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Parachuting is a method of transiting from a high point to Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. It may involve more or less free-falling (the skydiving segment) which is a period when the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity.

The first parachute jump in history was made by André-Jacques Garnerin, the inventor of the parachute, on 22 October 1797. Garnerin tested his contraption by leaping from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet (980 m) above Paris. Garnerin's parachute bore little resemblance to today's parachutes, however, as it was not packed into any sort of container and did not feature a ripcord. The first intentional free-fall jump with a ripcord-operated deployment was not made until over a century later by Leslie Irvin in 1919. While Georgia Broadwick made an earlier free-fall in 1914 when her static line became entangled with her jump aircraft's tail assembly, her free-fall descent was not planned. Broadwick cut her static line and deployed her parachute manually, only as a means of freeing herself from the aircraft to which she had become entangled. The military developed parachuting as a way to save aircrew from emergencies aboard balloons and aircraft in flight, and later, as a way of del...

Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport. It's widely considered an extreme sport due to the risks involved. In 2018, there were 3.3 million jumps in the US. Modern militaries utilise parachuting for the deployment of airborne forces and supplies. Special operations forces commonly employ parachuting, especially free-fall parachuting, as a method of insertion. Occasionally, forest firefighters, known as "smokejumpers" in the United States, use parachuting as a means of rapidly inserting themselves near forest fires in especially remote or otherwise inaccessible areas. Manually exiting an aircraft and parachuting to safety has been widely used by aviators (especially military aviators and aircrew) and passengers to escape an aircraft that could not otherwise land safely. While this method of escape is relatively rare in modern times, it was occasionally used in World War I by German military aviators, and utilized extensively throughout ...

This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2016 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) In the U.S. during the 1970s, the sport averaged 42.5 fatalities annually. In the 80s, the average dropped to 34.1, and in the 90s, the average decreased to 32.3 deaths per year. Between 2000 and 2009, the average dropped to 25.8 and over the eight years after 2009, the annual average declined to 22.4 fatalities (roughly 7.5 fatalities per one million jumps). In 2017, members of one organization, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) reported 2,585 skydiving injuries sufficiently severe to require resort to a medical care facility. In the US and in most of the western world, skydivers are required to wear two parachutes. The reserve parachute must be periodically inspected and re-packed (whether used or not) by a certified par...

Skydiving can be practised without jumping. Vertical wind tunnels are used to practise for free fall ("indoor skydiving" or "bodyflight"), while virtual reality parachute simulators are used to practise parachute control. Beginning skydivers seeking training have the following options: Static line Instructor-assisted deployment Accelerated free fall Tandem skydiving

At a sport skydiver's deployment altitude, the individual manually deploys a small pilot-chute which acts as a drogue, catching air and pulling out the main parachute or the main canopy. There are two principal systems in use: the "throw-out", where the skydiver pulls a toggle attached to the top of the pilot-chute stowed in a small pocket outside the main container: and the "pull-out", where the skydiver pulls a small pad attached to the pilot-chute which is stowed inside the container. Throw-out pilot-chute pouches are usually positioned at the bottom of the container – the B.O.C. deployment system – but older harnesses often have leg-mounted pouches. The latter are safe for flat-flying, but often unsuitable for freestyle or head-down flying. In a typical civilian sport parachute system, the pilot-chute is connected to a line known as the "bridle", which in turn is attached to a small deployment bag that contains the folded parachute and the canopy s...

World Championships are held every two years both Indoor and Outdoor in the competition disciplines Artistic Events (Freestyle and Freefly, indoor and outdoor), Canopy Formation (outdoor only), Canopy Piloting (outdoor only), Dynamic (indoor only), Formation Skydiving (indoor and outdoor), Paraski (outdoor only), Style & Accuracy Landing (outdoor only) and Wingsuit Flying (outdoor only). Continental Championships and World Cups can be held in alternate years. Artistic Events edit There are now two competitive Artistic Events, Freestyle and Freefly. Freestyle teams consist of a performer and a videographer, Freefly teams have two performers and a videographer. Skysurfing is no longer a competitive event after insufficient competitors entered in two successive World Championships. The history of these events is on this Freeflying page. Accuracy Landing edit Often called "Classic accuracy", this is an individual or team contest performed under an open parachute. The aim ...

