“Share Mistakes, Save Lives”

USPA encourages all members to submit a report when an incident occurs (even a minor incident) or when noticing a safety concern. We publish both fatal and non-fatal reports, and we remove any identifiable personal information. USPA gathers and analyzes these reports to:

Educate skydivers so we can learn to avoid the same mistakes
Improve training programs and safety recommendations
Share knowledge with equipment manufacturers and other skydiving industries

See Chapter 4-8 of the Skydiver’s Information Manual for in-depth information.

Submit a New Incident Report

Use the links below or contact the USPA Director of Safety and Training at safety@uspa.org or (540) 604-9740. USPA handles all submissions confidentially. After redacting identifying details such as names and locations, USPA publishes the report in Parachutist and at uspa.org and destroys the original, retaining only a brief synopsis on record. You may choose to remain anonymous when submitting a report.

Browse Incident Reports

USPA publishes incident reports after an investigation that relies on witnesses and others with first-hand information (riggers, manifest, law enforcement, medical examiners, etc.). We do not rely on TV, newspaper or social media reports, since those may be speculative or inaccurate. USPA makes every effort to make fact-based, redacted incident reports available in a timely manner, however, some circumstances may delay or prevent a report after an incident. Common circumstances that delay or prevent an investigation include:

USPA receives a delayed or incomplete report
Law enforcement confiscates gear or video evidence
Autopsy required but not complete
Incident happens:
- Outside of a USPA Group Member DZ, and a report was not submitted.
- Outside the United States or its territories
- Under military orders

For this valuable system to work, USPA needs its members—especially Safety & Training Advisors—to report on incidents, both fatal and non-fatal, from which other jumpers can learn something. Any jumper can submit an Anonymous Incident Report online.

According to SIM Section 5-8, an incident that should be reported includes any event that requires medical attention or raises a safety concern, but other incidents that should be reported include noteworthy malfunctions, unsafe procedures, unusual or ethically unacceptable skydives, or other extraordinary occurrences concerning skydiving operations. Incident reports are warranted for the following, but not limited to: fatalities, injuries requiring medical attention more than local first aid, any injuries of a solo or tandem student, reserve deployments, AAD activations, off-field landing or obstacle landings, eEmergency exits from an aircraft, freefall or canopy collisions, premature deployments in aircraft or freefall, harness or canopy damage during a jump, unplanned dropping of equipment during a jump, and anything filed on an insurance claim.

The online submission form attempts to gather broad information needed to make drawing conclusions effective. However, reports in any format are welcome. Clicking on the button below that best categorizes the incident presents a submission form tailored to that category.

Submissions are handled confidentially. According to USPA policy, all reports are studied, printed in Parachutist and published online, and then destroyed. USPA keeps only a brief synopsis on record, which does not include the names of any individuals or the locations of the incidents.

Browse and search incident reports here.

USPA gathers data from incidents to drive initiatives and share knowledge with other skydiving industries. USPA compiles this information in aggregate, redacting personally identifying details, and summarizes conclusions annually in the Incident Statistics Report.

“Share Mistakes, Save Lives”

Submit a New Incident Report

Browse Incident Reports

Who can submit a report?

What types of incidents should be reported?

How do I submit a report?

What happens to the submissions?