Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport.

It's widely considered

an extreme sport due to the risks involved. In 2018, there were 3.3 million jumps in the
US.[4] Modern militaries utilise parachuting for the deployment of airborne forces and supplies,
and special operations forces commonly employ parachuting, especially free-fall parachuting, as
a method of insertion. Occasionally forest firefighters, known as "smokejumpers" in the United
States, use parachuting as a means of rapidly inserting themselves near forest fires in especially
remote or otherwise inaccessible areas.
Manually exiting an aircraft and parachuting to safety has been widely used
by aviators (especially military aviators and aircrew), and passengers to escape an aircraft that
could not otherwise land safely. While this method of escape is relatively rare in modern times, it
was occasionally used in World War I by German military aviators, and utilized extensively
throughout the air wars of World War II. In modern times, the most common means of escape
from an aircraft in distress is via an ejection seat. Said system is usually operated by the pilot,
aircrew member, or passenger, by engaging an activation device manually. In most designs, this
will lead to the seat being propelled out of and away from the aircraft carrying the occupant with
it, by means of either an explosive charge or a rocket propulsion system. Once clear of the
aircraft, the ejection seat will deploy a parachute, although some older models entrusted this step
to manual activation by the seat's occupant.

fety[edit]
Despite the perception of danger, fatalities are relatively rare. In the U.S. during the 1970s, the
sport averaged 42.5 fatalities annually. In the 80s, the average dropped to 34.1, and in the 90s,
the average decreased to 32.3 deaths per year. Between 2000 and 2009, the average dropped
to 25.8 and over the eight years after 2009, the annual average declined to 22.4 fatalities
(roughly 0.0075 fatalities per 1,000 jumps). In 2017, members of one organization, the United
States Parachute Association (USPA) reported 2,585 skydiving injuries sufficiently severe to
require resort to a medical care facility.[5]
In the US and in most of the western world, skydivers are required to carry two parachutes. The
reserve parachute must be periodically inspected and re-packed (whether used or not) by a
certified parachute rigger (in the US, an FAA certificated parachute rigger every 180 days). Many
skydivers use an automatic activation device (AAD) that opens the reserve parachute at a pre-
determined altitude if it detects that the skydiver is still in free fall. Depending on the country,
AADs are often mandatory for new jumpers, and/or required for all jumpers regardless of their
experience level.[6] Some skydivers wear a visual altimeter, and some use audible altimeters
fitted to their helmets.
Injuries and fatalities occurring under a fully functional parachute usually happen because the
skydiver performed unsafe maneuvres or made an error in judgement while flying their canopy,
typically resulting in a high-speed impact with the ground or other hazards on the ground.[7] One
of the most common sources of injury is a low turn under a high-performance canopy and while
swooping. Swooping is the advanced discipline of gliding at high-speed parallel to the ground
during landing.
Changing wind conditions are another risk factor. In conditions of strong winds and turbulence
during hot days, the parachutist can be caught in downdrafts close to the ground. Shifting winds
can cause a crosswind or downwind landing which have a higher potential for injury due to the
wind speed adding to the landing speed.
Another risk factor is that of "canopy collisions", or collisions between two or more skydivers
under fully inflated parachutes. Canopy collisions can cause the jumpers' inflated parachutes to
entangle with each other, often resulting in a sudden collapse (deflation) of one or more of the
involved parachutes. When this occurs, the jumpers often must quickly perform emergency
procedures (if there is sufficient altitude to do so) to "cut-away" (jettison) from their main
canopies and deploy their reserve canopies. Canopy collisions are particularly dangerous when
occurring at altitudes too low to allow the jumpers adequate time to safely jettison their main
parachutes and fully deploy their reserve parachutes.
Equipment failure rarely causes fatalities and injuries. Approximately one in 750 deployments of
a main parachute result in a malfunction.[8] Ram-air parachutes typically spin uncontrollably when
malfunctioning, and must be jettisoned before deploying the reserve parachute. Reserve
parachutes are packed and deployed differently; they are also designed more conservatively and
built and tested to more exacting standards so they are more reliable than main parachutes, but
the real safety advantage comes from the probability of an unlikely main malfunction multiplied
by the even less likely probability of a reserve malfunction. This yields an even smaller probability
of a double malfunction although the possibility of a main malfunction that cannot be cutaway
causing a reserve malfunction is a very real risk.
Parachuting disciplines such as BASE jumping or those that involve equipment such as wingsuit
flying and sky surfing have a higher risk factor due to the lower mobility of the jumper and the
greater risk of entanglement. For this reason,[tone] these disciplines are generally practised by
experienced jumpers.[citation needed] USPA member drop zones in the US and Canada are required to
have an experienced jumper act as a "safety officer" (in Canada DSO – Drop Zone Safety
Officer; in the U.S. S&TA – Safety and Training Advisor) who is responsible for dealing with
jumpers who violate rules, regulations, or otherwise act in a fashion deemed unsafe by the
appointed individual.
In many countries, either the local regulations or the liability-conscious prudence of the drop zone
owners require that parachutists must have attained the age of majority before engaging in the
sport.
The first skydive performed without a parachute was by stuntman Gary Connery on 23 May 2012
at 732 m.[9]

Most common injuries[edit]

Due to the hazardous nature of skydiving, precautions are taken to avoid parachuting injuries
and death. For first time solo-parachutists, this includes anywhere from 4 to 8 hours of ground
instruction.[10] Since the majority of parachute injuries occur upon landing (approximately
85%),[11] the greatest emphasis within ground training is usually on the proper parachute landing
fall (PLF), which seeks to orient the body so as to evenly disperse the impact through flexion of
several large, insulating muscles (such as the medial gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, rectus
femoris, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus ),[12] as opposed to individual
bones, tendons, and ligaments which break and tear more easily.
Parachutists, especially those flying smaller sport canopies, often land with dangerous amounts
of kinetic energy, and for this reason, improper landings are the cause of more than 30% of all
skydiving-related injuries and deaths.[11] Often, injuries sustained during parachute landing are
caused when a single outstretched limb, such as a hand or foot, is extended separately from the
rest of the body, causing it to sustain forces disproportional to the support structures within. This
tendency is displayed in the accompanying chart, which shows the significantly higher proportion
of wrist and ankle injuries among the 186 injured in a 110,000 parachute jump study.
Due to the possibility of fractures (commonly occurring on the tibia and the ankle mortise), it is
recommended that parachutists wear supportive footwear.[11] Supportive footwear prevents
inward and outward ankle rolling, allowing the PLF to safely transfer impact energy through the
true ankle joint, and dissipate it via the medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles.

Weather[edit]
Parachuting in poor weather, especially with thunderstorms, high winds, and dust devils can be a
more dangerous activity. Reputable drop zones will suspend normal operations during inclement
weather. In the United States, the USPA's Basic Safety Requirements prohibit solo student
skydivers from jumping in winds exceeding 14 mph while using ram-air equipment. However,