My Yearly Fantasy

Each year, at this time, I imagine that THIS will be the year. It is so very possible, that I find it hard to believe that it hasn’t ever happened in the 33 years I’ve been skydiving. No fatalities this coming year. Why not? If it were possible to interview any of the folks who have died skydiving, or more accurately in recent years, parachuting, most would say a) their death was not intentional, and b) they’d said it would “never happen to me.” Must it ever be so? I continue to hope. 

It would be nice.

So many are preventable. 

I doubt it will happen.

Skydiving deaths tend to happen during three distinct seasons: winter spring and August.

Most of the winter deaths are during boogies at the larger resort DZs in Arizona and Florida. Rusty jumpers party hard and try to blow off rust that is two or three months old. Also, it may be the dead guy's first visit to a large DZ with multiple airplanes, special landing patterns, etc.

Springtime sees a second rash of deaths as skydivers who have not jumped since Halloween (end of October) rush out to jump again, often with new gear that they bought over the winter.

The third wave happens in August when jumpers are current ... more like over-current .... over-confident while suffering heat stress and fatigue. Hazy August skies limit visibility and increase density altitude.