Photo by Norman Kent | D-8369

Jumpers exit during the Florida Head-Down Record attempts hosted by Collective Pitch at Skydive DeLand, where they set a 47-way state record.

The USPA Board of Directors held its fifth meeting of the 2019-2021 term in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 29-31. For the second time, the board meeting was broadcast live via Zoom Webinar for USPA members to observe and over 130 USPA members registered to attend the virtual meeting.

At its January meeting, the International Skydiving Commission of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (world skydiving’s governing body), continued its discussions regarding the fate of the 2020 (rescheduled to 2021) World Skydiving Championships Mondial in Russia in August.

The country of Egypt has no civilian drop zones, but that doesn’t stop Skydive Egypt—a club of jumpers who are working to promote the sport in their country—from putting together spectacular boogies that feature jumps over the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Eleven people died during sport skydives in the United States during the last year, marking the lowest number of fatalities in any year since USPA began keeping records in 1961, when there were 14 fatalities.

USPA’s board of directors is holding its next meeting January 29-31 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Austin Larman (top left) and Josh Sattler fly above (from foreground) Erick Herrhaeger, Andy Farrington and Braden Roseborough during sunset at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington.

Doug Barron, D-30343 and a member of 4-way formation skydiving team SDC Rhythm XP, made an amazing comeback in the sport after being severely injured in 2018.

Camera flyer Matt Biggs shoots a formation building during the North Carolina State Record Attempts at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford.

Often, USPA receives incident reports that describe a chain of bad decisions that led to an injury. Many of these reports recount instances where a jumper spent far too long working on something that felt fixable but wasn’t. So, it is refreshing to receive a report that ends with the words, “I stayed altitude aware, trusted my training and had a safe, smooth landing.”

Tandem instructors began using hand-mounted video cameras (aka handcams or handicams) in the last 20 years or so, and in the last decade, their use has become commonplace.

While inspecting a rig prior to a reserve repack, a Federal Aviation Administration Senior Rigger discovered that the yellow indicator threads on the webbing of the leg straps were severed.

Photo by Randy Forbes | D-10858

James Davis dives toward a building formation during the Wuest Ways event at Skydive Perris in California.

This 20-minute documentary shares the stories of all those who call Dillingham Airfield home and conveys what will be lost if the Hawaii legislature chooses to close the airfield.
It takes just ONE MINUTE to send an email to Hawaii legislators asking them to save Dillingham Airfield. We have made taking action easy by setting up a form for skydivers, aviators and Hawaii residents here: https://savedillinghamairfield.org/

Nancy Koreen, D-18240, is a world-record-setting skydiver and freefly load organizer with more than 9,800 jumps to her credit. She has also worked behind the scenes to promote skydiving in myriad ways, rarely taking any credit.

Twenty-five years is no small amount of anyone’s lifetime. A quarter of a century. Roughly one-third of the lifespan of an average American male. And the number of years Ed Scott has dedicated to the U.S. Parachute Association, the sport of skydiving and skydivers across the United States and around the world.

There can never be a blanket definition of where that thin gray line is, since we all have different ideas of what is and is not offensive.