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Is Parachuting Safe ?
There are four basic skills a sky
diver needs to master to parachute safely – basic safety, free
fall maneuvers, parachute operation, and landing.
The basics of safe sky-diving
involve
• Doing a gear check
• Exiting normally
• Reacting in an emergency
• Deploying a parachute
• Handling common malfunctions
• Picking a landing area
• Setting up and executing a landing
In freefall, skydivers have to learn how to maintain a stable
belly to earth position. In this position, the average fall rate
is around 125 mph. An essential skill that every jumper has to
learn is to maintain a stable position. This will help jumper
achieve a clean parachute jump. Jumpers, then, learn how to move
or turn in any direction while remaining belly to earth.
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A parachute should be deployed high
enough to give the parachutist time should a malfunction occur.
Two thousand feet is the minimum for advanced skydivers. Most
skydivers open at higher altitudes while practicing flying their
parachute.
A skydiver faces two main problems: to land where planned and to
avoid injury. A good landing will not pose any discomfort and
the skydiver will land within a few feet of his intended
location. The most common reasons for injuries are
badly-executed, radical maneuvers closer to the ground like hook
turns, or too-low or too-high landing parachute flares.
Despite the inherent danger of such adventure sports, fatalities
are rare. However, each year a number of people are hurt or
killed parachuting world-wide. About 30 skydivers are killed
each year in the US, which works out roughly to one death out of
every 100,100 jumps.
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In most of the western world,
skydivers are required to carry a second, reserve parachute
which has been inspected and packed by a certified parachute
rigger. Many skydivers now use an altitude-sensitive automatic
activation device (AAD) that activates the reserve parachute at
a safe altitude if the skydiver somehow fails to activate the
chute on their own. They also routinely carry both visual and
audible altimeters to help maintain altitude awareness.
There are risk factors involved in
sky jumping and these include
• Inexperienced skydivers
• Misuse of high-performance parachutes
• Changing wind conditions
• Equipment failure
In most 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. Given that this is an adventure sport,
there is a certain risk involved in parachuting. But by
following the basic safety rules, this is a sport that can be
enjoyed by the brave-hearted.
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Article Contributed By: Jaya Suresh
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