Death by Helmet????

[Nubsnstubs]

Hi folks, back in 1970, my brother, SF officer, 1st Lt. Walter Lee Marcantel was killed in a routine jump at Fort Devens, Mass, 59 days after his tour in VN. He was one of the officers on the mission that Jerry Shriver went MIA.
The verbal report of what transpired was the jump was made from a Beaver aircraft. I don't know how many others were involved in the jump, but my brother was the last to exit the plane. The only other people in the plane was the jump master, and the pilot. I didn't hear anything about a co pilot.
He was preparing to exit . He supposedly was on his butt because of the small door that was the exit point.The story is his reserve chute opened, and was instantly dragged out of the aircraft at what ever speed the craft needs to stay aloft. His head hit the doorway, his helmet strap cut his throat, and since it was a static line jump, as he exited the plane, he had a "Mae West" type of descent. I was told he was dead before he touched the ground.
Ground personel at the scene supposedly caught his body before it touched down. In other words, his jump was noticed from the ground that there was something terrible wrong and got to his landing area to render assistance immediately. I commend the ground personel on their concern about the situation.
Now, my question is this.. Is it possible for the jump helmet chin strap to possibly actually cut someones throat without releasing like the chin straps used on the steel pots the regular GI's used in that time period?
I was in Combat Engineers, and my pot had a quick release ball and claw type attachment. Rarely would it stay attached while running. I have never seen a jump helmet up close and do know if it uses a different locking attachment than the regular pots.
This question has been bothering me for a long time..
Thanks for anyone answering my question..
It would help me if anyone is still around that might have seen this incident, or if someone actually knew and served with Walt.... Jerry Marcantel (in Tucson)

[SF_BHT]

I think the Admins might want to move this into the proper area....

[Nubsnstubs]

I am not too bright to start with, but for the life of me, I can't find a thread starter button anywhere other than this thread..... Sorry, but I'm in need of help...... Jerry (in Tucson)

[longrange1947]

Until this gets moved, the jump helmet has two straps, one a chin strap that does not release, but my experience tells me he broke his neck on impact. I have seen this before. PM me if you want more info.

[Richard]

Jerry,

The paratrooper helemt had an additional chin strap which was configured like that shown in the picture to prevent the helmet from coming off when jumping.

I'm sorry for your brother's loss.

Richard

[CSB]

The helmets of the time were two parts. The inner part, called the helmet liner, was a fiberglass shell with the suspension straps inside. Without the external "steel pot" it resembled a hard hat used by construction workers. The helmet liner had a double chin strap -- split webbing -- that fastened under the chin with a short sewn-in portion that went over the top of the chin.

The "steel pot" was made of stamped hardened steel. It rested on top of the liner, and was only loosely held in connection with the liner by two snaps. The steel pot had its own chin strap, a single long tape that went from one side of the helmet, under the chin, and back up to the opposite side,

The ball you are refering to is called a concussion ball. It allowed the helmet (the "steel pot" portion) to release and be "blown off" the helmet liner when subjected to a shock wave. The theory was that a concussion from an artillery explosion below helmet level would blow away the helmet, and not permit the helmet to capture the force of the explosion and pull the head violently backward, perhaps breaking a neck or choking the soldier.

For paratroopers, the concussion ball was pried off of one end of the attachment of the long strap. Then the long chin strap -- the one from the steel pot -- was snapped directly onto the arrowhead fastener on the other side. That's because the shock of airflow during a high speed exit was causing the concussion ball to release, and paratroopers were losing their helmets.

So long answer to a short question:

1 - Yes, paratrooper helmets of the 1970's were deliberately rigged NOT to release.

2 - The description of the accident sounds correct. Unintentional activation of the reserve canopy while still inside the aircraft is a critical in flight emergency. If the canopy -- or even the pilot chute -- gets out the door into the airstream, the jumper IS going out the door, even through the side of the aircraft. The result is almost always severe bodily injury or death.

Do a Google for "M1 steel helmet concussion ball" and you will find many sources.

The image below shows how to defeat the release mechanism by lifting the ball, we just pried it off with pliers.

[JJ_BPK]

My condolence to you and your family.

I don't have any infomation about your brothers jump, but I can give you a little background on the plane.

My 1st jump was from a Beaver, while at Ft Sill Ok for AIT in the summer of 1968. I had joined the jump club at the base.

The Beaver is a big lumbering single engine STOL type aircraft. Max speed was around 150 mph and landing stall speed, maybe 50-60 mph.

When I jumped it, maybe +- 70 MPH. The cabin held 4 or 5 jumpers after the rear seats were taken out. You sat on the floor and slid out the door. As US Army planes go, it was about as soft a jump opening shock as you can get. Not unlike a Bell Huey chopper jump.

reference:

Aircraft: US Army de Havilland, models (L-20A, L-20B,U-6A & U-6B) Beaver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-2_Beaver)

Anything more on your brothers accident would be pure speculation, on my part..