Is Skydiving Safe?
The term ‘is skydiving safe?’ is searched more in the United States than anywhere else in the world.
After ‘skydive Atlanta’ and ‘tandem skydive’, it’s among the most common searches made by our first time skydivers and those considering tandem skydiving.
Safety is important to the Chattanooga team, as is answering your questions honestly. We are going to address this query forthrightly.
You want to know: can I be hurt or killed skydiving? The answer to both is yes. Your next question is how likely is it? The answer is not as likely as you might expect of jumping from a moving aircraft.
How Likely Is It? The Numbers.
0.00023% of all skydives made in the US in 2014 ended in injury of any sort (from a simple sprain to the more serious).
The majority of injuries suffered skydiving are ankle or wrist injuries, just over half and one fifth respectively.
As for those more serious? In 2014, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) recorded 24 skydiving fatalities in the U.S. out of approximately 3.2 million jumps. That’s 0.0075 fatalities per 1,000 jumps.
Tandem skydiving has an even better safety record, with 0.003 student fatalities per 1,000 tandem jumps over the past decade.
To give some context to that number, the risk of fatality per 10,000 miles driven in the U.S. is estimated to be 1 in 6,000. Comparing those numbers, the fatality risk of completing a single tandem skydive can be approximated to driving couple hundred miles.
The injury and fatality statistics for skydiving have been following a steady downward trend since its conception. Skydiving is getting safer every year, thanks to the constant efforts of instructors, regulating bodies, equipment manufacturers, and sports skydivers.
Your probability of getting hurt on a tandem skydive is low. You can decrease your risk further by choosing your center well (check for USPA affiliation) and by listening carefully to your instructor on the day. As 75% of skydiving injuries happen landing, following instructions here is essential.
Is Skydiving Worth The Risk?
You probably don’t often worry about driving your car, but simultaneously, you can argue that driving is somewhat more necessary than skydiving.
Skydivers largely take the attitude that life is for living and everything carries some risk, after all, you could slip in the tub!
Whether skydiving is worth the risk is a personal choice, we hope the information we have provided will help you to understand this risk and make an informed choice.
We love what we do and certainly think it is worth it!
Safety First, Always
At Chattanooga Skydiving Company, we understand that skydiving comes with some risk and reducing that risk is our priority.
Good practice makes us an excellent choice for Atlanta skydiving, from a safety and a fun perspective!