Angle Flying edit Angle Flying was presented for the first time in 2000 at the World Freestyle Competitions, the European Espace Boogie, and the Eloy Freefly Festival. The technique consists of flying diagonally with a determinate relation between angle and trajectory speed of the body, to obtain an air stream that allows for control of flight. The aim is to fly in formation at the same level and angle, and to be able to perform different aerial games, such as freestyle, three-dimensional flight formation with grip, or acrobatic free-flying. Cross-country edit A cross-country jump is a skydive where the participants open their parachutes immediately after jumping, with the intention of covering as much ground under canopy as possible. Usual distance from jump run to the drop zone can be as much as several miles. There are two variations of a cross-country jump: The more popular one is to plan the exit point upwind of the drop zone. A map and information about the wind direction and vel...

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), Parachuting Commission (IPC) conducts FAI's parachuting activities, in particular World Records and International Competitions. It sets globally recognised parachuting proficiency levels, international records requirements, international judging competencies and competition rules. National parachuting associations exist in many countries, many affiliated with the FAI, to promote their sport. In most cases, national representative bodies, as well as local drop zone operators, require that participants carry certification attesting to their training their level of experience in the sport, and their proven competence. Anyone who cannot produce such bona-fides is treated as a student, requiring close supervision. citation needed The sole organization in the United States is the United States Parachute Association (USPA), which issues licenses and ratings, governs skydiving, publishes Parachutist Magazine, and represents skydiving to g...

In parachuting, a drop zone or DZ is most technically the area above and around a location where a parachutist freefalls and expects to land. In common use it often refers to the totality of a skydiving operation (a business). And the area wherein parachutists land will be referred to as the "landing area." The drop zone is usually situated beside a small airport, often sharing the facility with other general aviation activities. Drop zone staff may include the DZO (drop zone operator or owner), manifest, pilots, instructors, coaches, cameramen, packers, riggers and other general staff.

A parachutist's equipment consists of at least three, usually four components, a container/harness system, a main canopy, a reserve canopy and increasingly frequently an automatic activation device (AAD) as well. Other items may include a helmet, jumpsuit, altimeter, and gloves. Increasing number of skydivers wear cameras, like GoPros, to record their skydives. citation needed Costs in the sport are not trivial. The market is not large enough to permit the steady lowering of prices that is seen with some other equipment like computers. A new container/harness system can cost between US$1,500 and US$3,500, main canopies for the experienced parachutist can cost between $2,000 and US$3,600, reserve canopies cost between US$1,500 and US$2,500 and AADs US$1,000 cost. Higher performance and Tandem Parachutes cost significantly more, whilst large docile student parachutes often cost less. Most parachuting equipment is ruggedly designed and is enjoyed by several owners before being re...

In 1914, while doing demonstrations for the U.S. Army, a parachute pioneer named Tiny Broadwick deployed her chute manually, thus becoming the first person to jump free-fall. According to the Guinness Book of Records , Eugene Andreev (USSR) holds the official FAI record for the longest free-fall parachute jump after falling for 24,500 metres (80,400 ft) from an altitude of 25,458 metres (83,524 ft) near the city of Saratov, Russia, on 1 November 1962. Although later on jumpers would ascend higher altitudes, Andreev's record was set without the use of a drogue chute during the jump and therefore remains the longest genuine free fall record. During the late 1950s, Captain Joseph Kittinger of the United States was assigned to the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. For Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward", a name given to the project by Colonel John Stapp), as part of research into high altitude bailout, he made a series of t...

Individual jumps edit Don Kellner holds the record for the most parachute jumps up to 2017, with a total of over 43,000 jumps. In 1929, U.S. Army Sergeant R. W. Bottriell held the world's record for the most parachute jumps with 500. At that number, Bottriell stopped parachuting and became a ground instructor. Cheryl Stearns (U.S.) holds the record for the most parachute descents by a woman, with a total of 20,000 in August 2014, as well as the most parachute jumps made in a 24-hour period by a woman—352 jumps from 8–9 November 1995. Erin Hogan became the world's youngest sky diver as of 2002, when she tandem jumped at age 5. (Beaten in 2003 by age 4 Kiwi) citation needed Bill Dause holds the record for the most accumulated freefall time with over 420 hours (30,000+ jumps). citation needed Jay Stokes holds the record for most parachute descents in a single day at 640. The Oldest Female solo skydiver was Dilys Price. On 13 April 2013 she carried out the oldest solo parachut...

A song with various versions of its lyrics, one of which uses as its first line " He jumped without a parachute from twenty thousand feet ", and includes the line " They scraped him off the tarmac like a lump of strawberry jam ", has been used as a campfire song by Scouts. It is sung to the tune Battle Hymn of the Republic, also known as John Brown's Body.