How To Breathe When Skydiving: A Certified Instructor’s Guide To Freefall Respiration

To breathe easily while skydiving at terminal velocity, you must overcome your body's natural fight-or-flight response by executing a forceful, conscious exhalation—ideally by screaming—immediately upon exiting the aircraft. This physical action clears carbon dioxide from your lungs and breaks the instinctual breath-holding reflex caused by the 120 mph (193 km/h) relative wind. Once this initial barrier is broken, maintaining a chin-up head posture and utilizing diaphragmatic breathing allows for normal respiration throughout the remainder of your descent.

The sensation of struggling to breathe during a skydive is one of the most common complaints among first-time tandem passengers and student solo jumpers. This phenomenon is rarely caused by a lack of oxygen in the air. Instead, it is a physiological response triggered by sudden exposure to high-velocity wind and an acute spike in adrenaline. Understanding the biomechanics of respiration in a high-speed airflow environment is essential for maintaining situational awareness, physical stability, and overall comfort during your jump.

Pre-Jump Physiological Preparation and Equipment Checklists

To successfully manage your breathing during a skydive, preparation must begin on the ground. Proper equipment fitment and a basic understanding of altitude physiology prevent respiratory distress before you exit the aircraft.

Essential Gear and Preparation Benchmarks

• Tandem or Solo Goggles: Must be secured tightly to prevent displacement from the 120 mph wind. Loose goggles allow high-velocity air to channel directly over your eyes and nose, causing involuntary blinking and gasping.
• Full-Face Helmet (Optional for AFF Students): A full-face helmet equipped with a polycarbonate lens creates a micro-environment that shields the face from direct wind blast, making natural breathing significantly easier.
• Nasal Strips (Optional): For jumpers with deviated septums or chronic congestion, applying an adhesive nasal dilator strip improves nasal airflow resistance prior to boarding.
• Altitude Physiology Awareness: Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. At a standard dropzone exit altitude of 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) above sea level, the effective partial pressure of oxygen is lower than at sea level, but still highly sufficient for the short duration of a skydive. Supplemental oxygen is only legally required by aviation authorities for flights sustained above 15,000 feet.
• Estimated Training & Jump Benchmarks:
  
  
  • Ground Briefing Duration: 15–30 minutes (covering exit body position and breathing mechanics).
  • Average Freefall Duration: 45–60 seconds (from 14,000 feet down to a canopy deployment altitude of 5,000 feet).
  • Financial Investment: Standard tandem jump rates range from $180 to $300, depending on location and altitude.

Step-by-Step Respiratory Management Throughout the Jump

Successfully breathing during a skydive requires conscious control over your respiratory system as you transition from the calm cabin of the aircraft into terminal velocity freefall. Follow this precise physiological workflow.

Step 1: The Pre-Exit Deep Diaphragmatic Breath

As you sit or stand at the aircraft door, your sympathetic nervous system will trigger a fight-or-flight response. Your heart rate will spike, and your breathing will naturally become shallow and rapid (thoracic breathing). This state increases carbon dioxide retention, which paradoxically triggers a sensation of suffocation.

To counteract this, perform two cycles of box breathing while waiting in the door:

1. Inhale deeply through your nose for four seconds, expanding your abdomen (diaphragm) rather than your upper chest.
2. Hold the breath for two seconds.
3. Exhale slowly and completely through pursed lips for four seconds.

This conscious regulation stimulates the vagus nerve, lowering your heart rate and preparing your respiratory system for the incoming wind blast.

Step 2: The Exit Scream (Active Forced Exhalation)

At the moment of exit, your body experiences a sudden rush of wind at approximately 120 mph. This rapid airflow causes "stagnation pressure" directly in front of your mouth and nose, which can trigger a mild laryngeal spasm—an involuntary tightening of the vocal cords that prevents inhalation.

To bypass this reflex, let out a loud, sustained scream as you transition into the sub-terminal slipstream.

Pro-Tip: Screaming forces a complete exhalation of air. Because your lungs cannot remain empty, your body’s autonomic nervous system will force a deep, involuntary inhalation immediately afterward, successfully establishing your breathing cycle in the middle of the high-velocity wind.

Step 3: Positioning the Airway (Chin Up, Eyes on the Horizon)

Your body flight position directly impacts your ability to draw air. Novice skydivers often look down toward the ground, which tucks the chin against the chest. This posture constricts the trachea and presents the nostrils directly to the oncoming wind, forcing high-pressure air up the nasal passages and making exhalation incredibly difficult.

1. Keep your head arched backward with your chin up, looking directly at the horizon or at the wing of the jump plane.
2. This arch opens your airway, aligning the trachea for unobstructed airflow.
3. By looking forward, the relative wind flows over your chin and nose rather than directly into them, creating a natural aerodynamic boundary layer that lowers the air pressure directly in front of your mouth.

Step 4: Pursed-Lip Respiration During Freefall

Once your body settles into stable terminal velocity, do not try to breathe with a wide-open mouth. Gasping for air allows the high-speed wind to dry out your throat and vocal cords instantly, causing irritation and coughing.

