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Incident Details
General Information
Title: Tandem Helper Injured During Launch
Date: 05/11/2010
Time:
Location: Florida beach site
Pilot Information
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Pilot weight (without motor): 180 US Pounds
Rating:
None
Experience:
50+ Hours Solo
Incident Detail Information
Type of Incident:
Body Contact with Spinning Prop
Primary Cause:
Other
Contributing Distractions:
Activity in Takeoff/LZ (Cars, People, Gliders, etc.)
Windspeed:
Moderate (5-9 MPH)
Wind Type:
Steady
Thermal Conditions:
None
Visibility: 6+
Surface:
Sand
Terrain:
Flat
Site Elevation: 0 (feet above sea level)
Phase of Flight:
Takeoff
Purpose of Flight:
Other
Safety Gear Used:
None
Helmet Full
Helmet Other
Protective Boots
Knee-pads
Elbow-pads
Wrist Guards
Reserve
Knife
Gloves
Strobe
Unknown
Communications:
Unknown
Damage to Pilot's Equipment:
None
Wing:
Motor: Flattop Simonini
Injury Information
Pilot/Passenger Injury Severity:
Not Applicable
Hosipitalization:
Not Applicable
Injuries:
None
Head
Face
Neck
Chest
Back
Abdomen
Shoulder
Arm
Elbow
Forearm
Wrist
Hand
Pelvis
Thigh
Calf
Ankle
Foot
Knee
Unknown
Collateral Damage:
None
By-Stander
Other Pilot
Animal
Property
Unknown
Narrative: The non-USPPA tandem pilot was launching in sand with a passenger. An observer, who was not involved, ran up to help by pulling on the pilot/passenger in an effort to helpful. There was already at least one person helping and this one who ran up had not been solicited to help.
Just after the pilot throttled up to accelerate, the observer/helper fell and wound up getting his foot in the prop, causing enough damage that two ties were lost.
News Report:
June 05, 2010 11:19:00 PM
NEWS HERALD STAFF REPORT
PANAMA CITY BEACH — An 18-year-old Alabama man's toes on his right foot were severed Friday as he helped a paraglider take off from the east end of Panama City Beach.
Frankie Fuller said he had graduated high school in Alabaster, Ala., on Thursday and was in Florida celebrating on his senior trip. While on the beach, he went
to assist some friends who were helping John Black of Panama City get airborne.
"I guess a couple of my friends were helping a paraglider take off and they couldn't get it, so I went over to help," Fuller said Saturday evening, after returning home.
He must have fallen backward as the paraglider was gaining speed, Fuller said.
"It caught my toes and mangled my foot all up," he said.
All five toes on his right foot were injured in the accident. Three were completely severed, while the big toe and second toe were hanging on only by skin, Fuller's mother, Joni said.
Fortunately, Frankie Fuller said, an off-duty nurse came out of her beach house to help and had his foot bandaged by the time paramedics arrived.
He was hospitalized at Bay Medical Center, where they were able to reattach two toes. His mother said that although his friends went back to the beach after the accident and gathered up the missing digits, doctors were unable to reattach those.
"The kids in his group were awesome," Joni Fuller said. "The ones who scooped him up and carried him, and went back to look for his toes…" Frankie said he also wanted to thank his friends and the strangers who helped carry him and get
him aid.
http://www.newsherald.com/news/toes-84417-panama-accident.html
Photo:
No photo on file.
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