Skydiving is statistically safe, but fatalities can occur due to landing errors, equipment malfunctions, mid-air collisions, and failure to deploy the parachute. Safety measures include backup canopies and automatic actuation devices, but accidents can still happen. Group jumps increase the risk of collisions. In rare cases, fatalities may be caused by suicide.
Despite the fact that, statistically, skydiving is considered one of the safest extreme sports, there is still a risk of death. Some of the most common causes of skydiving deaths are problems with a person landing or malfunctions with the skydiving equipment. Fatalities can also be caused by collisions between skydivers or as a result of a skydiver not deploying his parachute.
Landing improperly, whether due to skydiver error, bumping into something on the ground, or turbulence, is typically the most common cause of fatalities in skydiving. While most divers are taught how to land safely, this isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons, and improper landing can result in hitting the ground too hard. It is also relatively common for turbulence to cause a skydiver to hit the ground too hard, resulting in death.
Skydiving gear has a decent amount of built-in protection, including a main canopy and a backup canopy in case the main one doesn’t deploy properly or in time. Modern parachutes typically also have an automatic actuation device (AAD) that will automatically release the main or reserve canopy in the event the skydiver cannot do so. Despite all these safety measures, equipment malfunctions sometimes occur. Parachutes can deploy incorrectly or fail to deploy at all, causing damage to the canopy itself or resulting in improper support of the parachutist’s weight, which can cause a landing to be too hard or an inability to land in a safe place.
In some cases, the chances of fatal skydiving accidents increase when large groups of skydivers jump together. Although each person jumps individually with delays in between, there is a risk of mid-air collisions. This can prevent a person from deploying their parachute, or it can cause two or more parachute lines to become tangled, resulting in an emergency landing. Even if the lines don’t tangle, a chute collision can cause tears in the main or backup top, possibly resulting in a crash.
Occasionally, skydiving fatalities are caused by the skydiver not deploying his parachute. This may be due to a skydiver panicking or passing out shortly after the jump, and he or she does not have an ADD or the device is malfunctioning. In rare cases, a skydiver will jump without intending to deploy his canopy, resulting in skydiving fatalities by suicide.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
