lvintw

There is a big difference between these things. CRW, XRW, wingsuiting are all about flying. Swooping seems to be more and more about crashing. Although, Gary's wingsuit box landing WAS a little bit of a crash! Reduce the death and injuries and some of us may be more willing to accept swooping. Do you have any fresh ideas that will actually make a difference? You already know what I recommend. It's not popular, but I'm not alone. People are tired of the carnage and they're demanding change. Not just 'Hope'.

The 70 year old is probably not going to take out another person in the process...

Thanks Tim. Well said. Thanks to the tireless efforts of some wise people here and at many DZ's, things ARE changing. The people who are causing the carnage will soon be pushed out of most DZ's, making the skies safer for the rest of us. Why do people call swooping a 'discipline' when the kids continue to kill and injure themselves under perfectly functioning main canopies? That's not 'discipline'. Swooping is not part of the sport and needs to be eliminated at DZ's where people are trying to land safely after making a skydive.

Both of those solutions will make a huge difference ... and they're going to happen!

Ban the high performance canopies -- and swooping -- and you will save lives. It's simply not part of skydiving and has no place in our sport.

GO GARY!!! Thanks to all for the links. Great work!

Which proves once again that we need restrictions on these canopies. Call it a ban if you wish, but that may be the only thing that saves these fools from themselves.

Get used to it. They made the call to try to make the skies a little safer for the rest of us. You don't like it, go somewhere else. But what are you going to do when the DZO's or safety officers finally decide enough is enough? What will you do when there is finally a ban on the canopies and behaviors that have caused so many injuries and deaths? Are you going to start your own DZ for swoopers? Better start saving up! If your government gets involved however, it may not matter how much money you have. They might just stop you from flying your tiny canopies anyway.

I also applaud Marisan for continuing this discussion, but hope that he maintains focus on the real problems ... the ease of access to smaller, high-performance canopies and the continued acceptance of swooping at too many DZ's. Perhaps the sport has evolved or progressed enough to recognize that swooping is NOT skydiving. Perhaps it is time to prohibit swooping at all DZ's so those of us who choose to skydive can do so without getting killed by some kid under a tiny canopy they don't know how to fly. Let's hope that this conversation continues until it reaches enough ears to finally stop the death and destruction that 'swooping' has caused. Thank you Marisan and all of the other jumpers who have the wisdom and experience to fight this battle.

So if you REALLY want to stop this, the answer is to reduce or eliminate access to HP canopies. The ongoing incidents prove that a ban on -- or severely restricted access to -- HP canopies is the only thing that would be effective. People keep talking about training and mentoring, but that alone is not working. It's just more talk. The time for talking has come and gone. It's time to DO something.

It is getting pretty ugly over there. When are you going to get on the ball and start demanding change? Will the USPA ever provide a real response that stops these stupid kids from breaking themselves? This is happening much more frequently in the US. Why?

Various DZO's have banned hook turns for a long time. That helps to reduce the deaths and injuries at those DZ's. Kudos to the DZO's for laying down the law!!!!! Some keep talking about more education, but how long will that take and how will you know for sure that it is actually making a difference when so many serious injuries are not reported? A more complete answer to the problem is to reduce or eliminate access to 'high performance' canopies. Call it naive if you wish, but it WILL work. Put that together with a ban on hook turns and the pile of bodies will get smaller.

Thanks. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01fhw9b/hd/The_One_Show_04_04_2012/

Do you really need something to beep in order to know when to turn? The more toys the younger jumpers get, the more they depend on these devices to do the simple basics, like flying and landing their canopy.

That change has not happened and it won't. Unless all the careless people take themselves out, the only real answer is to reduce or eliminate access to the canopies that are causing this problem.