Finsterwalder & Charly have issued a safety notice for the Paralock 3, their quick-release karabiner.
They report that there have been “several” unintentional openings in flight. And while F&C put those down to “operating errors”, the German free flight association the DHV has reported that one of those incidents resulted in a fatality.
Published on 22 November the safety notice says: “All users of the Paralock 3 are requested to carry out a functional check before the next flight … in order to rule out a malfunction, a check by the user is necessary.”
Pilots are asked to check that the automatic locking mechanism works correctly. If it does not the karabiner should be returned to the manufacturer.
They add that the safety check should then be carried out periodically.
The full safety notice is here.
It is the second safety notice Finsterwalder & Charly have issued for the Paralock 3 this year.
In July it was reported that a pilot’s speed system had tangled with the release system of the karabiner, turning it to the “Open” position. The company said there had been “no serious consequences”.
The Paralock 3 was released 18 months ago and is a quick-release karabiner aimed at tandem and acro pilots or any pilot who wants the ability to cutaway their main paraglider immediately upon landing or after deploying a reserve.
