Parachute Accident ROI Released
On 16 April 2015, PVT Joshua Daniel Phillips traveled to the JRTC at Fort Polk, LA. Along with about 2,000 others from the 82nd Airborne Division, he participated in a night mass-tactical jump.
PVT Phillips didn’t make it. His parachute was damaged during the jump; he did not deploy his reserve. He died on impact.
The Army Times has an article detailing the findings of the official Report of Investigation concerning the incident. It appears to reveal errors by the personnel running the jump, as well as some judgement regarding the jump on the part of senior leadership that might be second-guessed.
But in the main, absent cancelling the jump entirely my take is that this unfortunate incident appears to be something that was not reasonably foreseeable, and beyond reasonable control. Another jumper became towed. That jumper’s rucksack came loose, and struck Phillips’ parachute as Phillips exited, severely damaging it (and possibly knocking Phillips unconscious). It was Phillips’ first night jump; either inexperience or being knocked out caused Phillips not to deploy his reserve. Hell, even an experienced jumper might conceivably have missed the fact that they had a badly damaged parachute during a particularly dark night jump. And if you’ve been knocked unconscious, well, . . . .
The Army has instituted some new control measures, intended to ensure jumpers get more experience before making their first night mass tactical jump. Even so, I’m not sure those new control measures would have made much difference here. Sometimes, reality bites – hard – and things simply go badly wrong in a way nobody foresaw. And even experienced jumpers sometimes make mistakes.
It’s sad that a fine young man died. But there’s a good reason that being on jump status qualifies an individual for hazardous duty pay. It’s inherently dangerous. While the dangers involved can be reduced, they can’t be completely removed.
Rest in peace, PVT Phillips. Rest in peace.
Category: Politics
Rest well Airborne jumper … It takes a special person …
Amen.
Rest in peace young trooper.
RIP Airborne!
Geronimo D.Z is no joke at night. And few Airborne units are going to cancel a JRTC MASTAC jump without anything short of a tornado on that D.Z.
A rigger, jumpmaster, etc., mistake is one thing. A chain of bad events is an oh shit. How do you avoid a towed trooper’s kit being torn off and, in a 1 in a thousand chance, hitting PVT Phillips’ chute at a critical phase of deployment?
As to deploying reserve: I had a Mae West on my second jump and didn’t realize it until the GOD PA System said “Jumper with a Mae West, check your canopy”. Damn. I threw my reserve, right into the wind it seems but at the time the wind was from the ground up. It wrapped around me and I couldn’t see shit. Last guy in the stick, first guy on the ground. Oh, they jumped us on red smoke for high winds. 2 guys dragged to death.
God bless you PVT Phillips for volunteering for service, twice. RIP Trooper. Will light a candle for you tomorrow.
My dad was a jumper when he was in the Army, and while he spoke very little about his experiences, he did admit that it was a very dangerous way to make a living when he did it (mid-1950s). I’ve always had a very healthy degree of respect for anyone who would jump out of a perfectly good aircraft.
Rest in peace, PVT Phillips.
“who would jump out of a perfectly good aircraft”.
Ya never been on a C119 in the 60’s era. You were glad to get out of it. /smile
AMEN, SJ. My first 10 jumps were from gasoline fueled aircraft, C-119, C-123 and C-124 types.
Even training is dangerous in the military, and Airborne training is even more dangerous. There is a reason that they give/gave us jump pay for doing something that we loved doing. RISK.
RIP Pvt Phillips.
Ah, the C-123 – two big honking radial piston engines and two small turbojets used for takeoff: “Two turning and two burning”.
My first jump was from a C-123. IMO it was the perfect aircraft for anyone’s first jump – so noisy and vibrated so much during take off that you were damn ready to get out when the jumpmaster said “GO”.
RIP, PVT Phillips.
Just bad stuff all around.
“It was Phillips’ first night jump”
Don’t they do a night jump in Airborne School, or are you meaning his first night jump with his unit?
Linked Army Times article says it was his first night jump, Twist. I took that at face value.
