[240B]

On the face of it, he had to have died for many reasons.

He jumped from the side door of a 727. Dangerous jump with likely injury.

He jumped from over 10,000ft, in November, in the NE, into forest, at night with no cold weather gear or oxygen. This is also known as committing suicide. Superman himself couldn’t survive that.

As far as who he was, I don’t have a clue. But, if things happened as reported, whoever it was, he certainly died that night.

[Kharis13]

He jumped from the side door of a 727. Dangerous jump with likely injury.

Cooper jumped from the rear of the plane, not the side. The "aft airstair" was lowered and that's what he jumped from. Subsequently, a device dubbed "The Cooper Vane" was implemented, which kept the aft airstairs from being lowered during flight.

He jumped from over 10,000ft, in November, in the NE, into forest, at night with no cold weather gear or oxygen. This is also known as committing suicide. Superman himself couldn’t survive that.

He knew something about aviation, thus his requirements for a lower altitude and airspeed. The oxygen, while thin, was still ample for survival. (He also jumped in the Northwest). The cold, rainy weather could've been the deciding factor in whether he lived or died. That remains to be solved. It's certainly interesting!

[dis.kevin]

He actually jumped from the rear stairway of the jet. I have jumped from a plane at over 10,000 ft. without o2. I have made night jumps, but never over a forest in bad weather.
I think he died that night too.

[snoringbear]

“He jumped from over 10,000ft”

I've jumped from 7,000ft, but never 10,000ft. However, I have been to Leadville, Colorado which is at 10,120ft and I also drove my jeep over Mosquito Pass which is 13,185ft without any issue for me or my Jeep. The Jeep was getting kinda lame on horsepower but being it was fuel injected no fuel/air adjustments were required. About the weather and temp, keep in mind that he jumped sans static-line which means he went into a free fall for X amount of seconds. So, he wasn't at high altitude for very long.

[Doc Savage]

Back door, not side.

[hadit2here]

>> “He jumped from over 10,000ft, in November, in the NE, into forest, at night with no cold weather gear or oxygen. This is also known as committing suicide. Superman himself couldn’t survive that.” <<

Sorry to burst your misinformation bubble, but anyone who’s been around a drop zone would know that 10,000 feet is not an uncommon altitude to skydive from. Oxygen is not needed. It’s done every day in the US somehwere. I used to watch the skydivers near here jump most every day from 10,000 to 14,000 feet. At the drop zone, one of them even showed me his recording altimeter showing his free fall time from that altitude.

When I jumped, from only a small plane, it was from about 3500 ft. That’s for a static line beginner’s first jump.

Also, he jumped from the plane over SW Washington state, which is a LONG way from the NE. While parts of WA state are forested, SW WA is a myriad of different types of geography, including rocky, almost desert landscapes to cultivated farmland.

While temperatures are on the chilly side around November here, most people around here go around in normal clothing, day and night. This isn’t the wilds of Alaska tundra. He might have gotten chilly jumping from 10K ft, but skydivers do it daily and folks around here get along on the ground in November with suits or light jackets. Again, not the frozen great white north that you describe.

Actually, for someone with reasonable training, they wouldn’t need to be Superman to survive this exploit. I believe our military personnel do things like this all the time and survive quite well. [God bless them!]

It’s already been pointed out that he did not jump from the side door, which would have been impossible to open during flight. That’s why he chose the 727, as it had the rear ramp, like many in the military use for parachuting out of airplanes.

Based on all your other misinformation, I would have to disagree with your conclusion that “he certainly died that night”.

Please check your facts before posting wild assertions.

[Minn]

He jumped from the side door of a 727. Dangerous jump with likely injury.

No. He jumped from the rear ramp door. And that altitude is survivable. If he didn't survive the jump, he would have surely been found attached to the parachute, and they wouldn't have found some of the cash some distance away. There is no reason to believe he didn't survive.

[Minn]

I should have read the rest of the thread before replying. You must be pretty sore after the FR beat down.

Teaches all a lesson about going off half cocked around here I guess.

[PA Engineer]

He jumped from the side door of a 727. Dangerous jump with likely injury.

No. He jumped from the rear door: Boeing 727

Tests were conducted over Thailand in 1968 and the aircraft seemed uniquely capable of quickly air dropping pallets of cargo as well and jumpers while retaining overall airliner appearance and performance. The extent of which this capability was used once it was proven is not clear, but I have been told that it was in fact used repeatedly in Laos and other "border regions" where America was not technically supposed to be.

Primarily as a result of DB Cooper, the rear door was phased out.