
I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived - curtis
https://uss-la-ca135.org/60/1960Judkins-Knott.html
======
iopuy
Earlier this year on a white water rafting expedition I had the misfortune of
falling out of the raft and into a series of category 5 rapids. It was
absolute chaos. The force of large bodies of moving water is astounding. Any
notion of "swimming to safety" is ludicrous. A more accurate description is
"being washed to safety" because you have no control over the larger movements
of your body. I've heard in avalanches survivors sometimes don't know which
end is up and digging themselves deeper. This was me while underwater in the
rapids. I couldn't see, didn't know which end was up, and couldn't breath. How
he managed to survive is astonishing. Finding his knife, assessing the
situation, and acting before being pulled under while injured almost defies my
imagination. Riveting read.

~~~
cjonas
if your unlucky enough to be fully buried in an avalanche, it's not possible
to dig, period. After everything stops moving, the loose snow refreezes almost
instantly, locking you in place. Still, you're correct... Survivors often
state they had no idea which direction was up.

~~~
Johnny_Brahms
This depends on the type of avalanche. I know,because I was caught in one. The
one I was in was relatively minor and made up of a large part newly fallen
snow. I had stopped for a break and managed to get my skis back on, but the
thing overtook me hundred meters later. I had managed to get to higher ground
relative to the rest of the slope, which is probably what saved me. I broke
one leg and both my arms and got a pretty bad concussion.

I managed to walk/ski (one ski was still on me, but badly broken ) to a nearby
village and driven on a stretcher to the hospital.

I am lucky to be alive. It is amazing though how clear you can think in life
threatening situations. the moment I noticed the avalanche I knew exactly what
to do and where to go. When I was buried I remember rocking back and forth to
get some wiggle/breathing room and when it stopped I waited until my mind
cleared up, struggling hard to defeat the panic and pain, until assessing g
the situation.

~~~
kamaal
Wow! Firstly I would like to say this was one of those rare HN comments which
blows you mind away.

Very nice to hear you survived such a bad accident.

>>I am lucky to be alive. It is amazing though how clear you can think in life
threatening situations.

David Allen talks about these situations in this talk. In the moments of
crises, the brain brings about all its focus to the highest priority task at
focus. Its almost like crises commands the best kind of productivity.

~~~
monsieurbanana
Students have known that since the dawn of time. It's why they don't work
until the night before the deadline, when the urgency is enough to allow them
use 200% or their brain's capacities in order to obtain a passing grade.

The cherry on top: they can now spend the time until their next deadline
thinking about the amazing grades they would get if they worked more than one
night per month.

Source: me

~~~
muzani
Cortisol does wonders, but only for the short term. It basically destroys part
of your body to supercharge the rest.

Later on in life, plenty of companies try to make use of it, pushing people
into long hours and short deadlines, and find that it doesn't work as well.

~~~
kamaal
>>pushing people into long hours and short deadlines, and find that it doesn't
work as well.

That is because you need some skin in the game. Nobody is losing sleep to work
on a project whose success or failure has no disproportionate effect on the
well being of the individual.

------
Mitchhhs
I was once in a plane crash in which the wing of our small plane hit the mast
of a sailboat that was motoring in front of the runway and we didnt see it. We
impacted the seawall and flipped over onto land and slid upside down a few
hundred feet.

The author's description of both not feeling his injuries until he tried to
move as well as his own recognition of not being dead were spot on. I would
have described it exactly the same way myself. I ended up with a broken foot
and leg, but overall no lasting damage which was extremely lucky. Looking back
on that experience is always incredibly surreal.

~~~
codingdave
It is amazing how little you feel immediately after an accident. Mine wasn't
so death-defying, but I did shatter my shoulder in a bicycle accident, and
called a friend to come get me and drive me and my bike home. I did not
realize I was hurt until he got there, and could not stand up or move the left
half of my body. Then we decided to go to the hospital instead of my home. But
for about the first 10 minutes, I thought I just was just scraped up a bit...