I can’t speak for today, Twist. When I went to jump school decades ago, I believe there was one night jump. But it’s been decades, and memories fade; I could be wrong about that. And if weather is an issue, I’d guess the night jump could well end up a NO GO and be replaced by a day jump later in the week.
There wasn’t a night jump at Benning in ’63…not counting the one where I had my eyes closed the whole time.
You brought back memories & made me chuckle with that.
I used to tell folks that my very first jump in training was the most dangerous of any type jump operation. They’d get all big-eyed & shit. Then I’d say yeah, it was a night water jump. (Long pause). I closed my eyes &up issued my pants.
That usually got a good laugh.
August of 1980, we had a night jump.
My oldest Grandson, also a Navy EOD guy, went to Benning for jump school in 2012. They had one night jump.
We got to watch his class make their last jump & graduation. They were jumping some new-dangled rig that had the slowest descent rate of any ‘chute I’ve ever seen.
They were jumping at 1200 AGL, and it seemed like it took them about 3 minutes to hit the dirt. My first thought was “Man. Easy targets in a hot zone.” It made me think of my brother, 82nd, during Just Cause. He said they went in at 500 AGL, no reserves.
I’ve only done one training “combat jump” from 500 AGL. Talk about “ground rush.”
The Basic Airborne Course POI calls for a night jump, but often (especially in the Summer) it is done ‘technically’ at night (after EENT but still light).
Contrary to popular belief, jumping higher is actually safer (not considering HALO/FF, etc) because you have longer to react in case of a malfunction.
COmbat Jumps are at 500 feet because that is the lowest you can safely jump a t-10 (not so sure about the T-11). No point in using a reserve because you won’t have time to use it- by the time you figure out you have a malfunction you are too low for the reserve to deploy,
That said, they will usually issue reserves anyway because it makes everyone feel better.
The other differences on a combat jump (never did one myself) is that you are supposed to stand up as soon as you get in enemy Air Defense range, you don’t put the safety pin through your static line (don’t know if we still have those), and the JM doesn’t have to jump last- he/she can put himself anywhere in the stick he wants based on the ground tactical plan.
Oh, and people might be shooting at you.
ATAPS are 1250 agl for safety reasons. And yeah: I hate the T11 main.
There was was a night jump scheduled in ’91 for my class, but it was scratched due to high winds. We jumped the next day. Even after being on jump status later on, I have never jumped at night.
I was a “Leg” all through my career, but I had respect (and still do) for those who are always ready to “Jump out of a perfectly good airplane” anytime or anywhere.
Rest In Peace Young Warrior, you were taken from us far too soon.
My experience is almost a decade old, but I was a jumpmaster in the 82nd in two different brigades, so, for what it’s worth: I saw a few red flags in this story. 1st, the trooper was doing his first night jump since jump school. Division policy used to be that all troopers (PVT to MG) did a day ‘hollywood’ and at least one night jump before a night mass tac CE jump. The fact that the towed jumper had 8 concussions means he is either lying or his CoC is completely oblivious to what is going on in their unit. Not sure which is worse. A single concussion is a problem, 8 in 35 jumps means that he is doing something very wrong and is a very dangerous person in the air. Finally, the chaotic airborne sequence means that the unit was not proficient at what they were doing. A good unit learns that slow is smooth, smooth is fast, and can get a lot done in a short period. The MACO brief (Marshaling Area Control Officer) is very important, because that is where the troopers get their final weather, terrain, and enemy update before getting on the aircraft. They MIGHT get one at the 20 minute warning in the aircraft, but then it is really too late to do anything about it. The 82nd is notorious for a very long Airborne sequence, which includes everything from marshaling, putting the paratroopers in chalk order, manifesting, sustained airborne training, MACO brief, JMPI, loading, etc. SOF dudes always made fun of us, but we did it that way for a reason- in a brigade mass tac you are going to empty 6-8 C-17s (or C-141s back in the day) in about as many minutes- one jumper exiting each door every second. In SOF, a ‘mission profile’ mass tac means that you are putting out maybe (MAYBE) a few ODAs of 12 jumpers or a SEAL platoon or task unit of maybe a few dozen (SEAL platoons are 16 guys, and maybe soon to be a few girls). The Ranger regiment does… Read more »
Reddevil: that is an OUTSTANDING post! Its been a long time and at least 40 pounds since I was in Div and I forgot most of that. What a great refresher along with an excellent report on what it is like in the field today. Thank you Sir!
