How Safe is Tandem Skydiving?

When you are considering leaping thousands of feet above terra firma, it’s only natural to be a little apprehensive and wonder: is tandem skydiving safe? What are the risks of tandem skydiving? You’ll be freefalling at 120 mph, after all, so it would be a little surprising if safety wasn’t your number one concern. So, how safe is tandem skydiving?

The good news is, that skydiving incidents are a lot less common than you probably think. The sensationalism of online and broadcast media would have us believe that skydiving risks are sky-high (pun intended). But the reality is that accidents are few and far between, and skydiving fatalities are even more rare. 

The even better news is that the answer to, “What is the safest form of skydiving?” is, statistically speaking, a tandem jump. Instructor requirements, training, and safety regulations all work together to make tandem skydiving the best choice for your first leap of faith. It can’t get any better than strapping hundreds (or thousands!) of jumps worth of knowledge to your back before you leave the airplane. 

You’re probably thinking, that’s all well and good, but how does a dropzone ensure safety? And when it comes to tandem safety, who’s keeping track? How safe is skydiving??? 

Let’s take a look at the data to deduce: How dangerous is skydiving? 

Statistics Say A Lot About Tandem Safety

The statistics have spoken – and the verdict is skydiving isn’t as dangerous as the media would have you believe. 

But what exactly does that mean? It might be easier to think of it in comparison to an activity virtually everyone does every day: Is tandem skydiving safer than driving? You might be surprised to learn that it actually is! 

The United States Parachute Association (USPA), the primary member organization for the sport of skydiving in the US, has been busy collecting statistics on skydiving since 1961. These statistics reveal that the sport of skydiving has become less risky over time. In 2023, out of approximately 3.6 million jumps, there were 10 recorded fatal skydiving accidents – one of the lowest fatality rates in the sport’s history.

In addition, the same data uncovers something pretty impressive about tandem skydiving safety: over the past decade, there has been one student fatality per 500,000 tandem jumps. And there were zero tandem skydiving fatalities in 2023. Data gathered by the National Safety Council (NSC) reveals a person is more likely to be killed by a bee sting or dog bite than during a tandem skydive.

As for driving? The same NSC report shows that the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash are one in 93. Statistically, your drive to the dropzone is the riskiest part of your skydiving day!

So, what is the cause of most skydiving accidents? Most skydiving accidents occur because highly experienced jumpers push the limits of what’s possible in the sky. These accidents typically happen with fully functioning gear during otherwise uneventful skydives and are usually the result of jumper error in an extreme situation. So … nothing to do with tandem skydiving!

You Have a Professional Skydiving Instructor on Your Side

… or, more accurately, on your back. 

On a tandem skydive, you’re not going it alone. You can rest assured you’re always paired with a professional instructor here at WNY. Tandem safety is our top priority, and on your tandem skydive, you will be securely harnessed to a qualified skydiving instructor. When it comes to safety, these guys are trained to handle just about anything. Your instructor’s priority is to get you safely to the ground. All of the tandem instructors at WNY have met incredibly strict criteria. 

To become a WNY Skydiving instructor, a skydiver must:

• Have a minimum of 500 skydives
• Have been active in the sport for at least 3 years
• Hold a USPA D license
• Possess a current FAA Class III Flight Medical Certificate

Additionally, to receive a rating and be eligible to take on tandem passengers, an instructor must complete rigorous coursework developed by the United States Parachute Association and be rated on the particular gear that the dropzone uses. Talk about high expectations!

And speaking of gear …

We Only Use State-Of-The-Art Equipment

Skydiving equipment has come a long way since the old days, and the improvements that have been made over the last 30 years have assuredly given us safer equipment. Decades of research and development have gone into making the gear we fly the most cutting-edge equipment available.

When you make a tandem skydive, you will be using equipment that contains two parachutes. One of these parachutes is called the “main” and, as its name indicates, is the primary canopy. The other canopy is called a “reserve.” In the unlikely event there is an issue with the main canopy, the reserve is used.

To keep the tandem gear as safe as possible, the reserve parachute is only handled by an expert FAA-certified rigger (WNY even offers FAA parachute rigger training programs!). These riggers inspect and repack the reserve every 180 days like clockwork. 

Equipment is also outfitted with a pretty neat piece of technology called an Automatic Activation Device (AAD). This little computer ensures that the reserve parachute will deploy when a certain altitude or speed is reached. So, if the instructor is unable to open the main or reserve, the AAD works as a great backup device. 

Because tandem safety is so important here at WNY, your instructor is well-versed in the use of every piece of tandem skydiving equipment. It’s part of their training!

The Right Environment Matters 

And we mean this literally and figuratively. 

Skydiving is a weather-dependent sport and there are a variety of conditions we’ll look at to determine whether or not jumping is possible on a given date. We choose not to jump in high winds or through solid layers of clouds (this goes back to our point about being safety-minded). If we determine that the weather does not permit jumping on the date you are scheduled, you will have up to one year to reschedule your skydive. 

As for the proverbial environment, we have an intimate group here at WNY Skydiving – which means more likely than not, at some point, you’ll meet each one of us. Whether we’re sitting quietly behind the scenes or hanging out in the middle of everything, each member of our team is important. Even if you don’t think skydiving will become your thing after your initial tandem jump, rest assured that you are in very capable hands when you’re here with us at WNY Skydiving. 

Every moment you spend with us matters. Skydiving is an all-day process that includes your training class. Even though you’ll have an instructor attached to you during your tandem skydive, you’ll still want to know a few things as well as get the chance to ask any questions you may have. Between the completion of your training class and the time you actually jump, you can kick back and enjoy watching our skydiving activities.

We believe in the transformative power of skydiving. So much so that many of us dedicate our lives to sharing this wondrous experience with others. The investment of time and money to become a skydiving instructor is significant, but so worth it. We take the time to give each person an experience they will never forget because we have not forgotten what it’s like to experience a skydive for the first time. Pure freedom.

So you see – tandem skydiving isn’t as death-defying as it seems. Want to get a feel for our culture and see our safety procedures in progress? You’re always welcome to come out to the dropzone and observe our tandem skydiving operation. Then, when you’re ready to give it a go, book your jump at WNY skydiving – we would love to share the gift of human flight with you!