Paulo Henrique Santos and
plane after emergency bailout
February 18, 2002
Dear Manley,
I am proudly saying that I was saved by your equipment last
Saturday. I was in a practicing session with my Extra 230, when I decided to train
my free Advanced sequence, which I flew for the first time in a previous flight
that day. I dived to enter the aerobatic box and start the first maneuver(a P
loop with a roll at the top). Usually I left the airspeed reaches the a very
high airspeed (around Vne 250 mph), to have plenty of energy to perform the
sequence, but in this dive the airspeed overshoot by approximately 10 mph the
airplane limit. I leveled the airplane and push briefly the stick to mark the
level flight. After this I felt a roughness in the stick, which became a strong
vibration. At this time I looked to my left wing and saw the airplane being
ripped off from the wing. After that the airplane start to banked right, and I
tried regain control using the stick, without success. The airplane start to
sink I was sure that I will not be able to stay alive inside the cockpit. Then
I took the difficult decision to bail-out. I opened the canopy, took out the
harness and the phone, and quickly was out of the airplane. Immediately I pull
the ripcord and the chute deployment was totally successful, in a negligible
amount of time. I was around 1000 ft above ground. I had the feeling of a complete tranquility. There was no sound,
and only a sensation of being guiding in a mildly gliding to the ground. I
raised my head and saw that incredible vision: a perfectly round orange canopy.
I was save. The touch with the ground was noticeably soft. I have never had a
previous experience in jumping. I remembered to bend my knees to reduce the
chances of any leg injury. At the ground I hardly believe that I was totally
uninjured. The airplane felt around 500 meters far from me, totally destroyed.
The chute was re-rigged a couple of weeks ago as recommended.
The excellence of the equipment, the good rigger job, and my care in flying
always in a safe altitude resulted in only material losses.
I don't know if in the future I will have the privilege to fly
another airplane like this one. Undoubtedly I will miss the pleasure and
challenge to fly the perfect maneuver. Otherwise all the kindness demonstrated
from friends to unknown people to me and my family will also be in my memory,
and certainly will aide-me in overcoming this experience.
From the entire episode, one great lesson that I will like to
transmit for all aerobatic pilots is never minimize the safety precautions
about airplane limitations, altitude, parachute maintenance, and even the
ground under the aerobatic box, which also contributed to the my success.
Another lesson: we pilots do not usually think seriously in a condition that
requires to bail-out. I always thought that this would not happen to me.
When it happened, I did not hesitate. It is very important to be
decisive, as the time pass very quick, and rely totally in the parachute.
Finally I will always emphasize the quality and performance of
the Butler parachute, which was remarkable. I would really like to thank you.
Sincerely,
Paulo Henrique