Bad start for 2012

[flyboy6554 3]

Is it just me or does it seem we're off to a bad start for 2012 in terms of injuries and fatalities.....seems like a bunch since the last week in March.

Maybe we need another safety day??

[diablopilot 2]

In all honesty seems like about every other year that I've been in the sport.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[PiLFy 0]

Sadly, I think Diablo is right...

[jclalor 12]

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Is it just me or does it seem we're off to a bad start for 2012 in terms of injuries and fatalities.....seems like a bunch since the last week in March.

Maybe we need another safety day??

According to the data, it's off to the worst start in at least the last ten years.

[Coreefdiver 0]

personally, I had a cut-away at less than 10 jumps into this year, friend had one same weekend. another friend had one the following weekend. and yesterday, another friend had a very close call with a fired brake. and thats just people I know. I've seen more cutaways in the past month than I recall seeing last year.

DS#727, DB Cooper #41, POPS #11065, SCR #13183, FA #2125, SCS #8306, HALO #309 SRA #5930

[JohnMitchell 14]

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According to the data, it's off to the worst start in at least the last ten years

I can't argue with that, but considering the relatively small size of our sample group, it could just be a statistical anomaly. I certainly hope so. I'm not ready for another year of carnage.

[Deisel 35]

Well let's not overlook the fact that not only are there a bunch of folks coming back to jumping after the winter break, but there are also packers, riggers, and equipment coming back as well. I think that we do well to discuss skydiving and canopy issues but not so much the other parts. A newer packer that's not used to a high volume of work and the pressure to make loads can be prone to shortcuts and mistakes. Plenty of brake fires and line overs have been caused from this. Just saying.

D

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[MikeJD 0]

I think given the relative infrequency of accidents (especially fatalities) these statistics are really only useful if you look at them over a much longer period.

Also, you can impose almost any 'pattern' you like depending on where you put your break points. I guess you can expect a certain annual cycle of incidents because to some extent skydiving is seasonal, but then that season varies depending on which hemisphere you're jumping in and what your climate is like in general.

It's an interesting cultural effect that we like to categorise things according to our calendar boundaries - this year, last year, the eighties, the nineties - whereas in reality there are only ever-changing trends.

Bottom line is, I'd say - don't worry about it.

[skyjumpenfool 2]

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....................year, last year, the eighties, the nineties - whereas in reality there are only ever-changing trends.

Bottom line is, I'd say - don't worry about it.

A spike in fatalities/injuries? Don't worry about it? Umm.... NO! We should definitely worry, discuss, troubleshoot, categorize, or whatever it takes to minimize the carnage.

Looking for similarities in incidents is a way of identifying causes and a beginning point for eliminating the problems. Worry away!

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[MikeJD 0]

Well ok, I was deliberately being a bit flippant to make the point that an apparent spike may mean nothing at all, and in fact probably does mean nothing at all - other than that 'random' doesn't equate to 'evenly distributed'.

But I take your point, of course.