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I grew up in the area and the locals knew about all the deaths. If you told anybody you were going skydiving there, people would assume you were crazy or suicid

I grew up in the area and the locals knew about all the deaths. If you told anybody you were going skydiving there, people would assume you were crazy or suicidal.

outcoldman 3y ago
I feel like locals always say that about any DropZone near them. I have heard the same about my previous home DropZone and the current one. Both are very active DropZone (tops of the USA). But yeah, every skydiver has heard about Lodi.
recursive 3y ago
Several years ago, a co-worker got a work group together for a groupon for this place. I lived. I didn't know about any of this. I assumed this was all tightly regulated.
- lazide 3y ago
  Very little of skydiving is actually regulated. There are some basic FAA regs (reserves need to be packed by certified riggers, for instance, and no jumping through clouds, and a handful of other rules), but USPA is a voluntary ‘regulatory’ organization and they do the rest. The rules are written in blood, and lack of compliance tends to be self regulating. They provide insurance in exchange for following the rules, which generally does what it needs to do. But anyone crazy enough could pay a pilot to let them jump out and not follow any of the licensing rules, and there isn’t much that would happen until something goes wrong and lawsuits start flying.
  - outcoldman 3y ago
    That is not entierely true. 1. Pilot still follow FAA, and there are chapters about skydiving operations in FAA for pilots. 2. USPA Members have to follow USPA rules even if they jump not in USPA DropZones. 3. The gear manufactures (especially Sigma) have their own set of rules for using their gear. Other than skydivers who want to be YouTube famous, there are not that many that do stupid shit.
    - brewdad 3y ago
      The pilot is likely the only one in this list that might face some consequences prior to an incident. The rest would only come out after the lawsuits start.
      - outcoldman 3y ago
        I feel like both will have the same kind of consequences. Pilots will lose their pilot license, skydivers can lose USPA member license (and could FAA certifications if they have any, like drone piloting, rigging, etc). But I am not sure, I have only 14 hours of piloting lessons. My guess both will be pursued only if there is a lawsuit.
        lazide 3y ago
        It would be easy for a pilot to follow the rules for their license, while no one is following USPAs rules. Ways they could lose their license for recklessness I guess, or if they were doing something dumb and someone landed on someone in the ground. But USPA’s rules get followed because they’re a good idea and it’s easier that way, not because someone is going to jail or losing an FAA license if they don’t.
    - lazide 3y ago
      Eh, read the CFR and tell me I’m wrong [https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac%20105-2d.pdf https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/...] Remember ‘recommends’ != ‘required’, and ‘should’ != ‘must’. If it’s not required or a must, it’s not a rule. It’s a suggestion. In these cases an exceptionally good one, but caveat emptor. Hard to find a clearer example of ‘obvious inherent risk’, after all, and regulations tend to focus on protecting those that had no idea, or innocent bystanders. Even training for pilots on how to drop skydivers is a should, not a must. Which considering how much someone hanging off the side of the plane changes aerodynamics, and how unusual it is to suddenly lose hundreds of lbs of weight on a GA aircraft in flight, is actually pretty amazing. You’d have to be really crazy to do it without it, but eh. I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t have any idea once the jump plane door opened. Something about that roar of the crisp air at altitude clarifies the mind. Or shuts it down entirely, depending on how one is wired. I’ve never seen someone go out the door ignorant, either way. Notably one of the musts for pilots is that anything dropped from a plane won’t strike something it isn’t supposed to. Even if the thing dropped is a human. And the odds of someone hitting an innocent bystander on the ground without trying are pretty low. I’m not current now, but I did hold a USPA C license for a long time, and had my share of close calls. And let’s not forget about BASE jumping….
  - mdekkers 3y ago
    > Very little of skydiving is actually regulated. …In the USA. In Europe it is a rather different story.
    - lazide 3y ago
      bien sûr
ratg13 3y ago
Back in the mid-2000s some friends and I jumped at a place in rural Ohio. We took an instructional vhs course for a few hours and were allowed to jump solo with no previous experience. The airplane hangar had a ‘wall of death’ that went to the ceiling listing everyone that died there. I was afraid of heights at the time as well. That said, it was a great experience and have no regrets.
- 14 3y ago
  My first jump was a solo one as well and was so awesome. They literally instruct you to climb out and hang off the wind of the plane before letting go and they throw your drag shoot out the door behind you. What a rush. As for this article really if you are going tandem there is nothing you really need to know in a video because the guy flying with you is going to tell you exactly that anyways before you go up as it is just as much about his safety. And there really isn’t much instruction. That being said it does seem like this place has a higher than normal death rate so I do think regulations should require more data collected like number of jumps per year and any accidents thoroughly investigated. Sounds like the Korean guy did not deploy his shoot correctly? I mean how did they tangle up? If main shoot was tangled did he not release it first before deploying reserve or how did this happen? You punch out the main then punch the reserve so it should have cleared. If it did not why did it not? That should be investigated just like a plane crash and then learn from mistakes. The attitude of this business just stinks of recklessness.
- Arrath 3y ago
  My only skydiving regret was doing it from an outfit near Taft, CA so I descended from the heavens back into....Taft.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  I did the parachute jump thing long ago, mainly to deal with my fear of it. It was a static line thing, where you climbed out onto a peg under the wing, with your ripcord attached to the airplane. You just let go. The static line was about 300 ft long so you fell a bit before the chute automatically opened. Anyhow, all went well, and I received a heluva rush. But that was it for me, didn't want to do it again. P.S. if you climbed out onto the peg, you weren't coming back in. The instructors made it clear that it was too dangerous to try, and the airplane couldn't land with you on the peg. So they showed us a piece of pipe they'd use if you tried to climb back in or wouldn't let go.