~~~
joejerryronnie
Back in high school, my ear got cut nearly in half in a car accident. I didn't
feel a thing until the paramedic jammed and taped a styrofoam restraint
against my ear as a precaution for neck injuries. Apparently, the full range
of pain free neck motion vs the gouts of blood gushing from my ear wasn't
convincing enough.

------
econnors
Awesome read.

Can anyone explain the quote below? I don't really understand how the
minesweeper understood the signal.

\---

The Coast Guard amphibian gained altitude and flew off. (I learned later that
he headed for a squadron of minesweepers that was returning to the United
States from a tour of the Western Pacific. He was unable to tune to their
radio frequency for communications. But this ingenious pilot lowered a wire
from his aircraft and dragged it across the bow of the minesweeper, the USS
Embattle. The minesweeper captain understood the plea, and veered off at top
speed in my direction.)

~~~
justin66
I think it was mostly a matter of people asking "what is that Coast Guard
amphibian rescue plane trying so hard to tell us?" and that question having a
very short list of likely answers.

~~~
djsumdog
Makes me think of Lassy. "What are you trying to tell us? Is Timmy stuck in
the well?"

------
js2
Huh, an F-8, just like Lt Col William Rankin who spent over 40 minutes stuck
in a thundercloud after ejecting from his F-8:

[https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-
storm/](https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-storm/)

~~~
adamredwoods
Nice, thanks for sharing! I also like Bill Weaver's story of ejecting from an
SR-71: [http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-
fr...](http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-free-fell-
space-lived-tell/)

and this one of a paraglider surviving a thunderstorm uplift:
[http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dead-luck-ewas-flight-
of...](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dead-luck-ewas-flight-of-
fury/2007/02/16/1171405421626.html)

~~~
dbrgn
You can watch the documentary about Ewa here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTEoD2j4xdQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTEoD2j4xdQ)

------
dmitrygr
One important note is that this was _NOT_ free fall as you'd expect. The pilot
chute is still pretty large and provides a LOT of drag. Instead of 120mph,
you'd be falling near ~90mph with just it behind you. That is 44% less kinetic
energy!

~~~
rconti
He mentioned not preparing for the impact. How would one even prepare for an
impact if one wanted to? Ground or water, I just can't think of a good way to
land. Anyone have any insight?

~~~
nawgszy
I think about this sometimes. Ground, I have no answer, you seem like you will
die. Perhaps landing legs first allows you to use those as a crumple zone.

Water, though, isn't the pencil dive the clear winner? Everything else would
decelerate you so much faster that it would be bound to cause injuries. The
only downside (relative to all other methods of impact) I can imagine is how
far underwater you might end up.

I would be happy for someone to tell me otherwise, but this is my completely
theoretical summation of a terminal velocity water-landing.

~~~
KGIII
We were taught the sailor dive, which is good to about 90', according to
training. You use it to abandon ship. Err... I was in the Marines.

Basically, cross your legs, point your toes, cup your testicles with one hand,
and cover your nose with the other.

The force of hitting the water will crush your testicles and rip your nose off
your face. So, you cover them. You cross your legs to keep them together. You
point your toes so you don't shatter your feet, ankles, or legs.

When your feet hit the water, immediately bend at the waist. You're going fast
enough that you're completely in the water. You fold at the waist to make your
depth more shallow. You then flip and swim to the surface.

This works at greater heights but survivability goes down at about 90'. You
can practice at lower heights, if you want to learn it. I'm sure there are
videos and whatnot.

~~~
pcthrowaway
I believe I read that you want to clench your butthole as well (in addition to
covering nose and mouth) to prevent the force of water rushing up your
cavities from killing you. Certain pants fabrics help prevent this from
happening as well.

~~~
KGIII
Well, sort of. I don't recall that being specifically mentioned but we were
taught to tighten all muscles. You actually want to be as tense as you can
when you hit the water. You want to hit it as close to straight as you can.

When you do hit it, just relaxing will fold you up - by the way. You're going
so fast that you won't relax before you're completely submerged and slowed. I
forget the numbers but it means your dive is more shallow than if you'd stayed
tensed. There's a ratio for it, but I've long since forgotten.

I suspect there's been a bit posted about this. My enlistment was a long time
ago but I'm told they still teach it. There may be some modifications to it,
or new data for survivability.

------
et-al
This is insane.

At least 5 redundancies failed: the Ram Air turbine, primary and secondary
ejection sequences, the parachute, and his survival pack went missing. And yet
Mr. Judkins survived maybe because he had spleen removed. Amazing.

