MILITARY RECREATIONAL SKYDIVING INJURIES

  • Published
  • By Capt. Lori Katowich
Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas --  I am a military recreational skydiver and went through the AM 490 skydiving program at the U.S. Air Force Academy (reference your cover story, "For the U.S. Air Force Academy Parachuting Program, There's Just One Season ... Fall!" in the September/October 2006 issue of Torch). I also am a member and coach in the U.S. Parachute Association and have jumped with a number of skydivers from every service (including the Coast Guard).

Military skydivers make up a good portion of the Parachute Association's membership, so I know there are a lot out there.

I often hear comments on how dangerous skydiving is. Although our numbers are not as large as those in some activities, I think our injury/fatality rate is on the bottom end of the scale. But I have no numbers to confirm this. The Parachute Association keeps statistics on incident reports, but does not include military status.

Do you have any statistics on how many Airmen are injured per year from recreational skydiving?

Your assumptions are correct as far as Air Force skydivers go. The Air Force has averaged less than three serious recreational skydiving mishaps a year. That is a relatively low number when compared to other recreational activities such as basketball that averages 223 lost time mishaps per year. On the other hand, since Oct. 1, 1995, five Air Force members have lost their lives while skydiving off-duty, compared to zero basketball fatalities.

During the past five years (since Oct. 1, 2002), the Air Force has had 14 recreational skydiving mishaps, 13 of which were related to hard landings. Twelve of those mishaps resulted in a fractured bone.

Skydiving done correctly is a relatively safe sport, but you can't relax as even a small mistake in this activity could have serious or even fatal results.

Should you need Air Force safety statistics in the future, you can contact your base safety office, which has access to the Air Force Safety Center's mishap database tracking system.