Is there really a need for a jump pilot to wear an emergency parachute? There are jump pilots who will answer with an emphatic “yes,” because a parachute saved their lives when a jump run went wrong. When you have an open door and skydivers climbing out and hanging off the step and strut, pilot chutes and parachutes can inadvertently deploy, sometimes destroying an airplane’s flyability and pegging the “Oh s!
#t” meter in an instant. In another scenario, a formation load of two Cessnas full of skydivers famously collided over Superior, Wisconsin in 2013.
Incredibly, all survived, including the jump pilot who lost a wing in the ensuing fireball and had to use his emergency parachute. (The other pilot deadsticked to a safe landing.) Many of the skydivers were wearing GoPros, so you can view many angles of the collision here:
AMAZING Skydivers Land Safely After Plane Crash EXTENDED CUT - YouTube.