Several U.S. Special Forces personnel were killed or seriously injured when their parachutes unexpectedly deployed inside planes in gusts of wind from an open jump door.
One of the victims of catastrophic malfunctions with spare T-11 parachutes since 2014 has been a Navy SEAL, Air Force Commando, and Army Green Beret. Washington Post Friday’s report.
Most of the victims were experienced skydivers and paratroopers who veered out of the aircraft to mark landing zones, their spare chest-mounted parachutes apparently activated when gusts of wind caught their lightweight canvas ropes.
A Pentagon spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the Department of Defense is aware of the incident reports, but has referred questions about safety procedures to service branches.
In a federal lawsuit filed this week, Army Staff Sgt. Brycen Erdody, a Green Beret paramedic, said he nearly died last year when his T-11 opened after a wind gusted through an airplane door.
A Navy SEAL, Air Force Commando and Army Green Beret have been among the victims of catastrophic malfunctions with spare T-11 parachutes since 2014
Army Staff Sgt. Brycen Erdody, a Green Beret paramedic, said he nearly died last year when his T-11 opened after a wind gusted through an airplane door.
Erdudi was flung out the door, his body slammed into the airframe and his arm was partially severed. He survived, and an army investigation cleared him of negligence in the accident.
‘Both my first rib was fractured, my sternum was fractured, my biceps were snapped in half, and my nerves were pulled from my spine,’ Erdudi told the paper. “They will probably end up amputating my arm because there is no neuronal activity and they will never go back again.”
His lawsuit names the manufacturer of the T-11, Airborne Systems, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Friday afternoon.
It’s not the first lawsuit accusing Airborne Systems of alleged defects in the T-11.
In 2014, US Navy Chief Bradley Kavner was killed over El Centro, California, when a reserve T-11 was activated due to a gust of wind, according to a lawsuit filed by Kavner’s parents.
That lawsuit ended in a confidential settlement in 2017, according to court records.
And in 2019, Air Force Special Operator Sgt. Cole Cundiff was missing and believed dead when his reserve T-11 opened due to winds over the Gulf of Mexico, according to The Post.
U.S. Navy SEAL Chief Bradley Kavner (left) was killed over El Centro, California in 2014 and Air Force Special Operator Sgt. Cole Cundiff (right) was missing and presumed dead over the Gulf of Mexico in 2019 in T-11 malfunctions.
The accidents involved the T-11 reserve parachute, as described above
The T-11’s parachute is seen during the test jumps above. Several US Special Forces personnel were killed or seriously injured when their parachutes unexpectedly deployed inside planes
Critics of the T-11’s design say the parachute’s fabric rip cord is more sensitive to strong winds than the parachute it replaced a decade ago, a 50-year-old design with a metal cord.
There are indications that military leaders were aware of the T-11 issues and took steps to address them.
In January 2021, the Army’s Airborne and Special Operations Testing Directorate tested T-11 upgrades at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in order to “eliminate the possibility of premature backup activations,” according to a press release.
Certified test skydiver has completed 23 risk-reducing jumps with a redesigned T-11R Single Pin Troop backup parachute to ensure it functions properly.
The updated version of the T-11 included a change where the spare ripcord handle was changed to a single pin pull, and the geometry of the spare handle was changed to “eliminate wind blown hazards”.
Officials said at the time that the changes were made to address premature activation of the previous version believed to be caused by the wind blast.
However, these tests were carried out more than a year before Erdodi was seriously injured on May 25, 2022.
In January 2021, the Army’s Airborne and Special Operations Testing Directorate tested T-11 upgrades at Fort Bragg in order to “eliminate the possibility of early backup activations.”
The certified parachute test jumper here completed 23 risk-reducing jumps with a backup T-11R Single Pin Troop parachute, making sure it worked as it should during equipment test jumps
According to his lawsuit, Erdudi was ejected from an aircraft 1,250 feet above Fort Bragg when a T-11 was deployed and opened violently and unexpectedly inside the aircraft.
The sergeant was yanked from the aircraft, his arm partially severed from the door frame, and knocked unconscious as he fell to the ground.
Erdudi awakens to find himself entangled in tree limbs, and the trained medic realizes he will bleed out immediately unless he can get help.
According to the suit, Erdudi cut himself from his parachute ropes, reached straight into the open wound in his arm to press the severed artery against the bone, and stumbled nearby to evacuate the helicopter.
