the safety discussion...
home
There is an enormous amount of discussion over skydiving statistics. In the months prior to making our first tandem, we poured over all the facts and figures we could find. We found that a lot of people are compelled to compare the sport to other sports (like scuba diving) or dangerous activities (like driving). But, comparisons like these don't really hold water because there are so many factors involved. I believe if a skydiver sets limits and sticks to them, the risks are substantially reduced. You can make many activities dangerous (even cooking, as I can personally attest to), and skydiving is no exception. But, you can also exercise extreme caution consistently and reduce the risk associated with skydiving to an acceptable level.
Here are some fatality statistics:
Approximate number of jumps in the U.S. in 2000 = 3,500,000 (source, USPA)
Number of U.S. fatalities in 2000 = 30 (source, USPA)
Ratio of U.S. fatalities / per jumps in 2000 = 1 : 116,667
Average number of annual U.S. fatalities due to malfunctioning gear = 12 (source, www.skydivenet.com)
Average ratio of U.S. fatalities caused by malfunctioning gear / per jumps = 1 : 291,667
Here is an excerpt from Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook. By Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff, Para Publishing, Santa Barbara, California.
Taken from Dan Poynter's Parachuting: A Skydiver's Handbook 6th edition.
1991
121,900 people made 2,440,000 civilian jumps in the US.
25,000 active skydivers average approx. 100 to 125 jumps/year.
Approx. 97,000 students graduate the First Jump Course and make a jump each year.
Approx. 300,000 student jumps/year, 1.9 million experienced skydiver jumps/year.
1987
29 fatal parachuting accidents in the US.
Yielding a fatality rate of 1/75,000 jumps, or 1/3,800 participants.
Comparisons
Hang Gliding: 1/2,308 hang gliding flights.
Accidental Deaths: 1/2,582 (91,000 out of total US pop. of 235 million in 1983)
In a recent year over 140 people died scuba diving, 856 bicycling, over 7,000 drowned, 1154 died of bee stings, and 80 by lightning. In 1982, 43,990 people were killed in highway accidents, 1,171 boating fatalities, 235 airline deaths, and 1,164 light aircraft general aviation fatalities.
Student injuries run about 2%. So out of 90,000 students, 1,800 can expect to be injured.
Here's another interesting excerpt from a site I found on the Internet (http://www.highwitness.com/pages/skydiving/whuffo.html):
"C'mon! You can't say it's not dangerous"
Skydiving is clearly a dangerous sport. I think that is why it is so safe. Oxymoronic? Maybe not. Let me explain.
If one goes out to go skiing, one generally does not think about the danger. If you get going too fast and lose control, of course, you could get seriously injured or killed. But that won't happen to me.
Scuba diving is filled with danger, but it can be managed. If my regulator just stops working, I can always drop everything and blow bubbles all the way to the surface (unless I need to decompress). And what are the odds of a hungry shark passing by? I'll just hide on the bottom.
Surfing is thrilling and the water is soft, right? I won't get hit by a board or dragged under or anything.
All of these sports are dangerous. The risk is manageable, for most people, and the joy is worth it. But in all of these sports, the risk is not nearly so in-your-face apparent and the consequences of a screw-up are not so final in their effect.
Skydiving has this way of reminding you, with every jump, that if you screw up, you WILL DIE! This has a remarkably focusing effect and as a result, Skydiving is statistically safer than those other sports. In other words, the danger is more obvious so skydivers are more careful. Interestingly enough, many of the accidents we've seen lately have been by experienced jumpers flying high performance canopies. The accidents occur AFTER the parachute is deployed when the obvious danger has passed. These jumpers feel safer under canopy, so they take more chances.
I had a scuba diver tell me he would never try something so dangerous as skydiving. "On a bad day, I can always surface. Skydiving is so final." He left out all the really neat bad day problems. He never mentioned the bends, embolism, lipoid pneumonia, sharks, poisonous sea creatures, pollution, careless drivers in motor boats or the occasional giant rouge man-eating squid. (it could happen) By not thinking about those things, he increases the chances that it could surprise him.
The moral is, know your limits and stay alert. Modern sport parachuting equipment is very safe and reliable when used as directed. Just to make sure, we always carry a backup. Safety is a major concern. Never forget that and you'll be OK.
Life is a managed-risk affair. Isolating yourself from everything that could hurt you would be quite boring. You could hide under the bed all day or weigh the risks and take a chance. It might just be fun.
Think about it another way: If you can face your worst fear and jump, just maybe you can accomplish anything. It's not what's in front of you that blocks your way, it's what's inside you that holds you back. Carpe diem!
Here's even more interesting statistics. But, to be honest, I'm through researching. Statistics can be twisted to make any point you want to make. As for me, I'm going for it!
For a comparison to other sports, check the table printed on page 13 of the April 1990 issue of Parachutist. Here is a comparison of the risks of participating in various activities. It was put together by the U.S. Hang Gliding Association using data collected from various air sports organizations and melding it with data from the National Safety Council and other sources.
Activity Participants Fatalities Rate per 100,000
per year participants
All accidents 230,000,000 96,000 42
Traffic Fatalities 162,850,000 46,000 28
Power Boat Racing 7,000 5 71
SCUBA 300,000 140 47
Mountaineering 60,000 30 50
Boxing 6,000 3 50
AIR VEHICLES:
Air Shows 1,000 5 500
Homebuilt 8,000 25 312
General Aviation 550,000 800 145
Sailplane 20,000 9 45
Balloon 4,500 3 67
Hang Gliding 25,000 10 40
SKYDIVING 110,000 28 25
It says the skydiving stats are for 1988, and it implies that the other figures are for 1989.
Visit The Perry Family Web Page