Each year, nearly a half million people across the U.S. successfully jump out of an airplane for the first time on tandem skydives.

For more than three decades, tandem jumping has given millions of people the opportunity to easily experience the thrill of a lifetime while strapped to a certified tandem instructor. The U.S. Parachute Association and tandem equipment manufacturers have certification programs in place to ensure that only qualified, experienced skydivers can become tandem instructors and that anyone who earns a tandem instructor rating receives proper training and understands the procedures for correctly fitting and securing tandem student harnesses. Incidents can happen, as they do in any sport. However, the sport of skydiving maintains an impressive safety record, with roughly seven fatal accidents per 1 million skydives in the U.S. each year. The record of tandem skydiving is even better, with only 2.6 student fatalities per 1 million skydives over the past ten years.

The U.S Parachute Association has affiliated skydiving centers across the country that have agreed to follow USPA’s safety rules and recommendations and use only USPA-rated instructors. These centers conduct tandem skydiving in a professional manner and make the safety of the tandem student their top priority. For anyone interested in making a first skydive, USPA strongly recommends visiting a USPA-affiliated skydiving center such as Skydive Newport. A complete list of these drop zones appears on the USPA website, www.uspa.org