Yup well done.
In reading what you posted, Reddevil, I recall the WWII films of night drops over enemy lines in Europe. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the most casualties back then were from being shot while dropping into a combat zone, or making a bad landing and getting hung up on something like a church steeple.
Accidents do happen. Witness the fatal accident this past summer during the Chicago Air & Water show when two jumpers collided in midair and one of them was knocked unconscious, resulting in his impacting a highrise building and falling to his death from there.
I agree that better training for a smaller force is advisable. Perhaps some lessons will come out of this.
Ex, I think the most casualties were actually sustained by the Glider Infantry and Artillery Regiments during Normandy.
After Normandy, one of the GIR’s (401st) was disbanded to fill out the remaining (325th and 327th)Regiments of the 82nd and 101st due to them having such high casualty rates.
So, overall, it was safer to be a Paratrooper than a Glider Rider.
I don’t have enough information to tell you definitively what caused the most deaths.
The gliders were tough, mainly because the troopers had no control over their own destiny from the time they left the ground to the time the thing landed. Again, I haven’t seen any definitive rundowns on casualties of paratroopers v glidermen. That said, glider troops also did a number of amphibious landings- the 187th GIR (Rakkassan), for instance.
The largest single loss of life definitively attributable to one cause had to be during Operation Husky, the invasion of North Africa. The US Navy never got the word on the Airborne component of the plan, and shot down something like 22 transports. I don’t think anyone survived.
Holy crap! That’s a new one on me.
Generally correct, except for minor points. Husky was the invasion of Sicily vice North Africa.
The operation you reference was the behind-the-lines drop of elements of the 82nd Airborne on 11 July 1943 at Farello Airfield. The intent was to reinforce the Allied beachhead on Sicily.
Per USAF historical reports, both the Navy and forces ashore were indeed notified of the planned airdrop; however, that notice was apparently not fully disseminated or was ignored. (Or perhaps one nervous troop panicked, setting off a chain reaction among other nervous troops.) Both Naval forces and forces ashore fired on the transports, downing 23 as they transited the beachhead for the drop.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_forces#Operation_Husky:_Sicily
Rich Atkinson also describes the operation in his work The Day of Battle (the 2nd volume in his World War II “Liberation Trilogy”).
RD, what is the operational value of the charlie foxtrot? It sounds stupid so I think that it is stupid so what is it stupid? Did someone decide that the few guys that get killed because of this chaos are worth it in order to avoid paying to train correctly?
No one wants to be the guy that calls the drop- especially since if it is called for anything other than weather the service that ‘cancs’ it pays. Remember, the 82nd loads at Bragg and jumps into the box at JRTC/NTC. They’ve already spent a lot of money, and they are going to jump, by God.
Keep in mind that this is what the 82nd does. the division exists for this reason. If they can’t do it, then there is no point in maintaining and Airborne Division- just make it a light division.
So, night, rain, etc., are part of the program. Sustained winds or a certain amount of gusts (not sure what those numbers are for the T-11 parachute) are an issue, but they have a Drop Zone Safety Officer from JRTC that makes that call.
If you’ve ever been to NTC/JRTC/CMTC as a junior guy it is bad enough. It is tough, realistic training, and a good 3-4 weeks of prime suck.
However, if you are a battalion or brigade commander, while you might be a bit less physically stressed, you are under a lot of pressure. This is basically your report card for your time in command, and you’d better not screw it up. Getting the jump cancelled due to weather is one thing, but to cancel it because your unit isn’t proficient in its number one Mission Essential Task (Airborne Assault) is basically asking to get relieved.
