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

 

Tips On Wearing Skydiving Parachuting Gear

It used to be in the 1980's that parachute pants were all the rage in hip-hop fashion; if you’re old enough, you can think back to kids wearing MC Hammer parachute pants to school, singing “Can’t Touch This” and dancing down the halls. Those days are long gone, thankfully, and though skydiving pants are still part of some alternative fashion ensembles, such as hippy pants and other baggy gear that twenty-first century hippy types like to wear, they are very much an important part of skydiving gear in general.

And what’s more important to skydivers but their gear? It is their gear that protects their lives and they in fact put their lives in the hands of the gear, so to speak. Now you can see the importance of skydiving pants. Skydivers can wear jeans or shorts underneath their parachute pants depending on the weather, but they sure as heck better have those skydiving pants on over the top.

These pants are part of the whole jumpsuit. These aren’t necessary required to leap out of a plane, but they can help to control your speed and give you more control when you’re in free fall. These jumpsuits tend to be made in two general styles. They can be made of special slippery fabrics and tailored tight around the body for faster speeds, or they can be designed in that typical MC Hammer baggy fashion with canvas-like material to help slow down fall speeds.

Other clothing that doubles as protective and practical gear for skydivers includes a helmet and goggles. Helmets are mandatory clothing for beginner jumpers, but don’t be embarrassed if you happen to be one, most experts wear them too. You can even individualize yours, choosing from styles like old leather football helmets to hard, motorcycle-like helmets. Depending on your helmet, you may need to protect your eyes with goggles.

The pants, suits, and helmets are just one aspect of your skydiving equipment. Other gear includes an automatic activation device (or AAD). which helps to safeguard you in case you drop too low in altitude without pulling your cord, the AAD does it automatically for you. Also, there is the reserve static line (or RSL). which is another safety device. The RSL is your lifeline and pull cord for your reserve parachute.

Andrew Caxton is a journalist who has written more articles and newsletters on the subject for http://www.skydiving-parachuting-guide.com For additional information on skydiving subjects follow this link skydiving t-shirts