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Asking from complete ignorance, is it possible that skydiving occasionally attracts folks who secretly have a death wish?

agurk 8y ago
I have a close friend who's a psychiatrist who's dealt a lot with suicidal people. He has described that there is a whole group of people who want to die, but do not want to kill themselves. They often aren't (fully) aware of this nature of themselves. These people often are very attracted to risky behaviour, and are seen pushing boundaries in extreme sports - skydiving, motorcycling, etc. But, of course, that doesn't mean that everyone - or even a large number - in these sports are like this.
kweks 8y ago
It's relatively difficult to commit suicide via skydive (at least at the start.. there have been specific cases I have heard of where experienced fliers have killed themselves) As a student, all your gear is double checked on the ground and just before exit. Even when you're jumping solo - if you don't open your parachute, your reserve will automatically deploy (there's a little computer that will fire the reserve if you're not open by a certain altitude) Once you're a licenced jumper and have shaken off the 'student' label (meaning noone insists for a gear-check) - you could choose not to enable your AAD (automatic altitude deployer) and kill yourself. To get to that stage, you've probably invested $3000+ and a lot of time. Not the most efficient way to suicide.
- FabHK 8y ago
  Not unheard of though. German politician Jürgen Möllemann, after running into lots of political difficulties and resigning, died parachuting in 2003. It's unclear whether it was an accident or suicide. (He opened the main chute, cut it off, and did not open the reserve. The AAD was not switched on. EDIT to add: When the other jumpers did a gear check, he went to "get a glas of water".) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jürgen_Möllemann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jürgen_Möllemann
dgzl 8y ago
As someone who climbs rocks and wants to eventually get into the sky/base/wingsuit scene, flirting with death is definitely an element that plays a part in the excitement.

agurk 8y ago

I have a close friend who's a psychiatrist who's dealt a lot with suicidal people. He has described that there is a whole group of people who want to die, but do not want to kill themselves. They often aren't (fully) aware of this nature of themselves. These people often are very attracted to risky behaviour, and are seen pushing boundaries in extreme sports - skydiving, motorcycling, etc. But, of course, that doesn't mean that everyone - or even a large number - in these sports are like this.

kweks 8y ago

It's relatively difficult to commit suicide via skydive (at least at the start.. there have been specific cases I have heard of where experienced fliers have killed themselves) As a student, all your gear is double checked on the ground and just before exit. Even when you're jumping solo - if you don't open your parachute, your reserve will automatically deploy (there's a little computer that will fire the reserve if you're not open by a certain altitude) Once you're a licenced jumper and have shaken off the 'student' label (meaning noone insists for a gear-check) - you could choose not to enable your AAD (automatic altitude deployer) and kill yourself. To get to that stage, you've probably invested $3000+ and a lot of time. Not the most efficient way to suicide.

FabHK 8y ago
Not unheard of though. German politician Jürgen Möllemann, after running into lots of political difficulties and resigning, died parachuting in 2003. It's unclear whether it was an accident or suicide. (He opened the main chute, cut it off, and did not open the reserve. The AAD was not switched on. EDIT to add: When the other jumpers did a gear check, he went to "get a glas of water".) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jürgen_Möllemann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jürgen_Möllemann

dgzl 8y ago

As someone who climbs rocks and wants to eventually get into the sky/base/wingsuit scene, flirting with death is definitely an element that plays a part in the excitement.