Product Safety Bulletin #20011004
Crossfire Safety Bulletin #2

Limited quantity of canopies grounded until further notice
Limited quantity of canopies subject to S&TA approval before use

Date of Notice: October 04, 2001

Effective: Immediately

Applicability: Attached lists of Icarus Crossfire Canopies 

Compliance: Mandatory or Subject to S&TA approval

Restriction: Attached list of canopies known to have manufacturing tolerance issues are grounded until further notice.

Subsequent list of Crossfire's which may be affected are subject to S&TA or DZO approval for before use.

Exclusions: European Built Crossfire's are not affected (as attached to this bulletin) 

Canopies approved for use by S&TA's

Resolution: Canopies to be certified as being within manufacturing tolerance standards and/or repaired if necessary

Information: Refer Attached Document


Additional Information: Contact:
Simon Mundell
Icarus Canopies
1627 US 1, Sebastian, FL 32958, USA
PH (561) 581-8131
Fax (561) 581-8132
Email: simon@icaruscanopies.com
www.icaruscanopies.com

 
Background: 

Since our Safety Bulletin dated September 14, 2001 we have received several calls from Crossfire owners reporting instability with their canopy. 

With these incidents coming to light, we feel it necessary to issue a more specific warning with regards to canopies which may be affected and a mandatory grounding of those parachutes known to be affected by the anomaly as detailed in Safety Bulletin #20010914 dated Sept 14. (Refer attached for serial number listings).

Required Action:

Grounded Canopies (attached as annex two to this safety bulletin)

Parachutes with serial numbers attached to this list that are known to have an anomaly are grounded until further notice. Refer attached serial number list titled Grounded Canopies for further details.

Limited Grounding Subject to S&TA and/or DZO approval (attached as annex three to this safety bulletin)

Crossfire's on the list of canopies deemed as POTENTIALLY AFFECTED are subject to S&TA and/or DZO approval before flight. 

S&TA's must be familiar with the skydivers jumping the potentially affected Crossfire's (refer attached list) and ensure that the jumper is experienced and capable of making decisions regarding the reliability of his or her parachute. Additionally, they must have done a minimum number of jumps to have PREVIOUSLY flown the canopy in turbulent conditions and on front risers. They must meet these requirements and have not experienced any anomaly on their canopy in order for the canopy to be approved for flight.

Attached (annex one) is a detailed explanation to ensure S&TA's, DZO's and users are well-informed and capable of making educated decisions. 

This bulletin and the canopy serial number lists are also available to view on our website www.icaruscanopies.com. 

For more information contact:

Simon Mundell
Icarus Canopies, Inc.
1627 US Highway 1 
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Telephone 561-581-8131

_________________________
Annex One
Overview:

Following is a detailed explanation to ensure a good understanding of the problem and to avoid bias or misinterpretation.

The Icarus Crossfire was designed to be the highest performing non-cross braced canopy available, able to achieve realms of flight previously considered impossible on non-cross braced parachutes with a lot of effort being put into the smoothest openings available. It's fair to say that it's lived up to that claim.

During the canopy's testing program and subsequent release there were no anomalies apparent with the design. When we learned that some canopies in the field started to experience buffeting we implemented a minor change to the canopy's trim in January 2001 and production continued. 

Contrary to some statements made in various public forums there have been no changes made to the canopy's nose design or the planform shape. 

Since the trim was modified, we documented a few isolated incidents of instability on Crossfire's. Upon inspecting these canopies, each was confirmed to be the result of manufacturing the canopy out of tolerance. Upon re-building or reworking the affected canopies, the anomaly disappeared. 

With the high number of canopies in the field operating normally we did not feel it was widespread, and saw it as a limited quality issue. Testing and investigating was underway.

After the incident at the Pond Swooping Nationals, additional calls were received about instability and buffeting on some canopy's prompting our service bulletin of Sept 14 urging caution on front risers.

The problem:

The Icarus Crossfire is a high performance, constant cell aspect ratio, fully surface shaped, truly elliptical, inflatable wing. The issue with such modern designs is they are far more susceptible to trim and wing shape variances than is the case with older design canopies. This appears to be the crux of this issue.

