Possible Accidents while Sky Dive

A skydiving accident can be caused by a variety of factors, but some more common causes include collisions between jumpers, difficulty during landing, and malfunctioning equipment. Despite the prevalent myth that equipment problems are the biggest culprits for causing accidents, operator error is actually the root cause the majority of the time.

Collisions are often the result of parachute canopies deploying too close together. Many landing difficulties are attributable to skydivers overestimating how much time they have to complete turns and other maneuvers, or landing near obstacles. A few landing fatalities involve drowning related to landing in water. Equipment malfunctions rarely involve failure of the parachute or reserve to deploy, as may be a common belief, but more often involve lines that become entangled.

Another misconception about a skydiving accident may be that novices are most often the victims of accidents, but students are actually rarely involved in accidents. More experienced jumpers who try maneuvers requiring a high level of skill are more likely to experience a parachuting accident. Accidents took the lives of 21 people in 2004, down from 25 in 2003, 33 in 2002, and 35 in 2001, some of which may have did a jump without parachute.

A comparison of the statistics regarding skydiving fatalities with fatality statistics from sports that may be considered less risky, such as scuba diving, shows that parachuting actually poses less of a risk than most people perceive. For example, according to reports, approximately 30 out of 100,000 skydiving participants are killed in the United States each year. This rate compares to 47 out of 100,000 for scuba diving, 50 out 100,000 for mountain climbing, and 67 out of 100,000 for hot air ballooning. So don’t let safety fears scare you from making that first skydive.

On an interesting note, history includes a few cases of people who have survived a jump without parachute from very high altitudes. Some notable survivors of these jumps were airmen from World War II. One fighter pilot was forced to jump from his bomber plane when it came under enemy fire in France. He fell 20,000 feet, crashed through a skylight on the roof of a train station, sustained severe injuries, and eventually recovered. Other scenarios involved airmen leaving their planes for the same reason and falling anywhere from 18,000 to 22,000 feet and surviving because their fall was broken by trees and snow drifts.

Andrew Caxton is a consultant who writes on many consumer topics like the above article at http://www.skydiving-parachuting-guide.com. For additional information regarding Skydive or parachutes go his skydiving lessons article

 

Parachuting Is Fun

What is the parachute? Nothing more than a thin, lightweight fabric, supported by tapes and suspension lines and attached to one's body by special strong shoulder and waist straps, called risers, once manufactured out of silk. However, the days when parachutes were made out of silk have long passed. During the Second World War the parachutes introduced were made out from more durable materials, like woven nylon fabric. Today's parachutes are made from a variety of long-lasting fabrics and materials, all selected to enhance performance and improve consistency over time; needless to say, something extremely important when one's life is at stake!

According to the online version of Encyclopedia Britanica, the parachute is "a device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally." This is easier to understand, if one considers that through the use of a parachute a person increases his or her body's surface area, which results in increased air resistance and thus a body's motion slows down. Made out of soft and light fabrics, today's parachute is both a pilot's life savior device and a parachute fan's exciting experience.

The word "parachute" is a combination of two French words: para (protect or shield) and chute (the fall). Thus, it literally means fall protection. But protecting oneself when falling from a height due to earth's gravity, towards land or sea, is actually something that even when the parachute is worn still has to take place. Luckily, due to the industry's innovations, contemporary parachutes come in a variety of shapes and types, while all are quite maneuverable and can be navigated.

The simpler version of parachute is the round one. Mainly used for their dragging features, in military, emergency units, and cargo applications, round parachutes are large mushroom-shaped canopies that prevent a body or object from falling on to the earth's surface due to gravity. By extending the area of an object, these life-saving devices lower the velocity of a falling object or human being and thus, are greatly admired. Their contemporary version is much more stable than in the past and permits the person falling to navigate it towards the desired landing area. Other variations of the round parachute are the pull down apex parachute, the Para-Commander-type canopy, or the ribbon and ring parachutes. All offer different navigational experience to the one using them and are preferred in different circumstances and occasions.

Yet, no matter what your excuse to jump off a plane might be, it is absolutely essential to be professionally trained before attempting to use this device. Begin by conducting some research on the training facilities existing in your area and check their trainers' profiles, hours of operation, plains, parachutes, uniforms worn by skydivers and other materials used prior to take off. Keep in mind that it is always best if you take some precaution before taking a risk.

Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Sports, Recreation, and Travel