Cutaway + Reserve Drill: Training for a Real Emergency

Between 50 and 200 jumps, a specific risk window opens: the licensed skydiver has enough experience to feel comfortable in the air, but not enough to have automated emergency procedures through repetition. Accident analyses in sport skydiving — including USPA reports, widely referenced internationally, while Italian data is managed by AeCI/ENAC — consistently show that a significant proportion of fatalities involved skydivers who knew the emergency procedure but failed to execute it in time. Not through ignorance, but through lack of automaticity. In Italy the picture is no different structurally, based on what Italian instructors report from experience. This article explains how to build that automaticity — methodically, on the ground, before it's ever needed in the air.

The Risk: Why Knowledge Alone Is Not Enough

Knowing a procedure and being able to execute it under stress are two different skills. In freefall, a malfunction triggers an acute physiological response: elevated heart rate, narrowed visual field, distorted perception of time. In that state, the brain executes what has been practiced enough times to become automatic — not what has merely been studied. The literature on emergency aeronautical training, which has also been applied to skydiving, indicates that a procedure must be repeated hundreds of times before it can be considered reliable under acute stress.

The most well-documented case is the so-called 'hesitation cutaway': the skydiver identifies the malfunction, knows what to do, but takes two to four seconds longer than necessary before acting. At 1,200 meters with a partially open canopy spinning, two seconds can drastically reduce the altitude available for the reserve. It's not panic — it's simply the difference between a trained reflex and a deliberate cognitive response.

The Procedure: The Standard Sequence and Its Logic

The standard emergency sequence for a malfunction requiring a cutaway consists of three distinct phases: 1) recognition and decision, 2) cutaway (releasing the main canopy), 3) reserve deployment. Each phase has its own timing and logic. Recognition must occur by the pull altitude established in your personal emergency plan — licensed skydivers typically define decision altitudes with their instructor or safety officer. Below that altitude, the decision is already made: cut away and open the reserve without further assessment.

The physical sequence is remembered with the acronym Look-Locate-Peel-Pull, applied first to the cutaway handle (main release) and then to the reserve handle. 'Look' means directing your eyes to the handle — not reaching for it from memory, but actually looking at it. 'Locate' is making physical contact with the handle itself. 'Peel' is detaching the velcro or cover. 'Pull' is a firm, decisive pull. The sequence is repeated identically for the reserve, immediately afterward. The interval between the two pulls must be minimal: cutting away the main without opening the reserve is itself a dangerous situation.

How the Problem Shows Up During the Drill

When you first start practicing the drill on the ground, the same errors almost always emerge. The first is reaching for the handles by touch instead of by sight: the hands go where they think the handles are, not where the handles actually are. This is a problem because in the air the container may have shifted, the suit may have partially covered a handle, or the body position may simply differ from what was imagined. The rule is: eyes first, then hands.

The second common error is an insufficient pull or a pull in the wrong direction. The cutaway handle must be pulled firmly downward and slightly outward — a hesitant or upward pull may not complete the release. The third error is reversing the sequence: opening the reserve before completing the cutaway. With a partially open main canopy still attached, deploying the reserve without having cut away the main can cause interference between the two canopies — a scenario known as a 'two-out,' with unpredictable and potentially unmanageable flight dynamics.

The Mitigation Approach: Structuring the Drill

The drill is practiced in three progressive contexts, each with a specific purpose.

The first level is the standing drill with your own rig on. It is performed with eyes open, slowly, verifying each step of the Look-Locate-Peel-Pull sequence. The goal is not speed but correctness of the sequence and visual location of the handles. At this stage it is useful to perform the drill in front of a mirror or with an instructor observing. According to guidelines from many instructors and safety officers, the recommended frequency is at least one weekly session of 10–15 repetitions, regardless of jump activity. Real handles are not required: training handles (dummy handles) exist specifically for repeated drilling without wearing out the actual components.

The second level is the drill on a hanging harness — a harness suspended from a fixed point that allows you to simulate the in-air position. The hanging harness lets you perform the procedure with your body partially suspended, which changes your perception of handle position and introduces a spatial orientation component absent from the standing drill. Many Italian drop zones have a hanging harness in the packing area or briefing room: if yours doesn't, requesting one from the DZO or safety officer is entirely reasonable. The hanging harness drill should be repeated at least once a month, ideally before any high-volume jump day.

The third level is the drill with simulated stress. A disruptive element is introduced — a timer counting down the available time, an instructor asking questions during execution, a non-standard starting position (seated, with arms in an unusual position). The goal is to verify that the sequence emerges even when cognitive resources are partially occupied. This level is best practiced under the supervision of an instructor or safety officer, not independently.

A Concrete Case: What Happens When There Is No Drill

In a case reconstructed for instructional purposes — based on real dynamics documented at the national level — a skydiver with approximately 120 jumps experienced a partial malfunction: a canopy slowly spinning with twisted lines. Altitude was adequate, time was available. Footage from an action camera showed that the jumper spent approximately six seconds looking at the canopy before bringing their hands to the handles. The cutaway was executed, the reserve opened, and the landing was uneventful. But those six seconds, in a situation with lower altitude or faster rotation, would have been decisive. In the post-incident debrief, the skydiver reported never having performed a systematic drill after completing the AFF course. They knew the procedure. They had not automated it.

The lesson is not that you should be afraid: it's that the drill is routine maintenance, not extraordinary preparation. Like checking your rig before every jump, like verifying your AAD — routine, not the exception.

Integration with Your Personal Emergency Plan

The physical drill is necessary but not sufficient. It must be integrated with an up-to-date personal emergency plan: defined decision altitudes, clear procedures for the most likely malfunctions (line twists, slider hang-up, total mal), and familiarity with the specific behavior of your own equipment. Every rig has its own characteristics: handle position varies between manufacturers, the force required for the cutaway depends on the release system (the 3-ring is the current standard; older systems may have different mechanisms — check with your rigger), and the reserve has an opening behavior that depends on the pilot chute and deployment bag. If you have recently changed rigs, the first drill to perform is visual location of the handles on the new system, not the old one.

For skydivers using an RSL (Reserve Static Line) or a MARD system such as the Skyhook, it is important to understand what these systems do and what they do not do: the RSL assists reserve opening after the cutaway, but does not replace pulling the reserve handle in all conditions. Understanding the specifics of your own system is an integral part of your emergency plan. If you have any doubts, your rigger is the right person to ask.

In Summary: The Routine That Saves Lives

The cutaway and reserve deployment are simple procedures in their structure — Look-Locate-Peel-Pull, repeated twice. They become reliable under stress only through systematic repetition. Between 50 and 200 jumps, when experience is growing but the number of drill repetitions is still low, the risk is real and documented. The response is technical and procedural: weekly drills with your own rig, monthly sessions on the hanging harness, integration with an up-to-date personal emergency plan. This is not preparation for the worst: it is routine maintenance of a skill that, if it's ever needed, must already be there.