Extreme Sports: The Dangers Involved in Skydiving Unveil a New Twist
Skydiving is a very popular extreme sport; probably the most popular along with bungee jumping. Just like every extreme sport out there though, there are inherent dangers involved with jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet in the
air. Recently a new danger found its way into the world of skydiving; a woman in Belgium has been accused of cutting the cords of another woman’s parachute and murdering her. This strange yet frightening case shows that the dangers of skydiving seemingly also
include sabotage. Thankfully these types of cases are extremely rare and hopefully we will not see too many of them in the sport again.
There are several inherent dangers to skydiving. Anytime someone jumps out of a plane that is 15,000 feet in the air, there will be some risks involved. Even though fatalities and serious injuries are very rare in skydiving, people
still die every single year. In the US alone, 30 people are killed every year for every 100,000 jumps. Even though that is a tiny percentage of the total number of jumps - 0.03% - the fact remains that people still die while taking part in the sport.
There are several safety precautions that are taken before a person can safely engage in a jump. The first is a secondary parachute that is attached to the skydiver in case the main chute fails to open. A helmet is also an absolute
must while skydiving, because in the event of a collision or striking the ground the head must be protected at all times. Another essential safety feature is pre jump training. A potential jumper must be given proper instructions about how to deploy their
parachute, they must be taught what to do if their main parachute fails and they must also be absolutely sure they know what to do in the event that high winds force them to take evasive action while trying to steer and land their canopy.
This bizarre and very horrifying story of sabotage comes from Belgium. It seems the story involves a love triangle between two women and a man. The woman currently on trial for murder is Els Clottemans and she is accused of cutting
the cords of Els Van Doren’s parachute. It seems both women were in love with the same man, Marcel Somers. Reports claim that Somers was seeing both women and he would see Ms. Clottemans on Fridays while he would see Ms. Van Doren on Saturdays. The night before
the incident took place in November 2006, the three of them had stayed in the same house and it is here, prosecution lawyers argue, that Ms. Clottemans could have cut the cords of Ms. Van Doren’s parachute which lay in the house.
The horrific incident of Ms. Van Doren’s death was captured on her own helmet cam as she plummeted 1000 metres to the ground. This incident shows us that even if every single precaution is taken in an extreme sport, a deranged
person can still use the sport to kill another person. The problem with incidents such as these is the fact that it ruins the reputation of the extreme sport as a whole. When potential skydivers read about this case, they will inadvertently get very worried
and may not participate in the sport due to these relatively irrational fears.
The one positive aspect of this case is the fact that it will force skydiving companies to become extra vigilant in checking their equipment and do numerous safety checks before people take part in the skydiving. Even though most
companies that provide the service do make sure that the equipment that will be used is in perfect working order, they usually do not check a person’s own equipment. This case will probably force them to do that as well now.
Even though skydiving is a dangerous sport, this one case should not discourage people from taking part in it. This was an isolated incident and if anyone is still worried at the end of the day then they should simply not jump
out of a plane with their partner’s jilted lover or a jealous ex.
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