Is Skydiving really as dangerous as the general public believes?

The answer is a resounding NO WAY!

How does the fatality rate in skydiving compare to other common activities? Since most adults in America drive cars, let’s compare skydiving to driving. Roughly 40,000 people die each year in traffic accidents in the United States. That’s 1.7 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles. Therefore, if you drive 10,000 miles per year, your chance of dying in a car wreck in any given year is something like 1 in 6,000. In other words, we accept a higher level of risk by getting into our cars every day than people do by occasionally skydiving. You would have to jump 17 times per year for your risk of dying in a skydiving accident to equal your risk of dying in a car accident if you drive 10,000 miles per year.

Now lets look at what causes these 30 skydiving deaths per year to happen. Is it the first-time skydiver making a tandem jump that usually ends up dead? Nope. Is it the beginners that are learning how to fly a parachute and maintain proper distances from other skydivers and hazards? Sometimes. So what types of jupers have the most skydiving related deaths attributed to them?

Well, according to Skydive Magazine, Analysis of skydiving accidents show that most are caused by jumpers who make mistakes of procedure or judgment. Contrary to popular belief, very few skydiving accidents or injuries are caused by random or unexpected equipment failure.

Those skydivers who are trained well, who stay current and who take a conservative approach to the sport are involved in very few accidents and suffer few — if any — injuries.

Let me prove it to you by showing you what I spent last Saturday doing.

Nice chill Sunset Jump!

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