Epidemiology of skydiving-related deaths and injuries: A 10-years prospective study of 6.2 million jumps between 2010 and 2019 in France.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective cohort registry study tracking injuries and fatalities across a defined population
PubMed 33257175 · doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2020.11.002
What was done
A prospective cohort study analyzed skydiving deaths and injuries recorded by the French Parachuting Federation (FFP) from January 2010 to December 2019 among all licensed skydivers. Data collected via standardized report forms included sex, experience level (tandem, student, or experienced), fatalities, injuries, and anatomical injury location. Rates were calculated per 100,000 jumps and per 1,000 skydivers with 95% confidence intervals.
What was found
Across 519,620 skydivers performing almost 6.2 million jumps over 10 years, 35 deaths and 3,015 injuries were reported. This corresponded to 0.57 deaths (95% CI 0.38 to 0.75) and 49 injuries (95% CI 47.0 to 50.1) per 100,000 jumps. Male skydivers had a nearly five-fold higher death rate than women (RR=4.8, 95% CI 1.5 to 15.6). Zero deaths occurred in tandem skydivers. Tandem skydivers had a lower risk of injury than experienced skydivers (RR=0.07, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.08), whereas student skydivers had a six-fold higher injury risk than experienced skydivers (RR=6.1, 95% CI 5.7 to 6.6). The landing phase accounted for 83.3% of injuries, and 64.3% involved the lower limb.
Why it matters
This study provides reliable population-level incident rates for modern skydiving, demonstrating that tandem jumping carries negligible mortality and that injury prevention should focus heavily on student training and landing mechanics.
Limits
Data are derived from federation report forms which may underreport minor injuries. Specific injury severities, weather conditions, equipment types, and causes of fatal incidents are not detailed in the abstract. The study reflects only French federation practices and regulations.
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