Instead, utilize a pursed-lip breathing technique:

1. Inhale calmly through your nose. The nasal passages naturally warm, humidify, and filter the air, even at high speeds.
2. Exhale through your mouth with your lips slightly pursed, as if blowing out a candle.
3. Pursed-lip breathing creates a small amount of positive backpressure in your lungs (similar to a CPAP machine), which keeps your airways open and allows you to easily push air out against the external wind resistance.

Warning: Avoid hyperventilating. Fast, shallow breathing will quickly deplete your carbon dioxide levels, leading to lightheadedness, tingling in your fingers, and decreased cognitive performance. If you feel dizzy, focus on lengthening your exhalations.

Step 5: Transitioning to Canopy Flight Respiration

When the main parachute deploys, your forward velocity drops from 120 mph to a canopy flight speed of roughly 15–20 mph within three seconds. The sudden deceleration can cause a brief moment of disorientation.

As soon as the canopy is open and stable, take three long, deep breaths through your nose and out through your mouth. This helps clear the residual adrenaline from your bloodstream, re-oxygenates your muscles, and allows you to transition back to your normal, resting respiratory rhythm.

Freefall Aerodynamics and Respiratory Metrics

The physical environment of a skydive changes rapidly as you fall through different layers of the atmosphere. The table below outlines how altitude, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure interact with your body’s ability to process oxygen.

Freefall Respiratory Failures and In-Flight Fixes

When breathing issues occur during a skydive, they are almost always psychological or positional rather than mechanical equipment failures. Knowing how to troubleshoot these situations in real-time ensures a safe and comfortable descent.

Scenario 1: The "Suffocation" Sensation immediately upon exit

• Root Cause: The mammalian dive reflex or a sudden laryngeal spasm triggered by cold, fast-moving air hitting the back of the throat. This causes the epiglottis to close, preventing inhalation.
• Actionable Fix: Forcefully blow all of the air out of your lungs as if blowing up a balloon, or scream. This action breaks the spasm of the vocal cords and forces your diaphragm to pull in the next breath naturally.

Scenario 2: Severe hyperventilation or dizziness during freefall

• Root Cause: Extreme anxiety causing rapid, shallow breathing that expels too much carbon dioxide (hypocapnia). This restricts blood flow to the brain, leading to dizziness or panic.
• Actionable Fix: Shake your arms out to release muscle tension, look up at the horizon, and count to three during every inhalation and exhalation to consciously slow your respiratory rate.

Scenario 3: Inability to inhale through the nose

• Root Cause: Presenting your face downward at a 90-degree angle to the relative wind. This creates a high-pressure zone that pushes air up the nasal passages, blocking the natural exhalation phase of nasal breathing.
• Actionable Fix: Tilt your head back until your chin points forward, parallel to the ground. This diverts the relative wind over your brow and cheeks, creating a low-pressure pocket in front of your nose and mouth that allows normal inhalation and exhalation.

Scenario 4: Mouth and throat drying out to the point of coughing

• Root Cause: Breathing exclusively through a wide-open mouth during freefall, which evaporates all moisture from your oral cavity and upper airway.
• Actionable Fix: Close your mouth completely, swallow once to re-lubricate your throat, and switch entirely to breathing in through your nose and gently out through slightly parted lips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you suffocate from the wind while skydiving?

No, it is physically impossible to suffocate from the wind while skydiving. There is an abundant supply of oxygen in the air at standard skydiving altitudes, and the relative wind does not block your airways; rather, the intense physical sensation of the wind simply triggers a temporary, involuntary breath-holding reflex that you can easily override.

Why does it feel hard to breathe when you first jump out of a plane?

It feels difficult because the sudden 120 mph wind blast triggers your body's sympathetic nervous system, causing your vocal cords to tense up and your chest to freeze. Once you consciously exhale or scream, this primitive flight-or-flight reflex is bypassed, and normal breathing becomes effortless.

Does the altitude make it harder to breathe during a skydive?

While the air is slightly thinner at 14,000 feet than it is on the ground, the duration of your descent is too short for hypoxia to set in under normal conditions. The feeling of breathlessness is caused by adrenaline and wind pressure, not a lack of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Should I breathe through my nose or mouth while skydiving?

You should ideally inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth with pursed lips. Nasal inhalation filters and warms the air while preventing your throat from drying out, while pursed-lip exhalations help you push air out against the high-velocity wind.

How do skydivers breathe at 15,000 feet?

At 15,000 feet and below, skydivers breathe the ambient air normally without any external assistance. For high-altitude jumps (HALO) departing from 18,000 to 30,000 feet, jumpers must wear specialized oxygen masks connected to bailout bottles to prevent hypoxia.

Elevate Your Skydiving Experience

Ready to put these breathing techniques into practice and experience the ultimate rush of human flight? Contact a certified USPA dropzone today to book your tandem skydive or enroll in an Accelerated Freefall training program.