Question How to survive a long drop?

[martins]

This BBC article got me thinking: If you fell out of an airplane from 7km with no parachute, and find yourself with a bit of spare time before impact, what should you do to maximise your chances of survival?

I guess the first order of business is reducing the terminal velocity, so spread out extremities, maybe use clothing for increasing drag ... But on the other hand, spreading out might make the body more vulnerable on impact, so maybe roll up at the last moment?

Also, what's the best position to hit the ground? Feet first, sacrificing your legs for protecting vital organs?

Finally, what's the best surface to hit? Water, deep snowdrifts, dense foliage? Water seems a good choice, but it's incompressible, and at your impact velocity it may not allow sufficient displacement. The BBC article didn't mention any survival stories from high altitude into water, but this may be because people drowned even after surviving the drop.

Of course you might argue that the chance of survival is so minimal that it's not worth spending precious seconds on it. Better letting your life flash past your eyes, or watching the spectacular scenery ...

Bit morbid topic, sorry about that. Memento mori ...

 

[tl8]

Mythbusters have tested a lot of this. From memory, your best bet is with wreakage. If it lands the right way, you have a chance of surviving.

Of course at that hieght, you are lucky to survive rather than unlucky to die...

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, if you manage to fly flat and with maximal drag, you would be only "slightly" faster than if you would jump from 10m height. As long as you hit water, there could be some small chance of survival, at least injured (it is "only" 56 m/s, you need 450 meters fall to reach it).

Bad news: It is extremely hard to get from the ideal position for falling to the ideal position for dropping into water.

Falling into a forest could help you loose velocity before a relative hard impact by the trees. Important is falling where first aid is near.

 

[Andy44]

Wow, what an article!

I can't imagine the terror of going through something like that. I've heard of people surviving skydiving accidents before, though. Always a freak circumstance, combination of landing surface and attitude of the person's body and limbs at impact, it seems.

The one in the article landing in snow made me think of Indiana Jones and the inflateable raft (which they tested on Mythbusters).

 

[mojoey]

I would think snow would be your best bet. Woodlands would be dangerous due to the risk of impalement or injury on branches. Water, ehh...since its quite unforgiving (try a belly flop at the pool next time).

 

[statickid]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freefall_(ride)

How about a sport (?) Where you skydive onto a big slide shaped like this ride! Alternatively, perhaps a snowbank shaped like a big slide or landing on a cornice would break your fall...

 

[Artlav]

When you jump out of a plane intentionally for the first time, it's hard to remember to pull the ring on the parachute. All the planning and training goes out of your head.

Now imagine that you're sitting in a plane drinking tea, and suddenly the world explodes around you, freezing drowning wind in your face, everything tumbling around.
It would take iron nerves and quick thinking to think up or remember any chance-increasing technics.

Also, it takes considerable training to put yourself into a box - lie flat and stable on the wind - and being able to control your attitude. Turning legs-down at the last moment is not something you can do just by wishing it to happen, and you'll only have minutes at best to figure out how to do this, all the time falling to your death.

 

[N_Molson]

Mr Frano Selak, amongst other incredible adventures (recently he won at lottery), apparently survived a freefall from a plane :

A year later, he was thrown out of a plane on his first and only flight when a door flew open.

This time 19 people died but he was thrown clear of the crash and landed in a haystack.

 

[Mantis]

I would think snow would be your best bet. Woodlands would be dangerous due to the risk of impalement or injury on branches. Water, ehh...since its quite unforgiving (try a belly flop at the pool next time).

That was my thinking too...deep snow would compress under you and slow down your impact. It would have to be pretty deep snow though to make much of a difference.

 

[N_Molson]

That was my thinking too...deep snow would compress under you and slow down your impact. It would have to be pretty deep snow though to make much of a difference.

I think that snow, haystacks or forests work the same way. You survive if you fall on a spot where the density and compressibility are at the right equilibrium. Liquid water is then ruled out, since the compressibility "slider" can't be adjusted.

Provided there is nothing lethal to hit you, like a fork in the haystack, a pointy branch in the forest, or a chunck of ice in soft snow.

 

[jangofett287]

I think that will be your main problem, finding a patch of snow deep enough that doesn't turn to ice a short way down. That is, of course, assuming you can find snow at all...

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

I wish I could remember where I saw this, but I recall reading about a WW2 Allied aircrew member surviving a drop after crashing through the glass roof of a railway station. The thinking there seemed to be that the fall is survivable, provided you're in the right position (lying on your back, flat out), but the shock of the incident usually induces a fatal heart attack. The quality of the source was so-so, but I recall they did name a name for the survivor of that fall.

 

[astrosammy]

I wish I could remember where I saw this, but I recall reading about a WW2 Allied aircrew member surviving a drop after crashing through the glass roof of a railway station. The thinking there seemed to be that the fall is survivable, provided you're in the right position (lying on your back, flat out), but the shock of the incident usually induces a fatal heart attack. The quality of the source was so-so, but I recall they did name a name for the survivor of that fall.

Here, with some other cases linked in the article: [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee"]Alan Magee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I think I'd try to aim for the nearest glass roof if there's nothing better around...

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Here, with some other cases linked in the article: Alan Magee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think I'd try to aim for the nearest glass roof if there's nothing better around...

Thanks, that helps a lot :thumbup:

I'm not fully convinced about the glass roof though, unless there was something else to fall through. Human beings can survive massive G forces for short periods of time, but going from 150 mph to 0 is usually a bit more than the body can handle. The one that shocks me the most though was Chissov. Its a miracle he didnt break his neck when he hit the slope at an angle...