It would be interesting to see the battalion and brigade level workups prior to this. How many mass tac jumps did the units do in the weeks and months leading up to this one? How tight was their jump master sustainment program?
All of that said, airborne operations are inherently dangerous- the sky, more so than the sea, is unforgiving of mistakes or hubris…
Reddevil: Yet another OUTSTANDING post. All the Way!!!
No real argument with your comment above – just an addendum.
There indeed appear to have been some errors and confusion during the jump; that much is noted in the RoI. However, here those errors and that confusion were determined to be immaterial. This unfortunate fatality might well have happened on a full-daylight equipment jump from a single aircraft in perfect weather conditions, with all appropriate safety briefings and perfect pre-planning and execution by the unit.
What appears most likely is one jumper got towed, and their rucksack lowered and was towed with them. That towed ruck apparently struck another jumper’s parachute – catastrophically damaging same, and likely knocking the 2nd jumper cold – as that 2nd jumper exited. Absent the jump being “Hollywood”, this could well happen on any given combat equipment static-line jump – very low probability, but not zero.
Under those circumstances, you now have an unconscious jumper with a catastrophically damaged parachute. He/she is out, so they can’t use their reserve. If the damage to their main is bad enough, they die. There’s no way to prevent that. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the unfortunate individual’s 6th (or 7th) jump or their 100th. It also doesn’t matter if everything about the jump was done “by the book” letter-perfect – it still could happen.
Jumping is inherently risky; there’s always “corner case” occurrences you can’t avoid that can possibly happen and cause serious injury or death. This was one; a twin equipment failure (main and reserve) is another. The best you can do is try and lower the probability for such an event happening to an acceptably low level – and pray. But absent not jumping at all, you can never make that probability zero.
Parachutists understand that, and accept it. Much of the rest of American society seems not to.
“The 82nd is notorious for a very long Airborne sequence, which includes everything from marshaling, putting the paratroopers in chalk order, manifesting, sustained airborne training, MACO brief, JMPI, loading, etc.”
And then you go into the SF snark as well as further explain of the program. Thank you. I was Marine Inf and never got near a jump and have no understanding of the process. It’s good to have as much explained as the explainers have the time and patience for.
One thing that often gets missed, imo, is that in non SF units there’ll be shower shoes (personnel fresh from initial training) who are totally new to the entire process mixed in with those troopers repeating the process.
Non SF units *must* process for the newest, freshest among their personnel in such things. The old salts get annoyed but it is an absolute necessity in such outfits that the spin up be as if no one’s done the event before, because there are those in the mix who’ve never done the event before.
It’s the same in non SF live fire exercises. Crawl, walk, run process is absolutely necessary.
I have first hand knowledge about that jump. We never got a MACO brief, we had jumpers added while on the Tarmac that didn’t go through prejump with us.
Yes the towed jumper did have a lot of concussions but, the command still requested him to accomplish the mission and he obeyed
RIP Private Phillips.
Rest easy, Airborne.
See you at the Great AA in the sky.
Rest in Peace, Soldier.
“It’s sad that a fine young man died. But there’s a good reason that being on jump status qualifies an individual for hazardous duty pay. It’s inherently dangerous. While the dangers involved can be reduced, they can’t be completely removed.”
Safety in training is good, but push too hard for it and/or make safety the end all, be all, then you end up with an force that is useless in war.
Even if the soldiers were willing to make the sacrifices necessary, the command, and the civilian masters who obsessed so heavily on zero fault training would be too risk adverse to allow them to do so.
We’re beginning to see that process play out.
I remember my first night jump like it was yesterday.
Stuff happens. You don’t have to take it any farther than that. When you jump from a perfectly good airplane nothing is guaranteed.
Rest in Peace Airborne!
“… and he aint gonna jump no more” There was a reason they played that every morning on Bragg during PT.
Everything that our military personnel do is dangerous. I’ve never served in the military, but have law enforcement background.
Yes, it was dangerous but compared to the military, my job was cookies.