~~~
DonHopkins
That's 6 failures, assuming that's why he had to have his spleen removed.

~~~
24gttghh
His spleen was removed after an auto accident prior to the flame-out.

------
dba7dba
Two other incredible stories of men who jumped without a parachute from
burning/crashing planes from tens of thousands of feet up in the sky and
survived.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee)
Alan Magee survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17 Flying
Fortress. He was a ball turret machine gunner. Hit glass ceiling of a railway
station which supposedly broke the fall.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade)
Nicholas Alkemade survived, without a parachute, a fall of 18,000 feet (5,500
m). He was serving as a rear gunner in a Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster. His
fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover on the ground.

About non-functioning parachutes. I was reading "Flying Low" by B.K. Bryans
who became a US Navy Jet pilot around mid 1960's. When he was going through
his training in propeller driven training planes, a fellow student pilot
bailed out of a trainer but fell to his death when the parachute didn't open.
The trainer plane had no ejection seat so the student pilot had bailed out the
old fashioned way, which required pulling a cord of the parachute manually
after exiting the plane. His parachute tragically didn't open.

The base commander dropped 10 randomly selected parachutes from the base and
NONE opened. A rigger from another airbase nearby was brought in and all the
parachutes were all repacked.

~~~
jaclaz
Another one:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Chisov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Chisov)

The debate is whether in this case what made the difference (apart the "luck"
of landing on a snowy ravine) was that the pilot was unconscious (like in the
Magee case), i.e. with all his body completely "relaxed", and this somehow
mitigated the impact (in comparison to someone who "prepares " for the hit).

------
hellbanner
Why did "He was unable to tune to their radio frequency for communications.
But this ingenious pilot lowered a wire from his aircraft and dragged it
across the bow of the minesweeper, the USS Embattle. The minesweeper captain
understood the plea, and veered off at top speed in my direction.)" work?

Did they just figure out something was wrong or is dragging a wire a common
naval code?

~~~
dbdr
Supposing it's not a common naval code, it's strange enough behavior that the
captain would think it must mean something, and "follow me" is the best
intuitive interpretation I can see, though by no means obvious.

~~~
hellbanner
That makes sense. I guess you have to have some wits about you on the high
seas.

------
wolfkill
I had a friend in high school who's father survived a skydiving accident
"breaking every bone in his body." What made the biggest impression on me was
that not only did he have to recover physically, but he had to deal with
inability to work and medical bills leading to bankruptcy and a failed
business. It may have been the first time in my life I thought about this kind
of consequences.

~~~
delvinj
I did a tandem jump from 10,000 ft when I was a teenager. We exited the plane
while flying through clouds (which is illegal IIRC) and tumbled out of control
for the entire free fall period before the chute opened.

The exit was my fault. To initiate a jump, the pilot would count down from
three and then scream "GO". With the door open it was very difficult to hear.
Clouds were forming and we had already aborted twice, with my partner pulling
us back into the plane each time.

On the third attempt I misread the shouts and hand signals and exited the
plane before "GO". I was taller and heavier than my tandem partner so he
probably had no choice.

We tumbled into thick, gray clouds. Without a horizon this made me nauseous.
My partner was screaming from the moment we left the plane. I'd catch a word
or two but most of his instruction was lost to the wind. We were totally out
of control.

We exited the cloud still tumbling, my partner still screaming. I remember the
chute opening, but we were never properly in control.

The next few minutes were glorious, though still nauseous, and the landing was
uneventful.

I didn't think much of the consequences back then... But no more skydiving for
me :-)

