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Old 02-23-2013, 10:46   #11
Dusty
RIP Quiet Professional
 
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Ozarks
Posts: 10,072
Quote:
Originally Posted by UWOA View Post
Ahhhh, Gatun DZ. Heard a story while I was in Panama (don't know if it's true) about a night drop on Gatun DZ.

Seems one of the QPs went wide of the DZ and saw the reflection of the small canal (not Gatun Locks) adjacent to the DZ, and saw he was gonna land in it.

He prepared for a water landing, shedding his helmet, inflating his B-7 waterwings and releasing his ruck. He continued to watch the shimmer of the water as he descended and readied himself to hit the water ... until he made contact with the macadam road surface and felt the pain of contact with an unforgiving surface......
I broke my L5 on Gatun DZ in a situation similar to that in '90. They didn't XRay it 'til '92, and I got bitched at for not running well during PT the whole time.

They did a MRRB and took me off Jump Status, so I retired.
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