just on the plane and the only thing that went through my mind was, cut away. that s the only thing you can think of. i don t know if he s conscious, i don t know if he knows what s going on at this point. orlando amador remains conscious, but he and the plane are still in grave danger. orlando s own camera is still recording. there was a lot of tension from the canopy pull. i didn t realize it was open. i just felt the tension. i was trying to hold on with my hands until the pull was so strong that i just couldn t hold. it wasn t until i looked up and saw the plane was still there that i realized, this ain t normal, this ain t good. we have to do something about this. all skydivers carry a second chute called a reserve and that reserve is orlando s only hope. he has to cut away his primary and pray the backup works. just as he releases, his tangle primary canopy shreds from the wind rushing over the tail. orlando still clenches the rip cords in his hand, free falling from 12,000
at 4,500 feet, he pulls his reserve. it works. orlando is now able to drift safely to the ground. keeping his cool under pressure turns a very bad day into a great story. there s no actually training for hanging from a plane, but there wasn t mush i could do at that time, just cut away, reserve. orlando s relieved when he finally reaches earth again. the pilot also lands the plane safely. orlando considers why his canopy might have opened early. a chute s deployment depends a lot on the closing loop. a small piece of cord that holds the entire chute inside the container if the closing loop is too loose, wind can get inside and pull the chute open. a pin olds it all in place. something happened when the packer was closing the container, the closing loop broke. so in the same hurry, she had to place a new closing loop in
it s a good thing to have video, so you can tape your friends and they can tape you and you can see what you did wrong and fix any problem that you have, just to become better. a better skydiver. with norman s camera recording, no one is ready for what happens next. as orlando turns his back to the door, his back opens, the chute his pack opens, the chute flies out prematurely, yanking him out and gets snagged on the plane s trail. he twists out of control, striking the side of the plane. orlando s own helmet cam also records the event. now his life and the lives of everyone on the plane are at risk. having a premature deployment or early deployment is very dangerous. a lot of things can happen. by the force orlando is drug out of the plane, he can hit the door, be unconscious. you can see the canopy full of air on top and on bottom and the pressure is so great, that you
can actually feel the plane pouncing up and down, like some type of earthquake. if he rips out the tail of the airplane, the airplane can go into a dead spin and nobody will be able to get out. there s nothing nobody can do to save him, there s no way you can climb to the tail to the back and try to release him. that s only in the movies. there s only one thing can skydivers left inside can do jump. the pilot increases airspeed to counter the turbulence, but that puts more pressure on orlando s chute. as norman descends, his thoughts and his video remain with his friend, who s still dangling from the back of the plane. i m flying down, i can see the plane just getting further and further and i see orlando,
type of earthquake. if he rips out the tail of the airplane, the airplane can go into a dead spin and nobody will be able to get out. there s nothing nobody can do to save him, there s no way you can climb to the tail to the back and try to release him. that s only in the movies. there s only one thing can skydivers left inside can do jump. the pilot increases airspeed to counter the turbulence, but that puts more pressure on orlando s chute. as norman descends, his thoughts and his video remain with his friend, who s still dangling from the back of the plane. i m flying down, i can see the plane just getting further and further and i see orlando, just on the plane and the only thing that went through my mind was, cut away. that s the only thing you can think of. i don t know if he s conscious, i don t know if he knows what s going on at this point.