~~~
the_nozzle
... which means you had a shitty tandem instructor . Shortly after a tandem
pair leaves the door the instructor chucks a drogue which slows your terminal
velocity to that of a single person and basically suspends the whole setup.
Once that happens getting out the belly to earth position is basically
impossible. The whole pulling back and description of your experience gives me
an impression you were at a really sketchy drop zone.

~~~
delvinj
Instructor? No, he was just a polite guy strapped onto my back who was about
to have a memorable jump.

Our "instruction" was a 30 minute VHS tape about how we couldn't sue for any
accidents.

Sketchy indeed.

------
peterburkimsher
In case (heaven forbid) this ever happens to you, try to find a piece of
wreckage to use to fly, like a maple seed.

The Free Fall Research Page: Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips by David
Carkeet

[http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html](http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html)

Reading these articles is very personal to me, because I crashed my parapente
on takeoff on what would have been my second solo flight. I still want to take
up training again, but I need a new coach who I trust to tell me when the
wind's strong enough.

~~~
deepsun
Hm, you must be able to tell it yourself, you're the pilot, not your coach. In
parachuting that's even one of the questions for test -- who's the final
authority during flight:

A. Your coach. B. The most experienced pilot on site. C. You (the pilot). D.
Parachuting club owner.

For paragliding there's USHPA ratings, feel free to study them: [1]. For
example in 12-02.13 there's requirements for P1 (Novice Pilot) rating, and
recommended operating limitations for them:

1\. "Should fly only in steady winds of 12 MPH. or less."

[1]
[https://www.ushpa.org/legacy/documents/sop/sop-12-02.pdf](https://www.ushpa.org/legacy/documents/sop/sop-12-02.pdf)

~~~
peterburkimsher
I spent 2 months salary over the course of 6 months to train with an
unlicensed coach who is not an official USHPA instructor. He was trying to
sell me his old gear that hadn't passed safety inspections in over 5 years.
Several people warned me against training with him.

Why did I continue? There's no other English-speaking coaches in the south of
Taiwan. Also, his training was the only one I could afford. I really want to
learn to fly.

"I need a new coach who I trust" is more related to the other issues than the
relatively minor incident where I ended up in a tree. I accept my share of the
responsibility for attempting that takeoff, and I'm grateful that it didn't
result in serious injury. When it happened though, it was an appropriate time
to call off the course and stop that con man from trying to sell me unsafe
equipment.

And, back to the topic, it means I have a personal sense of how terrifying it
can be when a parachute doesn't inflate.

------
unicornporn
While not nearly as dramatic, this story reminds me a serious accident I had
in my early childhood. For a long time I thought that perhaps I did die and
that I had continued life in a near identical parallel dimension while leaving
friends and relatives mourning in the one I had been born in.

I wonder if this thought ever occurred to the pilot.

A fantastic read.

~~~
borkabrak
I guess we're wandering a bit from the topic, but I used to feel the same way
about, of all things, that childhood pastime of spinning around with your arms
out. I spent more time than I'm comfortable specifying believing that every
revolution put me in a slightly different universe, and that in order to get
back, I'd have to perform exactly as many counter-revolutions in the opposite
direction.

While this may sound insanely OCD, I remember thinking that I didn't have to
get the number of counter-revolutions _exactly_ right -- within a half-dozen
or so should be "good enough".

I guess I was an imaginative child.

~~~
unicornporn
Haha, wonderful. It's a an appealing thought I must say. What if the the
"right" maneuvers in space actually open inter-dimensional portals. Sounds
like we could've made good friends.

------
brendanw
The human body can sustain a surprising amount of damage and still carry on.

Three different wingsuit pilots have survived unintentionally crashing into
trees with no parachute out now:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp3YLdhraPw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp3YLdhraPw)

[https://vimeo.com/50817449](https://vimeo.com/50817449) (view at 6:35)

[http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-
bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2994...](http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-
bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2994691)

And then you have Jeb Corliss crashing full speed into a mountain and
surviving:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92-fNtnewxc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92-fNtnewxc)

~~~
bartread
Sadly these near miraculous cases are _vastly_ outnumbered wingsuit accidents
where the jumper was killed.

