The Truth About Skydiving
Is skydiving safe? There have always been a lot of myths flying around (excuse the pun) about skydiving, here we will try to find out if any of those myths are to be believed or whether they are just complete nonsense created to give people an excuse not to go skydiving.
1. There is no way to breathe when you are skydiving.
If this was true, then once you had jumped out of your plane you would lose all consciousness. How is it possible then for the diver to open his parachute and land safely down below, when he is not capable of performing the parachute opening due to being unconscious? This I am afraid is not true, it is just a myth.
2. It is possible to chat to each other whilst you are skydiving.
Another myth I’m afraid, may be good on screen watching two or more people talking whilst they are skydiving, but alas due to the force of the wind rushing past your body, it is virtually impossible to hear anything from anyone. This is why you always see skydivers try to communicate through using hand gestures.
3. If for some reason you fall out of a plane without a parachute, then holding onto somebody that has one will save you.
Although this may have happened a few times in the past, it is virtually impossible to say with any shadow of a doubt that this will in fact save you. The truthful answer is it probably will not, however this is not by all means a certainty.
4. Your free fall can last as long as five minutes.
Unfortunately the average time of a free fall when skydiving is more likely to be in the region of 40 seconds before you will open your parachute. You would have to be well over 60.000 feet to get anywhere near five minutes of free fall, if that is possible at all.
5. Once I jump my parachute will not open.
Again another total myth I’m afraid, as most accidents and deaths caused by skydiving today are either by misjudgement on behalf of the diver or not being properly prepared beforehand. Today’s parachutes are in the main practically failsafe equipment.
