Is Skydiving Safe? The Real 2025 Statistics Explained

Is skydiving safe? Far safer than most people imagine. No sport is zero-risk, but this one is low-risk, measured every year and falling for two decades: between 0.2 and 0.5 deaths per 100,000 jumps in both the United States and France in 2025. And tandem, the way most people make their first jump, is the most tightly controlled form of the sport. Here are the official, dated figures, their limits, and everything that actually protects a passenger: all you need to jump with a clear mind.

The short answer. According to the latest reports (2025), the USPA counted 16 deaths in around 3.47 million jumps in the United States, and the French federation (FFP) 2 fatal accidents in 477,416 jumps. No student died in the US in 2025. The main risk lies in experienced skydivers' landings, not in tandem passengers: great news for your first jump.

Is skydiving safe? The 2025 numbers

The risk is small, and it is precisely measured. In 2025 the USPA recorded 16 deaths in about 3.47 million jumps (0.46 per 100,000), and the FFP 2 fatal accidents in 477,416 jumps (about 0.42 per 100,000). In other words, a handful of deaths per million jumps, mostly among experienced skydivers rather than first-timers.

USPA statistics (United States)

Every year the USPA publishes the number of civilian skydiving deaths in the United States and an estimate of the number of jumps, based on a survey of its members. Here are the last five years, from its official safety page:

Over twenty-two years the trend is clear and reassuring: the rate was 0.81 deaths per 100,000 jumps in 2004 and has not gone above 0.51 since 2018, even as the number of jumps went up.

2024, with 9 deaths, was the lowest year since records began in 1961 (Parachutist, 2025). According to the USPA's magazine, the average was above 20 deaths a year in the 2000s and 2010s, and 40 a year in the 1970s. The full series, year by year, is on our skydiving safety statistics page.

FFP figures (France)

The French Parachuting Federation presents its safety review at its annual technical congress. For 2025, the report published by Paramag in February 2026 gives 477,416 jumps, 56,556 members, two fatal accidents and 313 accident reports (all levels of severity), or one report per 1,525 jumps. Measured against the number of jumps, that is about 0.42 deaths per 100,000: the same order of magnitude as in the US.

What about tandem?

There is no official, up-to-date tandem fatality rate in the public data. But every source points the same way, and it is very reassuring:

• France, 2010-2019: out of 6.2 million jumps reported to the FFP, no tandem deaths, according to the study by Fer, Guiavarch and Edouard published in 2021 (see the table below). The authors conclude that tandem skydiving is safe.
• United States, 2023: no tandem student died (2023 review).
• United States, 2025: no student, tandem or solo, died (2025 review).

In France, the FFP recorded 37 accident reports for 42,152 tandem jumps in 2025 (0.09%), compared with 18 for 41,155 jumps in 2024. That figure includes every report, minor injuries included, and the federation has made it a point of vigilance. The most common risk for a passenger remains a landing injury, usually to the ankle, as the USPA also notes.

Federations and studies: the multi-source table

No single figure tells the whole story. Here are the strongest public sources, each with its period and scope. Methods differ (surveys, incident reports, literature review), so read them as orders of magnitude, not a league table of countries.

Two lessons. First, recent rates (0.2 to 0.6) are lower than long-run averages (about 1), a sign of better equipment and training. Second, the French study also measures injuries: about 49 per 100,000 jumps, 83.3% of them on landing, with a much lower injury risk for tandem passengers and a higher one for solo students.

In short: the chance of dying skydiving is measured in a few deaths per million jumps, and the vast majority of serious accidents involve experienced skydivers taking risks under canopy, not tandem passengers. On a first jump, you're on the right side of the statistics. Ready to try it with professionals in charge? Book your tandem skydive for the season from 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027.

Why is tandem the most tightly controlled form of skydiving?

Because on a tandem you make no technical decisions: you enjoy the ride, and the professionals handle the rest. Everything rests on a selected, highly experienced instructor, equipment built for two with a stabilising drogue, a high deployment at around 1,500 m and an AAD set to tandem mode. Your only job is to hold the position you learn in the briefing.