Your chances of surviving a wingsuit, or any kind of BASE jumping accident are
considerably worse than your chances of surviving a single round of Russian
roulette with five rounds in the cylinder, even if you're the only player.

~~~
simooooo
Wouldn't you being the only player increase the chances of shooting yourself?

~~~
bartread
It would, but your odds of not shooting yourself are 1 in 6, assuming a
standard 6 chambered cylinder. Your odds of surviving would be very slightly
higher (depending on where you choose to shoot yourself) because, of course, a
gunshot wound might not be fatal.

Like I say, your chances of surviving a wingsuit accident (basically impacting
the ground, a cliff, a tree, whatever) are _considerably_ worse than this.

------
dogruck
Humans never cease to amaze.

I'm anxious about an event tomorrow, and this put me at ease.

Then again, I have a spleen...

~~~
EADGBE
Hey, maybe tomorrow you won't have one :)

------
Insanity
Came across this on 'Hot Network Posts' on the Stackexchange network:
[https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/44740/why-
cant-...](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/44740/why-cant-you-
ditch-your-aircraft-in-the-sea)

Asked because of reading this article.

------
jpatokal
Related: A Serbian flight attendant who survived a fall of 10,160 metres
without a parachute.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87)

~~~
toomuchtodo
Tangently related: Israeli F-15 pilot who loses a wing in a mid-air collision
and still successfully lands.

[https://theaviationist.com/2014/09/15/f-15-lands-with-one-
wi...](https://theaviationist.com/2014/09/15/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/)

Interesting tidbit: they slapped a replacement wing on and returned the
aircraft to service.

~~~
mc32
And totally different tangent, GM will not warranty a C7 because of a minor
crack on the chassis[1] so it's declared totaled and offered for 7.5 grand or
so.

[1][http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/09/one-tiny-crack-led-
a-c7-...](http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/09/one-tiny-crack-led-
a-c7-corvette-grand-sport-to-be-totaled/)

~~~
lallysingh
[https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-a-corvette-was-totaled-
becaus...](https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-a-corvette-was-totaled-because-of-
one-inch-of-1806727930)

A small crack, but not minor.

------
psergeant
As with almost everyone who survives, note the missing spleen

~~~
gear54rus
What is this referring to?

~~~
maxerickson
A ruptured spleen causes internal bleeding. It's one of the more likely
traumatic injuries to the abdomen. If you have had it removed, internal
bleeding is less likely.

------
chrismealy
I know a guy who ruptured his spleen from hitting the water at a water park
(he was very overweight at the time). It happens.

------
raldi
By the way, this story happened in 1963.

~~~
wolfkill
I was wondering!

------
baby
For non-americans: 15 000 feet is 4.5km.

~~~
PaulRobinson
I am a non-american, and understand the concept of 15000 feet. :)

The only countries not to use feet as a measure of altitude for aviation
purposes are China, DPRK and Russia. They use metres.

~~~
baby
Ah I didn't know that, so pilots in France use feet as a measure for aviation
altitude?

PS: wow, interesting
[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit%C3%A9_en_aviation](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit%C3%A9_en_aviation)

~~~
realusername
They only use it internally, when communicating to passengers, they still use
metres (because nobody has any idea what a foot looks like in France).

~~~
meredydd
Not actually true; French pilots and ATC use feet too (whichever language
you're speaking).

French influence on aviation has been strong since the beginning (hence all
the French words - aileron, fuselage, décalage, etc), but the unit of
height/altitude is one where the Americans set the standard.

(Source: I fly an American-designed, French-built aeroplane to/through France
semi-regularly.)

~~~
clamprecht
It's true about French influence. Even the weather observation reports used
worldwide, METARS, use abbreviations like "BR" for fog, because the French
word for fog is "brouillard".

------
module0000
This guy's ability to keep calm is incredible. He's falling after being sucked
out of the cockpit with a useless parachute, and his remark is:

```“This is very serious,” I thought.```

This is balls of brass and nerves of steel combined.

------
hutzlibu
Morale, sometimes just everything goes wrong.

But if you stay calm, despite thinking it is hopeless and take your small
chances, once they arise - you might actually succed and survive ..

~~~
lilbobbytables
Good takeaway.

