RAF parachute testers cut away their own chutes in mid-air during Arizona training

RAF parachute testers have been practising the moment no jumper wants to face – cutting away their main parachute in mid-air.

The specialist team carried out the emergency drill during a three-week exercise in Arizona, where they completed more than 500 descents from 64 sorties.

The manoeuvre is used when the main canopy fails, opens badly, tangles or cannot be controlled, so the parachutist has to detach it and deploy the reserve parachute.

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The training formed part of Exercise Rising Gains, which happens twice a year in Eloy, Arizona. 

The Parachuting Test Team is part of the Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit, based at RAF Brize Norton, which trials the ways people, vehicles and supplies are dropped from aircraft.

Its parachuting specialists work on the systems and drills used for military jumps, including those used to put Airborne and Special Forces personnel into the battlefield by static line and free fall.

Exercise Rising Gains saw the team practise canopy handling, formation flying and accurate landings, while also carrying out deliberate cutaways under controlled conditions.

Clear skies are a must for safe parachute training, and the desert exercise gave the team the space and conditions needed to repeat demanding drills across different parachute systems.

The RAF said the programme was carried out within set safety limits and was supported by UK, French and US industry partners.