Upon inspecting canopies that experienced buffeting or instability, inconsistent manufacturing tolerances are apparent in each of them. 

Safety bulletin #20010914 Sept 14 was applied to Crossfire's built from the specific location where these tolerance issues were apparent. Also listed on the bulletin were canopies that had the old trim specifications irrelevant of their origin of manufacture. 

During subsequent testing we have discovered parachutes with lesser degrees of manufacturing tolerance issues that experience these anomalies hence we expanded our warning (October 01) to include additional parachutes. 
Excluded are those Crossfire's built from our European facility, none of which have experienced any known anomaly or have any known tolerance issues. 

Putting this in perspective:

Since the canopy's trim was modified Jan '01 we are yet to experience any problems with any canopies built at our European facility. 

We have manufactured close on 1000 Crossfire's to date. Of these, the majority (approx 600) have been produced at our European facility (those excluded from this bulletin). The balance (subject to this bulletin) were produced in the USA plus a handful from New Zealand.

We estimate the European built Crossfire's will have done a combined total of between 100,000 and 200,000 jumps to date without experiencing any anomaly that we are aware of. Certainly a conclusive result by anyone's standards. 

Our European facility is unique in the fact that it produces canopies to NATO's AQAP and ISO9000 quality assurance procedures. Their quality systems and manufacturing procedures set a standard in our industry. The quality inspection process that canopies go through during and after they are manufactured insure that each piece of a canopies construction fits to within very exacting tolerances.

This offers a significant insight into the relation between the anomaly and manufacturing tolerances.

How many canopies may be affected?

When we calculate the percentages from the respondents to our Safety Bulletin of Sept 14, between 5% and 7% of the 380 canopies on the bulletin have experienced issues or between 1.9% and 2.7% of the total number of Crossfire's produced.

Once again we request that ALL Crossfire owners who have not yet responded to please contact our office or email crossfire@icaruscanopies.com so that we can complete an accurate record of all canopies.

Note: The majority of the NON-European built canopies that we have inspected have been produced within adequate tolerances. We are NOT implying that all the NON-European built canopies have unacceptable manufacturing tolerances. 

What about other Icarus Canopies?

As overviewed previously, it has become apparent that the Crossfire requires exacting manufacturing standards. Other canopies in our range are not affected in the same way by such tolerance issues.

Note: Where we choose to manufacture our products has been changed and we do NOT see this issue as ongoing.

What Icarus is doing to resolve the situation:

At present we have a joint American-European team working in Europe consisting of test jumpers, riggers and Aeronautical Engineers.

Initially we have commenced the identification of each manufacturing inconsistency that exists in each parachute we have that experiences the anomaly. We are then test jumping each parachute and then slowly correcting the defects so we can accurately measure the points at which these inaccuracies create the anomaly.

This is more difficult than it may appear due to the compounding effect that can be created if several minor inconsistencies are all apparent in the one canopy. Any one or two minor (or major) inconsistencies may not have any affect. However, when several small tolerance issues are combined the anomaly may become apparent.

As a result we must be confident that we have identified each and every variable, individually and combined which creates the anomaly.

Once completed, we are endeavoring to produce a set of measuring standards by which the canopies can be compared. Canopies within the specifications will be approved for use. Those that fall outside these specifications will be repaired or replaced.

Additional to this process it is apparent that the Crossfire design, like any high performance piece of equipment, requires accuracy in its construction and therefore does not leave a lot of margin for mistakes. 

As a result we are also experimenting with other minor adjustments that will ensure the rigidity in parachutes even if tolerance issues exist. This is proving very successful and may be applied to all Crossfire's in the field and subsequent Crossfire's that we manufacture. We are currently having success with trim options that appear to stabilize even the most affected canopies. 

While we are achieving positive results, additional testing is being conducted before we are prepared to conclude our results.

New Canopies: 

Whilst we are confident of the reliability of Crossfire's produced within tight tolerances (including all of those from our European facility) we are also investigating possible modifications to the panel shaping to allow for an additional safety margin in the manufacturing process.

Recommendation: 

We know that most of the Crossfire's out there are solid canopies. We feel the balance is to let everybody know all the information we have available. Let people know the most likely affected serial numbers. Ask people to stay off front risers down low and avoid jumping in turbulent conditions. 

