Paratrooper dies in Ft Bragg accident
Ponsdorf sends an article from Military.com about a young paratrooper, SSG Jamal Clay who fell 800 feet to his death Saturday night on Sicily Drop Zone on Fort Bragg, NC;
Clay was carrying a gun and his rucksack. He was wearing the Army’s new T-11 parachute, his third jump with it. The new square canopy is supposed to reduce injuries by creating a slower, more controlled descent.
Testing of the parachute showed a 70 percent drop in injuries compared with the last Army parachute, the T-10.
The T-11 parachutes were first used on Fort Bragg in December 2009. By 2014, the 82nd Airborne Division will have 14,000 of them.
Clay is the first 82nd Airborne Soldier to die using the new parachute.
So he was carrying a “gun”, huh? I wonder if he had a rifle, too.
All stand for an abbreviated version of “Blood On The Risers”
Category: Military issues
He was one of our “mutual friend’s” troopers, Jonn. A sad, sad day.
Blue skies, Airborne.
I was working on that jump, not a good situation
send your friend my sympathies ROS. I was working the jumps the day before that too and we had quite a few injuries too. We had 3 different sets of people get tangled for about 2 to 3 seconds, they all got pretty messed up
I was wondering what kind of chutes those were. The article did not say whether he tried to deploy his reserve. Hopefully the reserves are still standard? In any event, Godspeed SSG Clay.
My condolences to the family of SSG Clay. I’ll see you in while, young man…
Once upon a time I had memorized and could sing all the verses to Blood Upon the Risers. Haven’t heard it since around ’76.
AATW!
My thoughts and sympathies go out to SSg Clay’s family, friends and fellow troopers. On a lighter note, I my first jump into Sicly DZ I realized just how big it was, 8 of us got put out early, crap, that was a hump to catch up with rest of the company, then had to road march to Pope and fly right back to Hunter. Worst sound I ever heard when jumping was when I heard my rucksack at the end of the lowering line go splash….2 seconds to go oh s%#*! Then I went splash…..not deep may be 2 ft. of water, but only being 5’5..it was deep enough, so there I am with 132 lbs soaking wet, 60 lb ruck, and about another 80 lb wet chute in a kit bag! Gawd I hated the army that day!
RLTW
I’m sorry to hear that, Andrew. I hope they all have a speedy recovery.
The loss of any Trooper is a stab in my heart. Here’s too you SSgt Clay. I’ll meet you on the Fiddler’s Green some day and we’ll tilt one with all our brothers. You may not have been Cav….but I have invited you as an Airborne Brother. Until that day. I’ll be looking for you Old Soldier 54’….I’m betting I beat you there.
Honor and Courage and AIRBORNE! ALL THE WAY!
RIP SSG Clay! garryowen
I am probably in the minority, but I actually prefer the “crash 10” when jumping at Bragg. It takes longer to deploy the T-11. When I went to jump school last year, I was at about 400 feet when the chute fully deployed..and that was a hollywood jump. At Bragg, they jump at about 400 feet lower than at Benning. While the T-10D is a rougher landing, at least the chute opens quickly.
Yes there is a big difference with the opening of the T-10 and T-11. I have seen a lot of delayed openings with the T-11, some of them were caused by the jumper having a week exit. I have know idea what the caused the incident last week, but if I was in charge I would pull every T-11 and conduct more testing. My thoughts go out to the family. Former Black Hat
The crash happened during a night combat jump (per the article). I’m sure you’re well aware of the tendency at Bragg to make the combat load as heavy as possible for these jumps. Strangely, I have NEVER had more than 1 riser twist jumping a T-10 (6 jumps including 2 at FBNC: 2 “combat load”) but I had 4 twists the one time I jumped a T-11 (1st jump, Airborne school). I only weigh about 170, but I almost always fall faster than individuals weighing 200+ for some reason.
[…] death causes Army to suspend T-11 use July 13th, 2011 Last month, i wrote about SSG Jamal Clay who died during a parachute accident at Fort Bragg. the Stars & Stripes reports today that the Army has suspended use of the T-11 […]
Thoughts go out to SSGT Clay’s family