Skydiving Safety- Skydive Orange Fatality, Accidents

How Safe is Skydiving?
Obviously, people looking for ways to live their lives more safely won't be attracted to skydiving. Fear of getting hurt or killed from flying in airplanes, much less jumping out of one, keeps them home on weekends. Skydivers look at things another way.

People face dangers every day, many not of their own choosing or even under their control: driving through busy intersections and interchanges or under airport approaches, riding in crowded subways, walking from the office to a car at night. Some people add to their own risks with lifestyle choices: smoking, unprotected sex, speeding, drinking heavily, or even getting a kite out of a tree. 

It's difficult to compare the risks of skydiving to other activities. Statistics may report number of jumpers or number of jumps against the number of injuries or fatalities. People who seek safety in numbers might even find skydiving's statistical risks quite favorable when viewed alongside statistics from other common activities. The U.S. Parachute Association records fatal skydiving accidents in the U.S. on its website. However—statistics aside—the risk of each skydive is largely up to the participant.

Hardly any skydiving accidents occur from bad luck. More specifically, equipment failure and influences outside the jumper's control seldom play a role. Sensational reports in the general press about skydiving accidents (" . . . both parachutes failed to open . . . ") are largely uninformed. Even a quick review of USPA's more reliable accident details shows that skydiving accidents typically result from lack of preparation, judgment, or care on the skydiver's part. Today's jumpers have access to extremely reliable equipment and well-documented procedures to follow. 

Wherever skydiving activities take place, you'll encounter sensible, everyday people from all walks of life jumping out of airplanes together and having fun. They like the challenge and find the risks well worth the benefits. A successful skydiver is informed, sets personal limits within reasonable safety margins, prepares carefully for each jump, and gives each skydive the attention it needs. 

Accepting that skydiving adds a bit of danger, skydivers jump to make their lives richer. You can get killed doing a lot of things that people do anyway. Approached with informed judgment and caution, skydiving becomes a reasonable risk that's safe enough in comparison.

Learn more about avoiding skydiving Fatalities and accidents, join us in March for USPA Safety Day at Skydive Orange.