TECHNICAL & SAFETY COMMITTEE International Parachuting Commission
FAI
AAD REPORT 2010 39 countries responded
Reports received from 39 Countries 35 countries (90%) reported mandatory use of AAD by National Parachuting Organisation, for some classes of skydiver. 25 countries (64%) reported mandatory use of AAD by Military Organisation for some classes of skydiver. 14 countries (36%) reported mandatory use of AAD by Government Authority for some classes of skydiver. Sport Parachuting organisations continue to be to the fore on AAD issues worldwide
National Sport Parachute Organisations AAD Mandatory in 2010 in 35 countries, for categories of parachutists, as follows, Static Line Students IAD/JAD Students AFF Students Freefall Students Intermediate Jumpers Expert Jumpers Tandem Display Jumpers
31 countries 28 countries 32 countries 33 countries 22 countries 13 countries 34 countries 20 countries
89% 80% 91% 94% 63% 37% 97% 57%
AAD Saves in 2010 Minimum 41, but this is difficult to monitor due to service being carried out ‘in the field’. Because of this some countries cannot give figures. 955 AAD saves (minimum) have been reported through the T&S AAD Survey in the seventeen years 1994 to 2010 inclusive. It can be difficult in some cases to determine if an AAD firing is an actual ‘save’ as perhaps the jumper would have had a very low reserve pull. Every AAD firing should be examined in detail, to add to our knowledge, to improve training techniques, and to increase safely in our sport An AAD is a valuable safety device. It is NOT a failsafe substitute for less than thorough training and constant reinforcement of that training as the skydiver progresses and gains experience. An AAD is programmed to operate within certain parameters. The firing of an AAD may NOT result in the saving of the life of the parachutist, due to particular factors, e.g., if the parachutist is in a back-to-earth position. In such circumstances the reserve parachute may hesitate in deploying, even though the AAD has operated within the programmed parameters.
Mandatory use of AAD for all Skydivers 12 countries reported AAD use mandatory for all categories of jumping in their countries; Bulgaria Cyprus Denmark Hong Kong, China Iceland Kenya New Zealand Norway Russia Saudi Arabia Slovakia Spain 5 countries had previously done so; Belarus Belgium Venezuela
France
Luxembourg
1 country will do so; Brazil in 2013 In Argentina, AAD use in mandatory in all Official (Federacion Argentina de Paracaidismo) events.
Total by 2013 – 19 countries.