The following is adapted from the book "Jump! Make Your First Skydive Fun and Easy" by Tom Buchanan, to be published by McGraw-Hill in Spring 2003.
Most of us have heard other jumpers claim that the most dangerous part of skydiving is the drive to the airport, but very few of us have looked at the actual risk of skydiving. In fact, it is difficult to define a specific risk level for skydiving because the sport has so many variables, and there are so few reliable sources of data covering actual jump activity levels. Some of us keep accurate records of our jumps, as do some dropzones, but many jumpers and dropzones maintain no data at all. Yet, annual fatalities are tracked by USPA, and the organization maintains some records that offer a rough estimate of activity level based on reports they receive from dropzones and individual members.
According to records maintained by USPA between 1991 and 2000, there were an average of 33 skydiving fatalities in the United States each year. The vast majority of those accidents involved very experienced skydivers exceeding their own limits. Student fatalities are rare, usually averaging only a few per year, and in many years there are no fatalities involving first jump students at all. Those numbers are interesting, but in order to gauge the actual safety of skydiving it is important to know how many jumps are made each year, and how many jumps are in each category or experience level, and then make some assumptions about specific risk.
USPA data for 2000 shows that there were 32 fatalities, and there were 34,217 members of the organization that year. Using these figures defines a fatality rate of 1 per 1,069 members. The fatality numbers will vary significantly from year to year, but a ten year average of data collected between 1991 and 2000 shows one skydiving death was recorded for every 903 members. USPA single year data also show that members made an estimated 2,244,165 jumps in the year 2000, presenting a fatality rate of one death for each 70,130 skydives that year.
Perhaps the most interesting statistics are related to tandem skydiving. When tandem skydiving began in the early 1980's, there were many problems, and fatalities occurred with alarming frequency. The FAA released data in a 1999 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) detailing statistics covering tandem fatalities for the years 1991 through 1996. That data included eight tandem fatalities, with 670,707 jumps made on tandem equipment, or one tandem death for every 83,838 jumps. The FAA data published in the NPRM is old, and does not reflect dramatic improvements to the equipment or training. Many of the weaknesses of tandem systems have been identified and corrected, and now tandem fatalities are very rare. Some of the improvements have involved minor and major equipment design changes. An AAD has been added as a mandatory safety element on every tandem rig, and instructor experience and training have improved significantly. As a result of the changes, statistics reported in 2002 by The Uninsured Relative Workshop show a worldwide three year tandem fatality rate of less than one every 420,000 jumps. The data for accidents in The United States is even more impressive, with just one fatality over the same three year period, which included an estimated 540,000 domestic tandem jumps.
There is no question that skydivers are exposed to a high level of risk, but the sport tends to draw people who enjoy taking chances, and many of us participate in other risky sports. Jumpers often try to compare the safety of skydiving with other activities, and to the routine risks each person is exposed to throughout their lives.
The National Safety Council (NSC) publishes an annual summery of fatalities and accident statistics called Injury Facts. This short book offers a fascinating statistical look at how people are injured in the United States throughout each year. While it isn't possible to use the NSC data to draw direct comparisons between skydiving and other sports, it is interesting to note how many people die each year from accidents while doing other things most of us take for granted.
The NSC data shows that unintentional injuries were the fifth leading cause of death in the United States in 1998, and the leading cause of death for those between the ages of one and 44.
According to NSC data, motor vehicles were responsible for more than 43,000 deaths during the year, falls on or from stairs were listed as the cause of 1,389 fatalities, and poison was responsible ending 10,255 lives. Drowning in bathtubs was responsible for 337 deaths.
The annual NSC report highlights data for several sports collected from various sources, but it does not offer enough information about participation levels to compare one activity to another. Boating, for example, was responsible for 734 deaths in 1999, as reported by the United States Coast Guard. Snowboarding and Alpine Skiing were responsible for 30 deaths during the 1999-2000 season, with seven snowboarders and 23 skiers killed on the slopes, according to information provided by the National Ski Areas Association. There were six fatalities directly related to high school football in the 1999 season, and three football fatalities in the 2000 season. The NSC also reported 12 additional deaths indirectly related to football in both 1999 and 2000.
Surprisingly, extreme weather is responsible for many deaths in the United States each year. In 1999, heat was the cause of 502 deaths, tornadoes killed 94 people, floods accounted for 68 deaths, and lightning killed 46 people.
Data reported from 1998 shows that nature can kill in other ways too. Bee stings were responsible for 46 deaths, snakes, lizards, and spiders killed 5 people, and 15 Americans died after being bitten by dogs.
The NSC also maintains data collected from hospital emergency rooms that details injuries not resulting in death. The report makes note that there are significant differences among reporting methods, and the collected data is not always complete, so comparisons among sports should be avoided. Still, it is interesting to read about injury statistics for more common sports. The NSC Injury Facts reports that in 1999, 339,775 people were treated in American emergency rooms for injuries related to baseball and softball, 372,380 were treated for football injuries, 175,303 were treated following soccer games, 22,639 were treated for bowling injuries, and 2,486 were treated for injuries following participation in horseshoe pitching.
Skydivers will sometimes point to deaths in other sports or activities as a way of convincing people that jumping out of airplanes isn't all that dangerous. It is easy to look at 43,000 total motor vehicle deaths in 2000, and an average of just 33 skydiving fatalities each year, and believe that driving is more dangerous than skydiving. Yet, we should consider that the actual death rate for motor vehicles reported by the NSC in 2000 is .156 per 1,000 participants, while the fatality rate for active skydivers reported by USPA members is about 1.1 per 1000, based on ten year averages. The current worldwide three year fatality rate for tandem skydiving as reported by the Uninsured Relative Workshop is considerably lower, at .0042 per 1,000 participants, but that representation can quickly change with just one or two fatalities. So, skydiving can be accurately termed more dangerous than driving, or it can be shown to be safer than driving, depending on what data is used and how it is interpreted. We should always be very cautious when reviewing safety data and other statistical detail about skydiving, or any other activity. Statistics can easily be used to tell several conflicting stories at the same time, and should always be suspect.