Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: woofie
I vaguely remember reading about this before but I still find it hard to believe a man could fall 22,000 feet without a parachute and survive. A glass skylight "breaking" his fall? C'mon.
7 posted on 02/03/2004 9:28:41 PM PST by SamAdams76 (I got my 401(k) statement - Up 28.02% in 2003 - Thanks to tax cuts and the Bush recovery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: SamAdams76
Does anyone want to estimate his air speed?
9 posted on 02/03/2004 9:30:03 PM PST by woofie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

To: SamAdams76
I knew a Navy chief who fell 4 stories onto a stone courtyard, and his fall was broken by a large cactus plant. Broken pelvis among his many breaks, but he lived.
10 posted on 02/03/2004 9:33:16 PM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

To: SamAdams76
I vaguely remember reading about this before but I still find it hard to believe a man could fall 22,000 feet without a parachute and survive. A glass skylight "breaking" his fall? C'mon.

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.

22 posted on 02/03/2004 9:48:41 PM PST by COEXERJ145
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

To: SamAdams76
I vaguely remember reading about this before but I still find it hard to believe a man could fall 22,000 feet without a parachute and survive. A glass skylight "breaking" his fall? C'mon.

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...

33 posted on 02/03/2004 10:19:49 PM PST by archy (Angiloj! Mia kusenveturilo estas plena da angiloj!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

To: SamAdams76
There was a guy in the 70's or 80's skydiving who survived a fall of around 9000 feet onto a muddy slope and walked. One of my classmates in geology who base jumped (yea, could you find much more psycho things to do?). He watched a guy ahead of him jump off the New River Gorge bridge in West VA, suffer a complete canopy failure and then saw him gather up the chute and crawl out of a pool he landed in. It's not inconcievable and I'll buy it, particularly with witnesses.
43 posted on 02/04/2004 6:55:47 AM PST by Axenolith (<tag>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

To: SamAdams76
A glass skylight "breaking" his fall? C'mon.

I am sure it was more than a glass skylight breaking the fall. My guess would be Devine intervention.

67 posted on 02/04/2004 10:02:18 AM PST by Orange1998
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson