Help! Skydiving participation numbers?

[researchgirl 0]

I'm doing some research for a magazine article. Can anyone tell me how many people skydive in the US? I'm looking to find the number of deaths per participation rate. Got any suggestions for places to look? Thanks!

[tso-d_chris 0]

Try http://uspa.org.

Most US jumpers are members. The few members that don't actively jump are likely offset by the few non-members that do jump. It should give you a ball-park estimate.

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[brianfry713 0]

Acording to http://uspa.org/about/images/memsurvey04.pdf in 2004, there were 21 deaths out of 32,057 USPA members. Assuming all USPA members are skydivers, that's a 1 out of 1,526 fatality rate.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

I don't think that number tells too much. The number 32,057 spans from the begining of the USPA (not sure of the date) and includes all the members from when it started to today. I think a better number would be number of deaths to number of jumps done by all members... or something along those lines. I just don't think thats a good comparison if you are trying to figure how often people die in skydiving.

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[thepollster 0]

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The number 32,057 spans from the begining of the USPA (not sure of the date) and includes all the members from when it started to today.

That is some funny stuff coming from the guy with an "A" license #47605

[brianfry713 0]

You're thinking of the USPA membership number, which is now over 200,000. That document I linked also states that USPA members reported making 2,221,115 jumps in 2004. That 1 death per 105,767 jumps.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[researchgirl 0]

Thanks, guys. This helps a lot. I called the USPA. They say there is on average 30 death out of roughly 3 million jumps each year -- so 1 out of 100,000. Does that sound right? From what I see, their current membership number is 34,000. Is it safe to assume that most people who skydive are members? So there are about 34,000 skydivers?

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

I don't get what's so funny pollster? *shrugs*

Thanks brainfry.

_________________________________________
www.myspace.com/termvelocity

[PhreeZone 15]

You said the 32000 number was from the start of the USPA for its membership, but yet the licence you hold is higher then that number. A#'s are way off since even though there are almost 50000 of them issued since they devised the licencing system in the 60's/70's, lots of people never got their A's and just got their B's or C's first. There have been over 27000 people earn their D licence alone.

My USPA membership number is in the 172000's. Thats under 200,000 people that have been in the organization since it was founded 30-40 years ago. 34000 is the number of Current (Dues current) members.

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[indyz 1]

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Is it safe to assume that most people who skydive are members? So there are about 34,000 skydivers?

Most experienced skydivers in the US are members. Most "one timers", including tandem students, are not.

[Mike111 0]

just out of interest, do they have a temporary membreship scheme, cos the BPA charge tandems and other first jumps 25 quid as part of a temporary membership to it.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Thanks, guys. This helps a lot. I called the USPA. They say there is on average 30 death out of roughly 3 million jumps each year -- so 1 out of 100,000. Does that sound right? From what I see, their current membership number is 34,000. Is it safe to assume that most people who skydive are members? So there are about 34,000 skydivers?

A certain portion of the USPA membership are life members and no longer active jumpers. We often say that the fatality rate is 1 per thousand as a simple and fairly accurate approximation, as the fatality count is usually in the 20s, and for the most part deaths don't happen to the students before they join as an annual member.

If the article is oriented towards telling would be participants the risks, it's also appropriate to say that tandem jumps are a good bit safer than the 1 in 100,000 rate, though maybe that's less true after this past couple years.

[WeakMindedFool 0]

We often say that the fatality rate is 1 per thousand as a simple and fairly accurate approximation***

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[kelpdiver 2]

Jason,

that's the annual, not the per jump rate.

See you out at Davis.

[headoverheels 291]

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You said the 32000 number was from the start of the USPA for its membership, but yet the licence you hold is higher then that number. A#'s are way off since even though there are almost 50000 of them issued since they devised the licencing system in the 60's/70's, lots of people never got their A's and just got their B's or C's first. There have been over 27000 people earn their D licence alone.

My USPA membership number is in the 172000's. Thats under 200,000 people that have been in the organization since it was founded 30-40 years ago. 34000 is the number of Current (Dues current) members.

Hey Eric. The A license did not even exist until shortly before I started jumping, but B, C, D were already in place. My A is thousands lower than my C.

Also, the USPA numbers are not consecutive from the beginning. They were actually changed after I started jumping. My first USPA number was over 32000, and may have been consecutive. Sometime later they changed the numbering scheme. I got one under 1500, which I've had ever since.

[mdrejhon 8]

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We often say that the fatality rate is 1 per thousand as a simple and fairly accurate approximation***Considering 100 jumps per year that a regular skydiver like me would make, I think that's pretty accurate. (Doing 100 chances of 1 in 100,000 would roughly turn it into an approximation of 1 in 1,000, give or take)

To magazine article writers:
I heard a USA statistic that skydiving 17 times in one year is roughly equal to driving 10,000 miles in one year -- BUT DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS; this is considered hearsay because I am just saying what I've heard. Do your research. You may run into the temptation to compare the 1-in-100,000 statistic to other statistics. Be careful about doing it accurately. That's why people argue it's more dangerous than driving, while others say it's safer than driving -- all relative depending on miles driven, type of car and driving, how many jumps done, types of jumps, etc.. People constantly nitpick over how safe or dangerous skydiving is; it's still a dangerous activity even if it's become "tolerably" safe enough for us to be willing to jump. Good luck in writing a useful and informative article, I am glad you're utilizing multiple sources, just make sure you cross-reference facts and doublecheck multiple sources!

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[MakeItHappen 15]

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The A license did not even exist until shortly before I started jumping, but B, C, D were already in place. My A is thousands lower than my C.

see The Birth of the US Licensing System
The D license was added some time after Joe Crane set up the original license system.

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Also, the USPA numbers are not consecutive from the beginning. They were actually changed after I started jumping. My first USPA number was over 32000, and may have been consecutive. Sometime later they changed the numbering scheme. I got one under 1500, which I've had ever since.

The early numbering system was not systematic at all. 'Some' people could ask for such-n-such number if they wanted it, aka they could 'reserve' numbers.

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