Skydive Club
The Sport
The choices for beginners in the sport: RAPS, AFF, Tandem, Indoor
Is Skydiving TOTALLY Safe? by Marc Fletcher
It would be wrong to say that skydiving is totally safe in the same way that driving a car, or walking down the road isn't completely without risk. As in all sports, there is an element of danger, which is all part of the excitement, but as a university club we are not classed as "high risk". If there was any likelihood of our club being dangerous, the university would not allow us to operate.
The levels of safety now built into the sport are incredible. Parachutes are built to increasingly high specifications, and are now easier than ever to control and use safely. Additionally, reserve parachutes are repacked by highly experienced professionals every six months, regardless of usage, to ensure they always function. Parachute systems now always include an Automatic Activation Device (AAD) - if your main parachute isn't open by 1200ft, the reserve WILL open automatically. Plus, your kit will be checked on the ground by an instructor, then by you, then by the instructor again and then finally once more in the plane. Nothing is left to chance, and you'll be certain it's going to work by the time you need it. Not to mention the very rigorous training you have to undergo before completing your first jump.
How is risk measured?
Risk in skydiving is best expressed as Injuries per 1000 Jumps and as Fatalities per 500,000 Jumps (For reference the average qualified skydiver will perform 100 jumps per year). 'Injury' may mean anything from a minor cut, bruise or scratch through fractures and sprains to multiple fractures and internal injuries. If a parachutist reports any injury, as is required by British Parachute Association (BPA) procedure, it is counted. Fortunately most of the injuries are minor or are simple fractures. Multiple or internal injuries are rare. The injury rates quoted are fairly stable and are useful for comparing one type of skydiving with another. Fatality rates (excluding suicides) are very unstable from year to year due to the (thankfully) tiny numbers involved - it is debatable whether they are stable enough for comparing one type of skydiving with another or any sort of statistical analysis for that matter. As a guideline though, the odds of an experienced skydiver ending up as a fatality on any given jump are around 1 in 500,000.
AFF (Accelerated Free Fall Progression)
The novice injury rate averages 4/1000 jumps (about 1 injury per 250 jumps) but ranges from 3/1000 jumps for men (about 1 injury per 330 jumps) to 12/1000 jumps for women (about 1 injury per 80 jumps).
RAPS (Ram Air Parachute System Progression)
The novice injury rate averages 6/1000 jumps (about 1 injury per 160 jumps) but ranges from 5/1000 jumps for men (about 1 injury per 200 jumps) to 10/1000 jumps for women (about 1 injury per 100 jumps).
Tandem
The injury rate is about 1.4 injuries/1000 jumps (about 1 injury per 700 jumps) and varies little for men or women.
Comparison with Snowsports
Using the statistics available from http://www.ski-injury.com in order to compare skydiving against skiing/snowboarding and using an equivalent scale of injuries/fatalities it is possible to show that injuries requiring medical attention are approximately 4 per thousand skier days (compared to 0.4 per 1000 jumps for experienced skydivers). Given this information it could be reliably argued that if you accept the risk of going skiing the risk of skydiving are also within your threshold.
At the end of the day it is a decision only you can make (but we have done our best to make sure it is at least an informed decision).
Many people believe that skydiving is a dangerous and expensive sport. The truth is that Britain has one of the best safety records for skydiving of anywhere in the world, and most people in our club dive for just £15 a jump.
There is no avoiding the fact that Skydiving can be dangerous, but it should be noted that most injuries in the sport occur to extremely experienced jumpers who attempt to "swoop" too late (make extremely low turns), very rarely to beginners. Tight limits are imposed on wind and cloud levels to help beginners to stay safe, and our instructors have as many as 15,000 jumps experience to call upon in tailoring your advice and improving your technique.
Another concern for some members is a fear of heights - which is something we address very bluntly. I am scared of heights. Four Nottingham members are scared of taking off in planes. One is partially sighted. And three of our skydiving friends are scared that they might fall out of the plane (yes... I know). Because you aren't static, you aren't really aware of the height. And the feeling of skydiving is more comparable to a sensation of floating in water than being on a rollercoaster - but even small inputs will control your movement in various awesome ways.
For RAPS students your first few jumps are done with a radio to help guide you through your time under canopy, and your parachute is pulled for you (on a static line) to give you less to think about. The main aim for a beginner is to remain stable in the air (by arching hard from the hips) - which becomes an essential skill when you start pulling your own parachute.
In the unlikely event of a failed opening you have a reserve parachute which is packed by an extremely experienced packer and which you are trained at length on how to use. You are also trained on how to spot problems with an open canopy, cut this away and deploy your reserve. If you should fail to pull a reserve in the case of an emergency you also have an AAD - a mechanical device which should open the reserve on your behalf. The occurance of an emergency is however very unlikely, so don't worry!
There is a great social side to the sport too. Our dropzone hosts students from Leeds, Loughborough, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester and Derby, with many students both visiting on weekdays and sleeping over at weekends. The dropzone has its own bar but there are often BBQs and socialising going on outside too.
Once you have become an experienced jumper, you will spend the rest of your career improving your technique. But alongside this perfectionism, there are many other disciplines which can be worked towards in the sport. These include: Formation Skydiving, Team Jumping, Freeflying (Sit Flying and Head Down), Packing Parachutes, Skyboarding, Wingsuiting (Bird-man Suit), Camera Jumping, Demonstrations, Canopy Formations, Accuracy Jumping, Swooping, Smaller Canopies, Rigging, Turns, Flips, Jumping Abroad, Indoor Skydiving, Tracking, Instructing, Performing Tandems, Big-Ways and so on. If you thought skydiving was just about jumping out of planes, think again!
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