Independent Safety Ratings

[TheAbominatrix 0]

Hi everyone, I'm in the Sacramento, California area and was planning on gifting my husband his first sky dive for his 40th birthday. I want to make sure the place I send him to has a great safety record and I find that most of the companies I look into claim they have one, but I see no way of verifying this and don't want to take any company's word for it.

I don't know anything about any of this and was wondering if there was any place I could contact to verify a sky dive company's safety record independently of the company itself.

Also, since I'm here, does anyone have a recommendation for any of the companies in the area? Are there preferred dive spots? I'm sure I'm getting absolutely none of this lingo correct

Thank you in advance! I hope this is the right forum to ask this question.

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by TheAbominatrix

[gowlerk 1,903]

There is no organization giving safety ratings to drop zones. Tandem parachuting is more regulated by industry standards and required training and experience levels enforced by the manufacturers of the parachute equipment used. The United States Parachuting Association (USPA) issues instructor ratings to qualified Tandem Instructors. Most but not all drop zones are USPA group members.

Skydivers usually consider the drop zone they jump at to be "the safest", so asking for recommendations will mostly get you the name of one where they have the most friends. Tandem skydiving is generally the safest form of jumping there is due to the higher experience levels and training that the TIs have. Look for a USPA member DZ and ask to see the instructor's rating card if you have any doubts.

Edited September 6, 2019 by gowlerk

[skybytch 259]

I also live in the Sacramento area. If my mother was doing a tandem, I'd take her to Skydive California in Tracy, but pretty much any of the dz's around here run very safe tandem programs - well, as safe as they can considering that this is jumping out of airplanes and shit can happen even to the best. The only dz in the area that I would suggest avoiding is Lodi. 
Personally I'd be more concerned that when he lands he will have decided he wants to be a skydiver. 

 

[TheAbominatrix 0]

Thank you so much for the information, gowlerk. It is very much appreciated.

[TheAbominatrix 0]

skybytch, thank you! That was the exact information I needed, I will definitely check out the set up in Tracy. I had also heard little bits about Lodi being not so good, that's what got the bug in me about asking.