*Repost* As a Jump Pilot you should always be watching your Skydivers exit!

This is a cool shot of my buddy "voodoo" and a tandem passenger exiting our C206 Jump Aircraft at Skydive Taft a few years ago.  You can see me in the background watching the exit and is something you as a Skydive Pilot should always be doing.

It is very important to make sure that none of the skydivers lines or handles get snagged on a seat belt, a door frame or anything else.  Also, insure that they have indeed unbuckled their seat belt.  I have personally never seen it, but I have heard of skydivers forgetting to unbuckle their seat belt and then attempting to jump, resulting in them dangling from the side of the aircraft.

As you can imagine that type of situation could cause major problems for them and you as the pilot.  I always have a hook knife handy as well, in case I need to cut their seat belt off. I encourage you to do the same. I personally like the Gerber "Crisis Hook Knife". It is available on Amazon and eBay. Go buy one, you might save a life with it one day!

My fellow Jump Pilots, please remember to review often, fly safe so that you can continue to have fun!

- SkyDiverDriver.com