I grew up in the area and the locals knew about all the deaths. If you told anybody you were going skydiving there, people would assume you were crazy or suicidal.

outcoldman 3y ago

I feel like locals always say that about any DropZone near them. I have heard the same about my previous home DropZone and the current one. Both are very active DropZone (tops of the USA). But yeah, every skydiver has heard about Lodi.

recursive 3y ago

Several years ago, a co-worker got a work group together for a groupon for this place. I lived. I didn't know about any of this. I assumed this was all tightly regulated.

lazide 3y ago
Very little of skydiving is actually regulated. There are some basic FAA regs (reserves need to be packed by certified riggers, for instance, and no jumping through clouds, and a handful of other rules), but USPA is a voluntary ‘regulatory’ organization and they do the rest. The rules are written in blood, and lack of compliance tends to be self regulating. They provide insurance in exchange for following the rules, which generally does what it needs to do. But anyone crazy enough could pay a pilot to let them jump out and not follow any of the licensing rules, and there isn’t much that would happen until something goes wrong and lawsuits start flying.
- outcoldman 3y ago
  That is not entierely true. 1. Pilot still follow FAA, and there are chapters about skydiving operations in FAA for pilots. 2. USPA Members have to follow USPA rules even if they jump not in USPA DropZones. 3. The gear manufactures (especially Sigma) have their own set of rules for using their gear. Other than skydivers who want to be YouTube famous, there are not that many that do stupid shit.
  - brewdad 3y ago
    The pilot is likely the only one in this list that might face some consequences prior to an incident. The rest would only come out after the lawsuits start.
    - outcoldman 3y ago
      I feel like both will have the same kind of consequences. Pilots will lose their pilot license, skydivers can lose USPA member license (and could FAA certifications if they have any, like drone piloting, rigging, etc). But I am not sure, I have only 14 hours of piloting lessons. My guess both will be pursued only if there is a lawsuit.
      - lazide 3y ago
        It would be easy for a pilot to follow the rules for their license, while no one is following USPAs rules. Ways they could lose their license for recklessness I guess, or if they were doing something dumb and someone landed on someone in the ground. But USPA’s rules get followed because they’re a good idea and it’s easier that way, not because someone is going to jail or losing an FAA license if they don’t.
  - lazide 3y ago
    Eh, read the CFR and tell me I’m wrong [https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac%20105-2d.pdf https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/...] Remember ‘recommends’ != ‘required’, and ‘should’ != ‘must’. If it’s not required or a must, it’s not a rule. It’s a suggestion. In these cases an exceptionally good one, but caveat emptor. Hard to find a clearer example of ‘obvious inherent risk’, after all, and regulations tend to focus on protecting those that had no idea, or innocent bystanders. Even training for pilots on how to drop skydivers is a should, not a must. Which considering how much someone hanging off the side of the plane changes aerodynamics, and how unusual it is to suddenly lose hundreds of lbs of weight on a GA aircraft in flight, is actually pretty amazing. You’d have to be really crazy to do it without it, but eh. I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t have any idea once the jump plane door opened. Something about that roar of the crisp air at altitude clarifies the mind. Or shuts it down entirely, depending on how one is wired. I’ve never seen someone go out the door ignorant, either way. Notably one of the musts for pilots is that anything dropped from a plane won’t strike something it isn’t supposed to. Even if the thing dropped is a human. And the odds of someone hitting an innocent bystander on the ground without trying are pretty low. I’m not current now, but I did hold a USPA C license for a long time, and had my share of close calls. And let’s not forget about BASE jumping….
- mdekkers 3y ago
  > Very little of skydiving is actually regulated. …In the USA. In Europe it is a rather different story.
  - lazide 3y ago
    bien sûr

ratg13 3y ago

Back in the mid-2000s some friends and I jumped at a place in rural Ohio. We took an instructional vhs course for a few hours and were allowed to jump solo with no previous experience. The airplane hangar had a ‘wall of death’ that went to the ceiling listing everyone that died there. I was afraid of heights at the time as well. That said, it was a great experience and have no regrets.

14 3y ago
My first jump was a solo one as well and was so awesome. They literally instruct you to climb out and hang off the wind of the plane before letting go and they throw your drag shoot out the door behind you. What a rush. As for this article really if you are going tandem there is nothing you really need to know in a video because the guy flying with you is going to tell you exactly that anyways before you go up as it is just as much about his safety. And there really isn’t much instruction. That being said it does seem like this place has a higher than normal death rate so I do think regulations should require more data collected like number of jumps per year and any accidents thoroughly investigated. Sounds like the Korean guy did not deploy his shoot correctly? I mean how did they tangle up? If main shoot was tangled did he not release it first before deploying reserve or how did this happen? You punch out the main then punch the reserve so it should have cleared. If it did not why did it not? That should be investigated just like a plane crash and then learn from mistakes. The attitude of this business just stinks of recklessness.
Arrath 3y ago
My only skydiving regret was doing it from an outfit near Taft, CA so I descended from the heavens back into....Taft.
WalterBright 3y ago
I did the parachute jump thing long ago, mainly to deal with my fear of it. It was a static line thing, where you climbed out onto a peg under the wing, with your ripcord attached to the airplane. You just let go. The static line was about 300 ft long so you fell a bit before the chute automatically opened. Anyhow, all went well, and I received a heluva rush. But that was it for me, didn't want to do it again. P.S. if you climbed out onto the peg, you weren't coming back in. The instructors made it clear that it was too dangerous to try, and the airplane couldn't land with you on the peg. So they showed us a piece of pipe they'd use if you tried to climb back in or wouldn't let go.