A highly experienced instructor

In the United States, to take the tandem instructor course you need, among other things, to be 18, hold a D licence (the highest level), have 500 jumps on a canopy, at least three years in the sport and an aviation medical certificate (USPA). You then have to be rated by the tandem equipment manufacturer. In France, the tandem rating comes on top of an instructor pathway overseen by the FFP.

Purpose-built equipment

A tandem system includes a passenger harness attached to the instructor, a very large main canopy, a reserve, and a small stabilising parachute called the drogue. The drogue slows the pair to roughly the speed of a solo skydiver (about 200 km/h) and keeps them stable. The full mechanics, with diagrams, are explained in our article on how a parachute works.

Bigger safety margins

Tandems open high: at around 1,500 m at PACMA, after a freefall that starts at about 4,000 m. Manufacturers' manuals also set higher minimum decision heights than for solo jumps. The Sigma tandem manual, for example, sets 900 m (3,000 ft) as the minimum altitude for activating the reserve on a tandem (UPT). And in tandem mode, the AAD fires higher than in "expert" mode.

No critical job for the passenger

Your role is simply to hold the right position on exit and in freefall, then lift your legs for landing. No emergency procedure depends on you, so your mind is completely free to savour the jump. That is one of the big advantages of tandem for a first jump, as our minute-by-minute guide to a tandem skydive shows. Would you rather pull your own parachute on your very first jump? That is the idea behind the AFF first jump, with two instructors alongside you.

The layers of safety: main canopy, reserve, AAD and controlled packing

A sport parachute is never a single system: it stacks several independent layers of protection that look after you at every stage.

The AAD: the last safety net

An AAD constantly measures altitude and rate of descent. If it detects freefall too low, it opens the reserve. On a CYPRES in tandem mode it fires at around 580 m (1,900 ft) if the descent rate is above 35 m/s (Airtec). The manufacturer reports more than 5,400 lives saved since 1991.

The USPA states that all student rigs carry one and that at least 90% of experienced skydivers use one too. At PACMA, it's the rule without exception: every parachute is fitted with an AAD.

Reserve packing is regulated

The reserve is not packed by the skydiver but by a qualified rigger, and it must be repacked at regulated intervals: at least once a year in France (French sports code), every 180 days in the United States. AADs have a limited service life too: 12.5 years for a CYPRES (15.5 years for units built since 2017) and 20 years for a Vigil.

What actually happens if something goes wrong? We explain it step by step, with procedures and heights, in our article on what happens if your parachute doesn't open.

Where are the real risks, and how does a good centre manage them?

The real risk is under an open canopy, on landing, not in freefall. The 2021 French study puts 83.3% of injuries at landing, and USPA reviews name low turns as the leading cause of death. A serious centre answers with suitable canopies, a briefing before every jump and cautious weather calls.

The main risk: landing, not freefall

USPA reviews are consistent: most fatal accidents happen under a perfectly good canopy, through a piloting error. In 2023, six of the ten US deaths were landing-related, four of them deliberate low turns. In 2025, low turns were still the leading identified cause, ahead of no-pulls and collisions. The USPA's conclusion is clear: the vast majority of accidents come down to simple human error.

These accidents mainly involve experienced skydivers flying small, fast canopies. Your situation as a tandem passenger is a world away: you come down under a big canopy, flown calmly by your instructor, and you enjoy the view.

Weather

Wind, turbulence and cloud are the other major risk factors. A good centre jumps when the sky is right, and knows how to wait for the right moment. French federal rules, for example, limit ground wind to 7 m/s for students who have not yet passed the canopy module of their A certificate. The weather criteria are covered in our article on weather and skydiving.

The aircraft

The aircraft is part of the safety chain too. Maintenance, pilot qualifications and respecting maximum weights are all part of how seriously a centre operates: these are fair questions to ask before choosing where to jump.

