Have you seen someone die in this sport?

[kansasskydiver 0]

I haven't witnessed a death in the sport, though I have lost a close friend and witnessed another almost die but he pulled through

<--- See look, pink dolphins DO exist!

[speedy 0]

I voted yes.

Unfortunately way to many for my meagre 4 years in the sport

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[peckerhead 0]

24 years in the sport and I have never witnessed a fatality or been present at the DZ when one happened. I did watch a guy ride a spinning reserve malfunction into a dense forest. I was the first one to find him, I thought he would be dead but the trees snagged his canopy on the way down and he survived with just a broken leg.

2 of my good buddies including a fellow instructor died in a 182 crash. The pilot survived as did the third jumper. I was supposed to be the 4th one on the load but I was unexpectedly called into work so I missed the load. They were waiting for me to show up and the DZO told them to go ahead with just 3, the plane crashed shortly after take off. The surviving jumper who was also a good friend shot himself a few years later. He suffered a head injury in the crash and was never quite the same.

I have never known anyone personally that has bounced. Booze, drugs, drinking and driving, and health problems kills more skydivers than skydiving does, I have know several jumpers that went out that way.
And yes, I do think driving to and from the DZ is more dangerous than skydiving.


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[gary350 0]

Yes - BASE jumping - not fun, very sad.

[billvon 2,384]

I have seen three directly.

1. Harry the pilot. We got him out of a burning airplane (smoking actually) but his head had gone through the side window and hit the pavement. His head was soft and I observed bradycardia, cheyne-stokes respiration and fixed/dilated pupils. (all signs of profound brain damage.) We stayed with him until the ambulance arrived, but we knew he wasn't going to make it.

2. John O'Hara. He hit Lupe in freefall (Lupe was under canopy, John was still in freefall.) It destroyed most of his face and broke his neck. I did CPR on him with some difficulty until rescue crews got there; he died before he got to the hospita.

3. At Perris one day I watched someone land with full front risers - no flare, no anything, just held both front risers until impact. I saw this as we were taking off. I found out later he had died.

[damion75 0]

Just one - not witnessed but he came out of the same plane two ahead of me. Solo jump nothing was deployed and nobody knows really what happened.

Blue skies EL.

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.