A note on turbulence: Turbulence is a major factor in skydiving which kills or injures many skydivers every year. Pilots and Aeronautical Engineers will know the full extent of how serious turbulence can be. Do not underestimate how serious it can be regardless of the canopy you jump. 

The majority of experienced Crossfire pilots know their canopies are safe. They have jumped them in countless meteorological conditions and performed countless riser maneuvers, others will not be sure and some will know their canopies are affected.

If you are in doubt or have limited experience on your canopy, then don't jump your canopy until we resolve this issue as a precautionary measure.

Actions:

Limited Grounding Subject to S&TA and/or DZO approval (attached as annex three)

We have detailed this information to offer Crossfire users, S&TA's and DZO's the necessary information to make educated decisions. 

We recommend to S&TA's and DZO's that they are familiar with the skydivers jumping the potentially affected Crossfire's (refer attached list) and ensure that the jumper is experienced and capable of making decisions regarding the reliability of his or her parachute. Additionally, they must have done a minimum number of jumps to have PREVIOUSLY flown the canopy in turbulent conditions and on front risers. Should they meet these requirements and have not experienced any anomaly on their canopy then we see it as most appropriate that you and the jumper make an educated decision based on this body of information. Should they have limited experience either as a skydiver or on the canopy then we recommend temporarily grounding their canopy as a precautionary measure until such time as we can approve it for use or modify it if necessary. 

Additionally the parachutes attached to this list that are known to have an anomaly are grounded until such time as we can approve them, alter them or replace them. (Attached as annex two).

If your canopy is on the list of grounded canopies please contact Icarus Canopies. We will work with you as much as possible and practical to ensure minimal disruption to your jumping. If your canopy is not on the list but you do detect flight anomalies please get in contact with us. 

Note: Should our investigations offer any greater cause for concern we will not hesitate in implementing more stringent directives.

Trim Modifications: (attached as annex four)

Also attached is a list of canopies that are required to be returned to Icarus Canopies for a trim modification. These are canopies which have the old trim specifications.
Note: if your canopy has been re-lined since January 2001 it will have been fitted with the new trim and a re-trim is not needed. 

Spectra Line - Line Set Change Required to VECTRAN:

Any Crossfire's with Spectra line require a change to Vectran. Spectra line does shrink rapidly and may create issues as it ages.

Note: Vectran is mandatory due to its superior trim qualities

Contact Icarus Canopies for details.

Closing Note:

Icarus Canopies has enjoyed tremendous growth over the past couple of years. We have secured a market position which seemed impossible two years ago. We have achieved this by going the extra mile for our customers and by designing some of the most revolutionary canopies the industry has seen in a long time. We have invested a significant amount of time and money to achieve this position and we are not about to ignore our responsibilities as a leading canopy manufacturer. 

We are not infallible, as no company is, nor are we a giant corporation with unlimited resources. Our goals extend well beyond our current market position and we fully intend to be around to realize them. 

We appreciate your support and understanding and will do all in our power to fully resolve this situation as rapidly as possible.

Should you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact:

Simon Mundell 
Icarus Canopies,1627, US 1, Sebastian, FL 32958, USA.
Ph. (561) 581-8131, Fax (561) 581-8132
simon@icaruscanopies.com 

Annex Two
Grounded Canopies


Crossfire's with the serial numbers as listed below are grounded until further notice pending evaluation and approval or modification by Icarus Canopies

Annex Three
Canopies subject to S&TA approval before use


Crossfire's with the serial numbers as listed below are subject to S&TA approval before use. 

Annex Four
Canopies requiring re-trim

Crossfire's with the serial numbers as listed below require a re-trim by Icarus Canopies before 31 October 2001.

Contact Icarus Canopies for details.

Annex Five
Canopies approved for full use

Crossfire's with the serial numbers as listed below are NOT subject to this Safety Bulletin. 

Note: Due to the quantity of serial numbers involved, the serial numbers below are listed in ranges (i.e. from & to). 

ANY & ALL serial number listed WITHIN these ranges of serial numbers applies.

Serial Number Ranges