July 1995 - Parachute Industry Association

Airtec GmbH, the manufacturer of the Cypres AAD, has recently discovered a set o[ nonoriginal
(not Airtec supplied) batteries in a Cypres unit. They are grt:atly concerned aboul
this situation, and the risks that rcsult lrom using such an unapprovcd battery assembly.
Airtec states: "To understand the reasons lbr our great concerns about the usage of nonoriginal
battery assembliqs in thc Cypres, it is neccssary to realize what is involved in the
asscmbly, testing, and quality control ol' thc Cypres battery assembly. Although the
Cypres with the non-Airtec battery assembly (from a source in A.ustralia) did activate
when the skydiver opened too low, it is simply unacceptable to use."
"This particular battery assembly, even though it did utilize the proper cells, does not meet
our spccifications in five critical areas. The loss of quality causcd by this is enormous, this
type of substitution is very dangerous, Cypres units with this non-al,proved assembly will
ultimatcly fail in use."
"Please realtze that our motive in this matter is salety related and his nothing to do with
the loss o[ revenue. The Cypres battery assembly is sold with mininral mark-up, thc costs
are much more than just that of the two battery cells. The fact is, that the only way to
make a reasonable profit on the assembly, is by careless assembl',' techniques, lack of
testing, and lack of quality control, the very problems found with this particular substandard
substitute battery assembly."
"Thcrcfore, we have to again strcss that only Airtec-supplied battery assemblies are
approved for use with Cypres. Please help in our efforts to keep ihe level of safety as high
as possible."
*t*|t*
Acmc Parachute Systcms Co. has receivcd FAA and manufacturer approval for it's
installation of Airtec Cypres AAD's into the Para Flite, Inc. SWIFT II harness/containers.
Numcrous systems have been retrofitted and are now in servicc.
At this time Acme is working on another P.F.l. harncss/container, the EOS, which is
undergoing testing and upgrading. This is to incorprorate several refirrements to allow for
ease oI control operation.
Thc demand for retrofit Cyprcs installations into oldcr manufactured harness/containers
has incrcascd. Acme provides engineering, rigging and administrativr: scrvice.s to
accomplish legal installations. They can be reached at (203)-489-1290.
Para NcwsBriet - July l99-5 Volume 9-5-3