A new study proves parachutes are useless

Author: Scotty Hendricks / Source: Big Think

Scientists working at medical schools across the United States discovered that parachutes don’t lower the death rate of people jumping out of airplanes.
The study flies in the face of decades of anecdotal evidence.
The findings should be carefully applied, due to “minor caveats” with the experimental structure.

There is an old joke that says “If your parachute doesn’t deploy, don’t worry: you have the rest of your life to fix it.” The findings of a new study may put that joke out of fashion, as intrepid scientists found that jumping out of a plane with a parachute didn’t lower the death rate of test subjects compared to those who jumped without one.

A leap of faith in anecdotal evidence

The study, published in the light-hearted Christmas edition of BMJ, involved 23 test subjects who were randomly sorted into two groups. One would leap out of an airplane with a parachute while the second would do the same with a regular old backpack. Their survival rates were then compared after they hit the ground. Shockingly, it was found that the rates were the same for both groups!

The authors explained that “Our groundbreaking study found no statistically significant difference in the primary outcome between the treatment and control arms. Our findings should give momentary pause to experts who advocate for routine use of parachutes for jumps from aircraft in recreational or military settings.”