain why the guy couldn't cut away his chute and use his reserve?"

According to the description he says he did deploy his reserve and it's the blue ball of nylon tangled in his lines. I'm not sure if that means he tried cutting away first or not.

I've always wanted to go either base jumping or parachuting, but videos like these two always make me reconsider.
posted by Deflagro at 9:07 PM on December 8, 2011