A Lifetime of Fatalities

[tombuch 0]

When I made my first jump I innocently asked my instructor how dangerous skydiving is. He started by saying the sport is pretty safe, but then added that anybody who has been jumping long enough will know somebody who died. I thought that was crazy, and I thought it was especially crazy that...

...I know somebody, who knows somebody, who died skydiving, but I'm going to do it anyway.

That was more than 25 years ago. Now I can say that I know somebody who has died skydiving. Sadly, I can no longer remember how many somebody's I have known that met their end in our sport. Nor can I remember all the bodies I've watched slam into the ground. The accidents and fatalities run together. I remember some names, but forget others. Images return now and then, but my mind won't sort through all the death, and it won't package the names and faces in a countable listing. There have been too many.

Here is an interesting statistic. I've been reading Parachutist Magazine since about 1980. That's 25 years of fatality reports. If our sport has averaged 30 deaths each year over that time (it's fewer now, but the average was far greater in the early days of my career), then I've probably read roughly 750 fatality reports. That's 750 real people with families and friends, and they all died skydiving.

It's something to think about.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[RhondaLea 3]

835 from 1980 to date in North America alone.

699 from 1996 to date worldwide.

1980 and 1981 were bad years, as was 1998, but the numbers from other years are pretty consistent.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

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Sadly, I can no longer remember how many somebody's I have known that met their end in our sport.

I know of which you speak. I'm only 24, but a DZ rat... I've personally known a dozen or two, and my father is probably into three digits by now. Plus I've seen hundreds of close calls, some of which were myself. My father has had several close calls, but most were in the 70's before they got rid of pins and cones, front-mounts and capewells.

With my father and myself heavily involved in the sport and my younger sister having just bought her first rig, sometimes the realities of the sport are a little terrifying... it's not just myself and my friends I have to worry about.

Despite all of this, I count myself lucky for two reasons... first, I haven't yet personally witnessed a fatality. And second, it gives perspective and wisdom beyond my years. I wish the newer crowd would tap the old fogeys for information and ask for details when they're telling "no shit, there I was" stories... that casual conversation could save someone's life someday if they're paying attention.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[riggerrob 558]

Tom,

I have been skydiving longer than you, having started in the late 1970s.
Knock on wood, but I have never seen a fatality. My rigging seal has only been found on one corpse, but he never left the airplane (Pond Racer at Reno 1993).
I was working in the loft in Perris when James Martin found the QC flaw on Reflex (loose grommets) ... the hard way.
The closest I have come to seeing a fatality was watching a parachute descend with empty leg straps (suicide)!
Maybe DZOs should hire me for my "safe" influence on other jumpers --- dark humor ---.
I have only been asked to inspect two "bounce" rigs, but inspecting Sylvie Durand's rig - with an RCMP Master Sargent looking over my shoulder - was emotionally devastating.
I read fatality reports religiously for about 20 years - cured me of a few bad habits - but eventually they all started to blur together. Same accident, different day, different brand name, etc.
It seems that every new generation of skydivers had to re-learn the old lessons the hard way.
The challenge is keeping my sense of humor when I see the hundredth junior jumper walking to the airplane with an un-fastened chest strap.

[mjosparky 3]

Tom,

What you are saying is sad, but it is true. It makes me sad that I understand your feeling so well.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[NickDG 23]

I wrote something once about putting names to faces and how time draws a line that statistics don't convey. I can't really think of any sport I could have become involved in where I would actually know this many dead people. If you throw in the ones I've never actually met, yet knew their names, it gets even more grim . . .

NickD
BASE 194

[Sen.Blutarsky 0]

A few years ago I had to cancel a vacation so that I could instead spend my birthday at the funeral of the “unstoppable” dzo who had taught me skydiving. The loss was a sobering reminder this sport can kill you on any given jump for any reason or for no reason at all. While I can remember the dzo’s name, as well as the name of another jumper who was killed during a world record attempt at our dropzone, I can no longer recall with any degree of reliability all the names of the dozen other jumpers who have died while skydiving there since I began jumping in earnest. I’ve never even considered keeping track of the seriously injured, but I’m pretty sure the number is a significant multiple of the fatal cases. And that’s just a single large, modern and safety-conscious dropzone which is located a brief ambulance ride from a hospital. I tend to be low-key about disclosing my participation in skydiving to new people in my life, why that is I can only ponder …


Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

[shropshire 0]

Of course, statistically, as we get older, we're bound to know more people that have had a bad time, one way or the other, so yeah, we are likely to know someone who has had an accident skydiving..... But, I've been riding bikes for just about the same amount of years that I've been around skydivers (had a big lay-off myself) and know many more people been hurt riding than parachuting... In fact, I've been paragliding for about 1/2 as long as skydiving and personally know way too many people have accidents (some fatal) in that sport.

