| Many misconceptions surround the skydiving accident. | | | | the lives of 21 people in 2004, down from 25 in 2003, |
| Causes, the people who are most likely to experience | | | | 33 in 2002, and 35 in 2001, some of which may have |
| them, and the likelihood of being killed while skydiving | | | | did a jump without parachute. |
| are often wrongly perceived. | | | | A comparison of the statistics regarding skydiving |
| A skydiving accident can be caused by a variety of | | | | fatalities with fatality statistics from sports that may be |
| factors, but some more common causes include | | | | considered less risky, such as scuba diving, shows that |
| collisions between jumpers, difficulty during landing, and | | | | parachuting actually poses less of a risk than most |
| malfunctioning equipment. Despite the prevalent myth | | | | people perceive. For example, according to reports, |
| that equipment problems are the biggest culprits for | | | | approximately 30 out of 100,000 skydiving participants |
| causing accidents, operator error is actually the root | | | | are killed in the United States each year. This rate |
| cause the majority of the time. | | | | compares to 47 out of 100,000 for scuba diving, 50 out |
| Collisions are often the result of parachute canopies | | | | 100,000 for mountain climbing, and 67 out of 100,000 for |
| deploying too close together. Many landing difficulties | | | | hot air ballooning. So don't let safety fears scare you |
| are attributable to skydivers overestimating how much | | | | from making that first skydive. |
| time they have to complete turns and other | | | | On an interesting note, history includes a few cases of |
| maneuvers, or landing near obstacles. A few landing | | | | people who have survived a jump without parachute |
| fatalities involve drowning related to landing in water. | | | | from very high altitudes. Some notable survivors of |
| Equipment malfunctions rarely involve failure of the | | | | these jumps were airmen from World War II. One |
| parachute or reserve to deploy, as may be a common | | | | fighter pilot was forced to jump from his bomber plane |
| belief, but more often involve lines that become | | | | when it came under enemy fire in France. He fell |
| entangled. | | | | 20,000 feet, crashed through a skylight on the roof of |
| Another misconception about a skydiving accident | | | | a train station, sustained severe injuries, and eventually |
| may be that novices are most often the victims of | | | | recovered. Other scenarios involved airmen leaving |
| accidents, but students are actually rarely involved in | | | | their planes for the same reason and falling anywhere |
| accidents. More experienced jumpers who try | | | | from 18,000 to 22,000 feet and surviving because their |
| maneuvers requiring a high level of skill are more likely | | | | fall was broken by trees and snow drifts. |
| to experience a parachuting accident. Accidents took | | | | |