The sport of skydiving continues to improve its safety record. In 2009, USPA recorded the fewest fatal accidents in the U.S. in almost five decades—16 fatalities out of nearly 3 million jumps made by over 32,000 USPA members and 400,000 first-time skydivers.

In the 1970s, the sport averaged 42.5 skydiving fatalities per year. Since then, the average has dropped each decade. In the 1980s, the average was 34.1; in the 1990s, the average was 32.3; and in the decade just closed (2000-2009), the average dropped again to 25.8.

With 14 fatalities, 1961—the first year records were kept—stands as the only year with fewer deaths than 2009. USPA was considerably smaller then, with just 3,353 members, and the total number of jumps was far fewer than today’s roughly 3 million jumps. To put this in perspective, in the 1960s, there was an average of 3.65 fatalities per thousand USPA members. In contrast, over the past five years, there has been an average of 0.71 fatalities per thousand USPA members. And estimating about 3 million jumps per year over the past five years, that’s one fatality per 133,928 skydives.

Fatality Average per USPA Membership by Decade
Decade	Average fatalities per year	Average membership per year	Fatalities per thousand members
1961-1969	28.55	7,832	3.65
1970-1979	42.5	12,939	3.28
1980-1989	34.1	15,748	2.17
1990-1999	32.3	28,294	1.14
2000-2009	25.8	32,376	0.80
2005-2009	22.4	31,374	0.71

In 2009, only 747 USPA members reported skydiving injuries requiring medical attention. During the same year, USPA members reported making nearly 2.5 million jumps. That’s fewer than three injuries per 10,000 skydives.

These safety records stand as a testament to decades of strict safety standards, training policies and programs, including a USPA Safety Day taking place every March, as well as improvements in skydiving equipment over the years.

Skydiving involves inherent risks, but most skydiving accidents result from human error. With proper preparation and good judgment, skydivers can minimize those risks. Thanks to safer equipment, better training and the staffs at more than 220 USPA-affiliated skydiving centers across the country, skydiving continues to get safer.

2009 – 16
2008 – 30
2007 – 18
2006 – 21
2005 – 27
2004 – 21
2003 – 25
2002 – 33
2001 – 35
2000 – 32
1999 – 27
1998 – 44

Skydiving centers, clubs and schools that join as USPA Group Member drop zones are required to provide USPA-developed first-jump courses, use current USPA-rated instructors and provide USPA-required skydiving equipment. Click here for a list of USPA Group Members.