I believe that's a core part of the training for Navy SEALS.

They push you far past your "breaking point" to realize that it isn't where
you thought it was, helping you learn to keep your head about you when in
extreme situations.

------
eksemplar
Why are fighter pilots such extraordinary story tellers?

~~~
twright0
You only read the stories written by pilots who are good story tellers; nobody
shares the rest.

~~~
EADGBE
Oddly, good storytellers also don't have a spleen. Weird.

~~~
Piskvorrr
In this case, good storytellers _who are alive_ don't. Survivor bias, quite
literally.

------
tempestn
At least the life vest inflated!

~~~
robotresearcher
Lucky devil!

------
gadders
The woman in this court case [1] managed to survive a double parachute failure
(ALLEGEDLY caused by her husband) from 4,000ft, partly because she managed to
land on a ploughed field which was relatively soft:

[1] [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/04/army-sergeant-
hav...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/04/army-sergeant-having-
tinder-affair-tried-murder-wife-tampering/)

------
edraferi
>The main, 24-foot parachute was just flapping in the breeze and was tangled
in its own shroud lines. It hadn’t opened! I could see the white folds neatly
arranged, fluttering feebly in the air.

> “This is very serious,” I thought.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
I bet that wasn't the first thing that came to mind.

~~~
krallja
I think it was a euphemism for the actual words that came to his mind.

------
smnplk
What about Luke Aikins, who jumped without a parachute into a net from 25000
feet.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qF_fzEI4wU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qF_fzEI4wU)

~~~
ceejayoz
Altitude doesn't really make a difference past ~1,500 feet. At that point,
you've hit terminal velocity.

~~~
craftyguy
For downward velocity, it doesn't matter. But for lateral movement, where the
wrong move 10k+ feet up could send you off course, it matters.

~~~
cthalupa
I imagine most people falling from heights are not doing so with a net waiting
for them, so that lateral movement to attempt to find a better spot to crash
is probably beneficial.

~~~
smnplk
It is if you care where you die.

------
DeerSpotter
This is a interesting quote, googling it only shows this article, did the
person writing the story make it up, or is this actually a saying that "some"
say.

“Some days you are the dog and others you are the fire-plug.”

~~~
philjr
"Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree / fire hydrant" is the
canonical quote.

I would assume the fire plug is the name of one of the things that failed
while he refueled. Doesn't quite go together in my head, but once you
understand the original quote it makes sense. Some days you're on the giving
end, some days you're on the receiving end.

~~~
techsupporter
At least where I’m from (Texas, where the story teller at least spent time),
hydrants are called fire plugs. I’ve no idea why but that’s what I know them
as.

~~~
showdead
The term comes from the history of firefighting:
[http://www.firehydrant.org/info/hist-
fp.html](http://www.firehydrant.org/info/hist-fp.html)

------
thecrazyone
As I read it, I thought this is such a well written piece (I thought the
author was the pilot himself), and that the pilot must be insanely talented
because not only was he a fighter pilot (which requires skill) but he was an
adept writer as well.

Then I later realized that this was a chapter from a book. Whew! the tale has
got my heart pumping. This is some amazing narration of an amazing incident

~~~
corford
I think it was written by the pilot (Cliff Judkins). The book is a collection
of stories from 'forty-five Crusader' pilots.

------
fnwx17
> The main, 24-foot parachute was just flapping in the breeze and was tangled
> in its own shroud lines. It hadn’t opened! I could see the white folds
> neatly arranged, fluttering feebly in the air. “This is very serious,” I
> thought.

How can someone be so calm in that situation?

Nerves of steel, bravo!

------
wiz21c
>>> For the first time, I felt panic softening the edges of my determination.

Given the situation, he's got some balls.

~~~
Unknoob
I panicked just by reading the story. Can't even imagine what I'd do if
something like that happened to me.

