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| Image: Google Images |
First off, I suggest watching the show (link here and in previous post). The parasailing segment makes for good TV. Here is my take on this parasailing gig: bottom line, don't do it.
The number one question I have been asked since this show is if the scene was real or staged. It was real. What are the chances of that? Either extremely low and the producers got very lucky, or else it happens all of the time. I think the former, and luck made for a good show. We were in the boat planning on going up after the group that was dropped, but the whole gig is sketchy. More on that later.
It is widely believed that there are many injuries in parasailing, evident from the journalism in the show. While raw numbers are not tracked, the accidents that do happen tend to be widely visible. The beaches where these 'tours' run are packed with sun bathers, all with a cell phone handy to capture the scene. I tend to think the serious incidents (breaking loose and being blown ashore) are few but have a strong impact on perception. Low probability but high consequence. The fact is tourist beaches have continual turnover, and what happens today is irrelevant to new beach goers the next day.
Here is why I think incidents are few: the pilots on our boat freaked out when the group we were watching was dropped in the water. Both pilots were licensed captains. The spotter had driven parasailing boats for ten years and he claimed this was the first time he had seen someone go in the water. He was visibly shaken afterwards by the whole gig, and implied he would not be coming in to work the next day, as in 'I want nothing to do with this'. The second captain (the driver) had driven for 8 years, and seemed to imply this was the third time he had seen someone go in the water. Regardless, the pilots both freaked out. There was clearly no plan to deal with people in the water, and it was clearly not rehearsed in any way as a training exercise. That makes me think it can't happen that often. The operator we were with was supposedly one of the 'good ones' according to local industry folk. The scene may be different for any of the shoddier ones.
Which brings me to shoddy: the whole parasailing safety system is totally weak. Simply put, there is no redundancy. This is how it unfolds: pay money, sign waiver, walk to water, get handed a life jacket. Operators don't say anything about the pfd or check that it is done up properly (for the record, the pfd is the only redundancy in this whole system, assuming it fits and is done up properly). You hop onto an inflatable raft to get towed out to the power boat. No safety briefing, no asking if anyone can swim or has medical conditions. On the power boat you get into a sling harness. It is a glorified swing seat with a strap around the waist, similar to a toddler swing seat at a playground. The strap is threaded through the pfd strap. Just like the toddler swing, if tipped upside down the child would fall out - same with this sling. The threading through the strap is supposed to attach you to the sling, but that relies upon a simple fastex buckle. Sketchy.
The sling attaches to the sail with two non locking 'biners. Why non locking I asked? In case you go in the water you can unclip to get free. It seems like that would be good info to tell folks without having to ask. Once clipped in an electric winch lets out rope and up you go. No communication system is set up - no hand signals, no thumbs up. What if I want to come back down? Up to 800 feet of rope goes out. The sail is attached to the boat with a single braided rope, half inch it looked like. It is when this rope breaks that people get seriously hurt. Why not a cable? Why not two ropes? Easy to fix. There was no visible hand crank or back up on the winch. What if it malfunctions? Parasailing works only under power. As long as the boat is pulling the sail, it will keep its loft. In the show, the boat cut out for just 5 seconds, enough for the sail to lose loft and the boat could not get it under power again. Why not tandem motors on the boat then? Pretty common set up.
This whole system is designed to work under 'normal' conditions. When non-normal inevitably emerges, the system lacks redundancy to cover it. The most basic principle of safe systems is absent here (other than the lifejacket as a back up to one's ability to swim!). What parasailing has going for it is that it happens over water. Injuries are limited. I stated earlier parasailing is low probability with high consequence. It is more like moderate probability, based on the weak system and my non-normal principle. The system relies upon things not going wrong. Even when someone goes into the water, the chances having the sail land on you or getting tangled in the ropes is pretty high (and then they turn the winch on to pull you in!). Worst of all, the pilots had no plan on how to deal. No plan for non-normal. Go back to the show to watch the interaction between the two pilots. Very interesting, but that is another post.