Timing of fatal BASE jumping incidents: 1981–2018

• Published in: Journal of forensic and legal medicine Vol. 65; pp. 39 - 44
• Main Authors: Sieker, Jeremy W., Castillo, Edward M., Vilke, Gary M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2019
• Subjects: Accident; Parachutist; Rescue; Wilderness; Rescue; Parachutist; Accident; Wilderness
• ISSN: 1752-928X; 1878-7487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2019.04.011

BASE jumping, or fixed object parachuting, is a high-risk sport that has evolved significantly since its inception in the 1960s. Differences in parachute technology, teaching methods, jumping locations, practices, and popularity, among other factors, have qualitatively transformed the sport, particularly since 2000. The current study seeks to better understand how the rate of BASE jumping fatalities have changed as BASE jumping has grown. Using data from the BASE Fatality List, a resource continuously compiled by the BASE community with information on all known BASE fatalities, temporal trends in BASE fatalities that accompanied these changes over time are explored. The number of annual fatalities stayed between 0 and 5 from 1981 to 1999, but around the year 2000 began an upward trend that has continued through 2018. There appears to be large seasonal variation in monthly fatality rate, with the most deaths occurring in the northern hemisphere's summer months, the peak being in August, and the fewest deaths occurring in the northern hemisphere's winter months. The years 2013–2018 have continued the increasing fatality trend, but have otherwise deviated through increased variability in short-term and seasonal trends. Potential causes of these short-term trends, changing trends in the causes of fatal accidents, factors potentially unique to anomalous events, and directions for future research are also discussed.
•The annual number of BASE jumping fatalities has risen consistently since 2001.•BASE fatality rates tend to peak in August.•Fatality rates in recent years have strayed from historically predictable trends.