------
odammit
That’s pretty wild. For another good falling from the sky story check out this
woman that fell two miles after a commercial airliner broke up in the air[1]

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LANSA_Flight_508](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LANSA_Flight_508)

~~~
odammit
Found the podcast I originally heard this story on. It’s a good listen.

[https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/07/10/podcast-
episode-16...](https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/07/10/podcast-
episode-161-girl-fell-sky/)

------
subroutine
If you like to read about stories like this check out this wikipedia page:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sole_survivors_of_airline_accidents_or_incidents

I think it's even more amazing when it's a commercial flight and everyone dies
except one person. I can't imagine what sort of psychological toll that would
have.

------
kwoff
Amazing story. He mentioned that that doctor was "high-lined" over from
another ship. Am I right that that's a "zip-line"? (TIL also that High Line is
a "park" in Manhattan.)

------
epigramx
He fell in an ocean. I wonder, if you happen by some extraordinary feat of
skill or luck to fall feet-down in a perfectly straight body formation, would
the impact be too small to have any injury?

~~~
Deestan
Judging by his injuries (smashed ankles and broken hip), I guess that is
exactly how he fell.

~~~
nathancahill
From cliff jumping 13 meters and nearing ripping my hip out of it's socket by
having my feet ever so _slighty_ apart, I can't imagine the amount of injury
from 15,000 feet.

~~~
fgonzag
Fun fact, there is no difference between 2000 feet (about 600 meters) and
15,000 feet, because of terminal velocity.

It also means that in a free fall spreading your body out horizontally to
increase the drag forces, then re positioning just before landing would be the
optimal choice. Not that you think of that in a free fall, but the physics are
there.

~~~
clamprecht
I wonder if there's some way you can actually do the opposite: First, gain all
the speed you can (speed is energy). Then before you hit the ground, do a kind
of "flare", where you make your body into a wing, and decrease your downward
energy. Do this right to the point of stall (as close as you can get) to
reduce kinetic energy when you hit.

I know it'd be basically impossible for a human to actually do this perfectly.
But I wonder, in theory, how much one could reduce the impact energy. Maybe
you could hit at 50mph instead of 120mph.

~~~
cat199
not an aviation/physics buff, but I think having a point of 'stall' implies
there is some 'lift' to begin with..

------
pawelos
Related HN submission, great read as well:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13839177](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13839177)

------
Dowwie
I've experienced this, metaphorically

------
theyregreat
It sounds like Marine pilot flight-gear of the time didn’t include a reserve
‘chute. Is that right?

------
ForFreedom
Thats an awesome read!!!!!

Will a passenger from a passenger airline survive if falling from 15,000 feet?

~~~
uitgewis
Unlikely. The only reason he was able to survive IMO is that his pilot chute
deployed, slowing him down.

~~~
tim333
Survival without a chute seems to involve hitting some large object that slows
you like a tree or a bendy roof.

Here's a pic of the roof that saved one guy
[http://cdn2.fella.com/2016/06/20151717/Magee-11.jpg](http://cdn2.fella.com/2016/06/20151717/Magee-11.jpg)

([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee))

------
swayvil
Goddamn! That was riveting!

------
jafingi
What a great story!

------
RyanShook
Amazing story.

------
cooltechguy
I dont know what to say whether its scary or awesome.

------
alexasmyths
That there was a mechanical failure, + 2 failures on the ejection, and a
parachute failure - is not a fluke. This is an extreme dereliction of duty by
design and/or maintenance teams.

There would be blame to go around as a result of this, and surely some op
changes.

~~~
cyberferret
> That there was a mechanical failure, + 2 failures on the ejection, and a
> parachute failure - is not a fluke. This is an extreme dereliction of duty
> by design and/or maintenance teams.

Re: Ejector seat, it _could_ also have been pilot error, if he had forgotten
to take the safety pins out of the ejector system during his pre flight check.
They are there specifically to prevent the ejection rocket from firing while
maintenance crew are working on the aircraft on ground, and should be removed
(by either pilot or crew chief) before flight. I know that in Naval aircraft,
the pilot has to replace these pins as one of the last things he does before
leaving the aircraft after landing.

~~~
dba7dba
I doubt anyone could've missed a pin with a big red tag (flag) attached to it.
It can't be missed.

~~~
Piskvorrr
Yeah. "Can't possibly happen" until it does.

