Canopy collisions are a fairly common cause of skydiving fatalities. The sport has seen improvement in recent years because drop zones have become more diligent about separating high-performance and standard landings and have also spent more effort educating jumpers on the importance of proper landing patterns, exit separation and separation during deployment.

PHOTO BY Justin Duclos | D-33248

Jevin Johnson makes his first AFF jump instructed by his father, Jeff Johnson (right), and Austin Larman at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington.

Think of what might go through the mind of a racehorse in the starting gate: “I’m here to race. I was born to race. I live to race.” Compare that to the thoughts that fi ll the minds of a talented team of experienced skydivers at a world record event ... when they are stuck on the ground due to weather. Perhaps thoughts like: “I’m here to jump. Let me jump. I’m dying to jump.”

B.J. Worth did not just influence the sport of skydiving, he defined an era. His thumbprint appears on most of the significant developments from the 1970s through the last decade, the heyday of skydiving Baby Boomers. It began with cutting-edge skydiving, which led him to undertake breathtaking stunts for major media productions and later organize exhibition jumps viewed live by millions. All this while thoughtfully and considerately governing skydiving as a board member for USPA and the International Parachuting Commission of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Worth’s contributions earned him the USPA Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2017 FAI Gold Parachuting Medal, skydiving’s highest honors.