Malfunction (parachuting)
A malfunction is a partial or total failure of a parachuting device to operate as intended. Malfunctions may require a skydiver to cut-away his or her main parachute and deploy the reserve parachute. This happens with the popular throw-out deployment system where the pilot chute does not exert enough force to pull the pin and open the container or once opened does not exert enough force to extract the deployment bag from the container. It can be caused by pilot chutes with kill lines which have not been cocked during packing or where the kill line has shrunk through use and reduces the drag of the pilot chute. It can also be caused by too large a deployment bag & canopy for the container, although deployment bags should be matched to the containers. The correct procedure with this malfunction is to deploy the reserve from a stable belly down position. If time permits the skydiver might first attempt to bump their container to dislodge a trapped deployment bag.