We have a great sport and the safety margins has grown massively. Our kit is exceptional, our procedures are O.K..... but errors in judgement? ... They will Always be there... Look at the Incidents forum.... how many accidents are unavoidable?... Loads.

Personally, I jump, fly and ride as safely as I think that I can..... and keep on doing each (even after hearing of an acciedent.. hey, accidents only happen to other people!). I try not to think about the down sides of my passions...
I dont think that there is anything to be gained from it. I do what I enjoy and I enjoy what I'm doing.... as soon as that changes, I'll rethink my options.

Sorry for the ramble....
Blues skies and lots of them.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[BASE1036 0]

The really sad part is not that I know someone who died while jumping, but that I know someone who will die while jumping. A few faces come to mind, and though we have all expressed our concerns to these people, short of killing them by other means, it just seems they are destined, by their behavior in the sky, to smack in. SAD

Daniel
Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones
Tasers - Pepper Spray - Stun Guns and more!
www.dallassecuritysupply.com

[RhondaLea 3]

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The really sad part is not that I know someone who died while jumping, but that I know someone who will die while jumping. A few faces come to mind, and though we have all expressed our concerns to these people, short of killing them by other means, it just seems they are destined, by their behavior in the sky, to smack in. SAD

My personal experience is that those I've expected to get the call about are still jumping, and those I expected to live forever are gone.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[cutaway1 3]

Tom, what you say is so true and I emplathize with you, when one of my best jump buddies died years ago, I cried for weeks, yes it does hurt bad. But a funny thought comes to mind, when I started in the 60's with rounds, many people rountinely pulled low, and on the sunset load, instead of swooping, the real show offs pulled extra low, opening in the low hundreds, none of them to my knowledge were ever hurt opening well below a grand hundreds of times, I think because they were super aware of how dangerous it was, and real attentive. Today, there are so many injuries and fatalities under an open canopy doing silly things, because I believe we become complacent and underestimate the danger present under an open canopy, just my two cents.

SCR-21

[jimmytavino 16]

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It's something to think about

....sure.. ONLY don't think about to TOO much

wow when you put it that way,,, 30-40 a year X 25 or 30 or 35 YEARS... then it DOES hit you hard,,,, between the eyes...
And TOM.... it Has to be soooo much more difficult for an S & T A...........
the more we give to the sport.. the more it can take from us... Your position of respect and authority tends to bring you closer to such occurences than the normal fun jumper might face.....
For the fun jumper can turn away.... leave the sadness of trying to 'interpret' skydiving fatalities to those charged with such tasks... ( Dzo s , instructors, S&TAs )... so surely I DO have a sad sense of from where you are coming.....
Yes we all study and follow these sometimes difficult to explain incidents, in the hope of learning the things which may prevent re-occurences, and when it is a Unknown person,, from far away, we say a prayer in our minds,, and strive to NOT repeat, any behavior which could be deemed the 'cause'..... It's nearly impossible to be an active jumper for a long length of time and NOT have a firsthand connection to someone from your own club, or your own 'area' or (sadly) your own 'group' who experienced a " life taking" situation and failed to survive it....should that ever occur,, I hope that I am not on the dz when it happens...
So far... that hasn't always been possible... and regardless of the 'connection' to us of the jumper in question,,,, we ALL ache, we all hurt and we all
cry inside and outside because we are a brotherhood and sisterhood and when bad things hit one of us,,, they hit all of us...
In a world where high speed and high adrenaline sports are prevalent, danger DOES exist... ( Your instructor was right) In some sports it's worse than others. I have always felt that our sport was near the lower end of creating a possible fatality... BECAUSE we have a healthy respect for what we do... (more so than lots of other 'sporting' activities)......and because of real improvements in equipment and training... Yet when looked at,,, over DECADES,
the numbers do make us wonder and yes the numbers ARE high, but so should be our resolve to lower them, year by year . as a tribute to those whom we have lost........
Be at peace Tommy for you are one of the people who is doing His part toward educating and assisting jumpers, in order to spare each of them such a fate... jimmy T

[FrogNog 1]

Tom, if you had never jumped, in 25 years you probably would have seen very few people die in front of you, and have read hundreds fewer death reports. But wouldn't you (or all of us) still know good friends who had died, some from stupidity, some from bad luck, and all unexpectedly?

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[JohnMitchell 14]

It's the worst part of our sport> You love this sport so hard and it still turns around and breaks your heart sometimes. As an instructor, I spend time trying to keep it from happening again. Yes, it's impossible, but I think you can make a difference.

