Safety Day

Skydiving safety is an extremely important part of our culture – it’s hard to have fun jumping out of airplanes unless you know you’ve done everything you can to make it as safe as possible. And Skydiving Safety Day is a great opportunity to uphold that dedication to safety and progress. 

Safety Day happens every spring and is an event that brings skydivers together to shake off the dust after a long winter layoff. It’s a day that’s solely dedicated to increasing safety awareness amongst skydivers and includes some amazing programming to help everyone stay a little safer throughout the season. 

Skydivers love Safety Day for more than just the educational opportunity – it means that jumping is about to begin! So let’s get into the details of Safety Day and find out why it’s so important to skydiving culture.  

What is Safety Day?

Skydiving Safety Day is an annual event that focuses on promoting safety in the sport of skydiving. The values upheld by Safety Day can be traced back to the early days of the sport when there was a growing need to address safety concerns and educate participants about best practices. The sport of skydiving has become much safer over the years, and that’s thanks to a focus on research, process and equipment improvements, and more comprehensive education programs. 

The event was first established in 1997 based off of an idea by Patti Chernis, with the aim of fostering a culture of safety within the skydiving community. Since then, it has gained worldwide recognition and participation and is one of the only events in skydiving that is observed by most dropzones.

The importance of Skydiving Safety Day lies in its emphasis on educating both experienced skydivers and newcomers about safety procedures, emergency protocols, and proper equipment usage. Most education that happens in the sport is aimed at very specific demographics. There are student programs for new jumpers, advanced skills camps for experienced jumpers, and instructor rating courses for instructors. But Safety Day is an event where all levels of experience can come together to learn. 

By dedicating a specific day to highlighting safety in skydiving, the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association (CSPA) aims to reduce accidents, promote responsible behavior, and enhance overall safety awareness. The impact of Safety Day can be seen in the increasingly safety-conscious culture of skydiving and the continued growth of education and technology in the sport.

Safety Day Topics

Safety Day serves as a type of crash course (or anti-crash, maybe) for all things safety related in the sport of skydiving. The event typically includes seminars, workshops, demonstrations, and interactive activities aimed at highlighting safety procedures and current trends in the sport. It’s also an opportunity for skydivers to review procedures and knowledge that may have gotten rusty during a long winter on the ground.

Instructors, the DZSO, DZO, and experts in the field present on topics that cover every aspect of skydiving from the ground up and back down again. Some of the main topics include:

• Gear Maintenance
• Emergency Procedures
• Airplane Safety
• Freefall Safety
• Canopy Control
• Landing Patterns
• Spotting and Wind Calculations
• Previous Year’s Injury and Fatality Report Review

Each topic includes a review of important information in the category as well as a discussion about previous incidents that have happened due to a lack of proper safety planning. 

Safety Day 2024 at Parachute Ottawa

Parachute Ottawa’s 2024 Safety Day will take place on Saturday, April 27. Starting at 9 am, we’ll be all about instruction, practice, and fun! The day will kick off with a gear swap, garage sale style – bring in your used equipment and shop around! 

We will also be offering $95 reserve repacks for any rig dropped off at the dropzone on April 27, so stop by and get yourself and your gear ready for the season. And, to make it even better, the event is free! 

The highlights of this year’s Safety Day at Parachute Ottawa include:

• Survey Results & 2024 Outlook (Jake & Shannon)
• Emergency Procedures Review (Glenn H)
• The Last 1000 Feet (Dave M)
• Exit Order & Your Ride to Altitude (Jake & Chief Pilot Grant H)
• Adding to your Gear Bag & What Dressing for Success Means (Alex D)

There will be no jumping taking place on Safety Day, but every attendee will receive one free jump ticket to be used during the season upon completion of a waiver! 

Please note that this is an event for skydivers who already have a CSPA CoP or USPA skydiving license. Safety Day is not an appropriate event for tandem passengers or PFF Students – we have specific education opportunities for that! Blue skies!