A jumper caught this damage to his locking loop while performing a thorough pre-flight inspection of his gear before his first jump of the day.

For jumpers, earning a judge rating can be another means of progress and personal development within the sport.

Far too often, skydivers face difficulties pulling their pilot chutes, and the results are often far too serious.

Jumping—usually from a structure—accounts for 5.8 percent of all suicides in the United States, and has an 85 percent success rate, which is similar to suicide by firearm.

A good incident report gives a thorough account of what happened without glossing over unsavory information or leaving out crucial facts.