Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 1:56 AM
Well it does have the sky and clouds in it but it wasn't snow falling. A bit of motion blurr due to slow shutter speed
Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 1:57 AM
And more...
Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 1:58 AM
Oh...no!
Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 2:00 AM
He's ok... sort of. According the the news he suffured minor back injury. Very fortunate man!
Posted by Nick Moore on January 7, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Wow that's scary!, I'm glad he's ok, so many others are less fortunate. You captured a very nice photojournalistic account of the event, the motion blur in #3 really adds to the drama!.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on January 7, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Great "action" sequence! Sure glad the guy was able to walk away!
Any idea of what caused the chute to collapse? Were there high wind or cross wind issues?
I've been up in powered parachutes a few times and felt very safe.
I like the idea of having the parachute already deployed - as opposed to ultralights or hang gliders.
Great sequence of shots John! I'll bet the pilot was wishing you'd been somewhere else though. How embarassing.
Bill Pelzmann wrote:
"I like the idea of having the parachute already deployed - as opposed to ultralights or hang gliders."
I'll go along with you on the ultralight... But having flown hang gliders for a number of years - and watching the paragliders - I'll stick with hang gliders. There are about 5 different ways to stall out a PG and, unless things have changed, the only recovery is free-fall until the wing re-inflates. No thanks!
Posted by Todd Caudle on January 7, 2008 at 1:23 PM
That's a fantastic series! I saw this on the news last night, and they reported the guy's chute caught a major downdraft and the canopy collapsed. Your photos tend to prove that. You might want to contact NTSB, if they're called in to investigate, although this seems to be a pretty clear case. Maybe contact the Gazette or local TV stations before the story is gone for good.
Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 4:08 PM
TLFD said if NTSB investigates they would likely contact me (they have my info). I called the Gaz and heard back were not interested for the paper but maybe thier web site. I would think there wouled be some editorial useage $$ for this? I will also print some gratis for our local Fire and rescue folks. I was ready for Landscape not sports and had a Pola on and must have bumped my dial to AV so I was shooting at 1/50th. I do think the motion blur adds to the drama. He just missed the telephone pole and wires. If I had stuck around after the ambulance left I would have made the news! Oh, fame how fickle thee be! I am glad he only had minor injuries. I did not even realize he was in trouble at first.
JK
Posted by John Klotz on January 7, 2008 at 9:51 PM
It seems his brother (or bro-in-law) had videotaped the whole event. Oh well I still have some cool shots! Maybe I can find someone that wants them.
JK
Discussion
9 repliesAny idea of what caused the chute to collapse? Were there high wind or cross wind issues?
I've been up in powered parachutes a few times and felt very safe.
I like the idea of having the parachute already deployed - as opposed to ultralights or hang gliders.
Bill Pelzmann wrote:
"I like the idea of having the parachute already deployed - as opposed to ultralights or hang gliders."
I'll go along with you on the ultralight... But having flown hang gliders for a number of years - and watching the paragliders - I'll stick with hang gliders. There are about 5 different ways to stall out a PG and, unless things have changed, the only recovery is free-fall until the wing re-inflates. No thanks!
JK
JK