He was a tail gunner, the tail was blown off the airplane, he didn't realize it had became unattached until he unstrapped to go get his parachute. He then fell out, fell 20,000+ into a snow bank
Posted on 02/03/2004 8:54:26 PM PST by woofie
It's happened on more than one occasion. On January 26, 1972, a bomb detonated on board a JAT Yugoslav Airlines DC-9-32. The aircraft was at 33,000 feet at the time and disintegrated in flight. There was one survivor, a flight attendant who had been seated in the rear of the aircraft. Despite her severe injuries, she lived although she was paralyzed from the waist down.
Hey, instead of reserve parachutes, maybe they will invent airbags, like the Mars Rover's?
1. "Lieutenant I. M. Chisov of the former Soviet Union was flying his Ilyushin 4 on a bitter cold day in January 1942, when it was attacked by 12 German Messerschmitts. Convinced that he had no chance of surviving if he staged with his badly battered plane, Chisov bailed out at 21,980 feet. With the fighters still buzzing around, Chisov cleverly decided to fall freely out of the arena. It was his plan not to open his chute until he was down to only 1000 ft above the ground. Unfortunately, he lost consciousness en route. As luck would have it, he crashed at the edge of a steep ravine covered with 3 ft of snow. Hitting at about 120 mi/h, he plowed along its slope until he came to rest at the bottom. Chisov awoke 20 min later, bruised and sore, but miraclously he had suffered only a concussion of the spine and a fractured pelvis. Three and one-half months later he was back at work as a flight instructor." Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Calculus. 2nd ed. United States: Brooks/Cole, 2000. p 85
2. Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade was on a bombing mission over Germany on 23 March 1944 when his Lancaster bomber flying at 18,000 feet was blazed apart and in flames when he was forced to jump, without a parachute or be burn to death. He dove out of his destroyed aircraft hoping on a quick death. His speed accelerated to over 120 miles per hour and he impacted on a snow covered sloping forest. He was completely uninjured and later captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story.
Probably well in excess of an unladen swallow, English or African.
Naw, they'll do genetic engineering.
The next generation Airborne trooper: his top is made of rubber, his bottom is made of springs...
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Probably maxed out at about 100 mph due to air resistancw.
There's another, a WWII Russian bomber pilot who similarly had little choice in the matter, but landed in snow after a bailout from 21,000 feet and survived; another Russian pilot went into fir trees and lived to tell about it. Details *here* and following:
Notable Free Fallers
I.M. Chisov:
Lt. I.M. Chisov was a Russian airman whose Ilyushin IL-4 bomber was attacked by German fighters in January of 1942. Falling nearly 22,000 feet, he hit the edge of a snow-covered ravine and rolled to the bottom. He was badly hurt but survived.
Alan Magee:
Alan Magee, a gunner on a B-17 with the 303rd Bomb Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force, was on a mission to St. Nazaire, France in January of 1943, when his bomber was set aflame by enemy fire. He was thrown from the plane before he had a chance to put on his parachute. He fell 20,000 feet and crashed through the skylight of the St. Nazaire train station. His arm was badly injured, but he recovered from that and other injuries.
Nicholas Alkemade
In March of 1944, Nicholas Alkemade was the tail gunner in a British Lancaster bomber on a night mission to Berlin when his plane was attacked by German fighters. When the captain ordered the crew to bail out, Alkemade looked back into the plane and discovered that his parachute was in flames. He chose to jump without a parachute rather than to stay in the burning plane. He fell 18,000 feet, landing in trees, underbrush, and drifted snow. He twisted his knee and had some cuts, but was otherwise alright.
Kids, don't try this at home...
He had gone back to the bay in an attempt to remove a bomb that had hung up. But, in trying to disengage it, he fell out of the open bay. They were flying at about 8,000 feet, as I recall.
He dropped about fifty feet -- into a snow bank on a mountainside.
Got up. Dusted himself off. And, once the sun came up, walked down the mountain.
My dad who also served in WW II told me this story some time back, and I'll check back with him tomorrow to just to make sure I have the story totally straight.
Okay, I'm inside. Get some BIG parachutes.
-archy-/-
I'd like to see this issue. Amazing story, thanks partner for the ping!
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