[jumperconway 0]

Sorry Tom if this a new loss. Fortunately in my time in sport, I have known only 2 people that have passed from equipment malfunctions, all the rest of the deaths or injuries have all come from pilot error, the closest to me was a very conservative rigger under a huge canopy that just put himself in a bad situation and made an error in judgement that ultimately cost him his life. Fly free Tommy.

[tombuch 0]

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Sorry Tom if this a new loss.

No new loss, and it isn’t a problem, just an observation. I happened to attend a lecture by Jill Fredston, author of Snowstruck, a new book about avalanche survival and recovery. She is a very interesting and entertaining speaker, and the book has been added to my Amazon wish list. She handles much of the avalanche forecasting and recovery in Alaska, and had similar thoughts concerning the build up of body counts over time. It was just an interesting and shared observation. From the comments I have received it seems like a bunch of us old timers are seeing the same thing.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[kallend 1,623]

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Tom, if you had never jumped, in 25 years you probably would have seen very few people die in front of you, and have read hundreds fewer death reports. But wouldn't you (or all of us) still know good friends who had died, some from stupidity, some from bad luck, and all unexpectedly?

I have been skydiving a little over 8 years and 8 people I know (three very well) have died skydiving.

In my previous 52 years before becoming a skydiver, I knew 4 people who died in accidents: 3 in road vehicle crashes and one who died in a plane crash.

I see that as a huge difference.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[bozo 0]

From the comments I have received it seems like a bunch of us old timers are seeing the same thing.

[tdog 0]

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Tom,

I have been skydiving longer than you, having started in the late 1970s.
Knock on wood, but I have never seen a fatality.

Odds are weird, because the exact opposite is true for me and it was not who I expected, when I expected, or how I expected...

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It seems that every new generation of skydivers had to re-learn the old lessons the hard way.

Or, that the older generations forget what they have seen and get complacent. Why is it you see so many students doing practice EPs but the "experienced" guys are not??? The so called muscle memory is not as permanent as a tattoo. I know I am most ready to do my EPs right after I have worked with a student and trained them... After a few days my reaction time starts to slow down and instead of my brain putting all the parts together as a seamless process, I actually have to "think" about each step.

[jumperconway 0]

I do as I teach, do practice touches in the plane on every load, lead by example! I feel that every jump could take my life so that I make sure that my gear is in order before EVERY JUMP! I get a gear check in the Otter even though I know that there has been 0 conflict with my gear! I take every jump as a life threatening event and remain afraid on evey jump! Fear is a life saver.

[RogerRamjet 0]

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Tom, if you had never jumped, in 25 years you probably would have seen very few people die in front of you, and have read hundreds fewer death reports. But wouldn't you (or all of us) still know good friends who had died, some from stupidity, some from bad luck, and all unexpectedly?

I don't agree. I know one person from my childhood who died when a car ran off the road and ran him over (he was on a mini bike).

I spent 13 years drag racing, no one I knew died.

17 years in competative water-skiing, no one I knew died.

During some of these, I spent 13 years riding sport motorcycles, no one I knew died (though a bunch got hurt).

7 active years of skydiving, 5 people I knew died (and quite a few more since then).

I'm 52 now and fully expect that when I die, skydiving will still hold the most number of people who I knew that died.

If I re-enter the sport, I fully expect to know a few more (unfortunately).

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[skyblu3 0]

I find it crazy also....it sometimes makes me think about quitting.

I haven't lost any close friends (touch wood), but my AFF instructor died (Ron Green). I know a bunch of people who I've shared the aircraft to altitude with that are no longer with us.

Also, 3 aircraft which I have jumped from later crashed killing all on board.

[goose491 0]

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Also, 3 aircraft which I have jumped from later crashed killing all on board

Now that's pretty crazy dude. Perhaps you'd do well to purchase some lotto tickets?

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[cocheese 0]

Almost every newspaper i pick up has a traffic related death in it. Every day.
And i wonder if they ever made a skydive.

[happythoughts 0]

A question of which has more value.

- a life well lived.
- the struggle for existence.

All beings endevor to continue living. However, if you live to be 100, but spend the last 80 in jail ? People have jails of their own making.

Of course, most people waste their lives. They spend 50 weeks of the year yearning for the two weeks of vacation. On Monday, "I wish it was Friday..." Wishing away their life instead of creating value in more of it.

I know a people who have only lived to their 20s and early 30s. All non-skydiving related deaths. Some had good lives, some hated theirs.

I don't want to die skydiving. It's a nasty death.
However, skydiving is one of many ways that I enjoy life. I don't want to give it up.