What a good centre does every day

• A chief instructor who alone decides, depending on the weather, whether jumping goes ahead.
• Canopies matched to each person's level, and a clear landing area.
• A briefing before every jump, tandem passengers included.
• Equipment checks before boarding.
• A free rebooking policy, with no commercial pressure, so you jump in good conditions.

Who trains the instructors? The FFP and USPA frameworks

The technical rules come from the federations. In France, the FFP sets altitudes, deployment heights, wind limits and student progression in its technical directive. In the United States, the USPA sets basic safety requirements and issues instructor ratings, while the FAA regulates equipment and aircraft.

France: the FFP

The FFP sets the technical rules of the sport (altitudes, deployment heights, weather conditions, student progression) in its technical directive. Students progress through PAC, the French equivalent of AFF: exit between 3,000 and 3,500 m, deployment no lower than 1,500 m. The reserve must be repacked at least once a year.

United States: the USPA and the FAA

The USPA sets basic safety requirements and issues instructor ratings. The US civil aviation authority (FAA) regulates equipment, reserve packing (every 180 days) and aircraft operations.

In Morocco: an FFP-approved club

In Beni Mellal, PACMA is a club approved by the French Parachuting Federation (FFP): training and jumping rules in line with FFP regulations, qualified instructors, an AAD on every parachute, and weather calls made by the chief instructor. You jump in the Moroccan sunshine, under French rules.

In practice, that means AFF (PAC) follows the FFP method and heights, students have an FFP-approved medical of less than three months, and licensed skydivers show their licence, insurance, an in-date reserve repack and AAD. The aircraft and part of the instructor team come from Vertical T'Air, a skydiving centre in Arcachon, France, and many French instructors spend the winter in Beni Mellal.

For you, the real question is not "which country?" but "which rules does this centre follow, and who checks them?". With us, the answer fits in three letters: FFP. Our guide to choosing a skydiving centre walks through those checks, and our safety at PACMA page shows how we supervise every jump.

Comparing the risk: driving, skiing, diving and marathons (sources)

Comparing risks is tricky: a jump lasts a few minutes, a day's skiing several hours. The figures below give orders of magnitude, not a scientific ranking.

What you can honestly take from this:

• A jump carries about the same order of risk as a marathon or a dive: a few deaths per million participations.
• A day's skiing is clearly less risky than a jump, on these figures.
• The road is still the biggest risk of your day: in France it killed 3,263 people in 2025, while French federation skydiving recorded two fatal accidents. The drive to the drop zone deserves your full attention too.

Safety at PACMA: over 25 years of operations, Vertical T'Air and the Pilatus PC-6

Here in Beni Mellal, safety rests on a few simple principles, all of which you can check, so you can jump with complete confidence:

• A club founded in 2000, based at Beni Mellal airport since 2003. Its president and chief instructor, Omar Benizi, a former national team member, has been jumping since 1975 and has around 14,000 jumps, according to the Moroccan press. The club's story and team are on our club page.
• An FFP-approved club: qualified instructors, an AAD on every parachute, weather calls made by the chief instructor.
• A partnership with Vertical T'Air (Arcachon), which provides the aircraft and part of the instructor team.
• The Pilatus PC-6 Porter, which carries 9 skydivers plus the pilot on every lift, with exit at around 4,000 m for about 50 seconds of freefall.
• Free rebooking if the weather is against us, so no commercial pressure ever weighs on the decision to jump.
• Clear conditions: a maximum of 90 kg dressed for a tandem, a medical certificate, or a medical on site with the club doctor.

Want to check for yourself? See our tandem skydive page (€250, or 2,500 MAD for Moroccan residents), then book your jump for the winter season, open every day from 8:30 am to 6 pm. Fifty seconds of freefall facing the Atlas are waiting for you. Butterflies at the thought of jumping? That's a good sign, and our instructors help you turn them into pure enjoyment in an article on fear of your first jump.