Skydiving has been a popular sport since the 1950's. Today, the sport has evolved with more people 302,000 participants. Although skydiving can be a very safe sport, there have been many occurrences were casualties have been the outcome. Over the past ten years there was an annual average of twenty-nine fatal skydiving accidents in the United States yielding a rate of one fatality for every 3,800 participant. Society and insurance companies consider skydiving high risk, but with time and education, skydivers can make the sport safer. The causes that make skydiving dangerous are, the lack of licensing, the probability of human errors, and the performance of illegal hook turns.
             The first cause that makes skydiving dangerous is the lack of licensing. United States Parachute Association, USPA, regulates drop zones and skydivers guidelines, and also sets the rules to be followed by anybody participating in the sport. USPA recommends that anybody participating in skydiving should become licensed by taking a written and several jump tests. USPA recognizes four levels of skydiver licenses, with A-license being the first and D-license being the highest. One of the rules laid out in the USPA Regulations Handbook states: "The minimum pull altitudes for their license levels are 3000 feet for students and A license holders, 2,500 feet for B license holders, and 2,000 feet for C license and up holders" (United sec. 2-1). This rule is part of the Basic standard regulations for safety measures. These altitudes allow skydivers to have enough time to execute emergency procedures if their main parachute is malfunctioning. Here is an example of what can happen if this rule is not followed:
             Witnesses saw this jumper spinning under his main canopy to a low altitude, at which point the main was released. The reserve parachute began deployment but did not clear its free bag before the jumper reach
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