Parachuting

Parachuting, or skydiving, is a recreational activity, competitive sport and method of deployment of military personnel (and occasionally, firefighters). It involves the breaking of a free fall from a height through the use of a parachute.

Safety

Despite the seeming danger of the leap, fatalities are rare. About 30 skydivers are killed each year in the US out of roughly 100,000 jumpers http://stuffo.howstuffworks.com/skydiving8.htm.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the US and in most of the western world skydivers are required to carry a second, reserve parachute which has been inspected and packed by a certified parachute rigger (in the US, an FAA certified parachute rigger), and many now use an altitude-sensitive automatic activation device (AAD) that activates the reserve parachute at a safe altitude if the skydiver somehow fails to activate the chute on their own. They also routinely carry both visual and audible altimeters to help maintain altitude awareness.

Related Topics:
US - FAA - Altimeter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It should be emphasized that many of today's active parachutists have jumped for decades without significant injury. Injuries, when they do occur, are usually caused by inattention or improper action on the part of the parachutist.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some involve the parachute getting tangled up and thus not providing the full deceleration. These are very rare.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Others arise from changes in wind forcing hard landings -- again, very rare. In recent years, one of the most common sources of injury is the inexperienced or overconfident (mis)use of perfectly good, high-performance parachutes to effect crowd-pleasing landings. High-speed maneuvers performed very close to the ground can be exhilarating to perform, and exciting to watch, but they necessarily increase the risk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Each year, a number of people are hurt or killed in parachuting, world-wide (see fatality statistics, or the newer dropzone.com statistics)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The fundamental nature of the sport might suggest why that is so. On the other hand, statistics suggest that, with due care and attention (not to mention sound training and a good attitude) the more likely outcome is that hundreds of thousands of people make millions of jumps, and go back to do it again. A particularly telling point might be the increasing numbers of sport parachutists who have each logged well over 10,000 jumps in their respective careers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inexperienced skydivers are a substantial hazard in the air. For the first few jumps, many beginners choose to jump in a linked harness, with an instructor in the other harness. Even newly-licensed skydivers sometimes are shunned by groups until they've completed fifty to a hundred jumps, and their experience is personally known to a number of people on the field. For many skydivers this is not nastiness, or elitism, but a simple desire not to have anything broken.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is worth noting that what is depicted in commercial films -- notably Hollywood action movies -- usually exaggerates the dangerous-looking aspects of the sport. Often, the characters in such films are depicted performing feats that are physically impossible without special effects assistance. In other cases, their practices would cause them to be grounded or shunned at any safety-conscious drop zone or club.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Special effects - Drop zone

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In many countries, either the local regulations or the liability-conscious prudence of the dropzone owners require that parachutists must have attained the age of majority before engaging in the sport.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~