What are the odds!

[3Sqn_Sven]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=173580

 

Who freefalls 15000ft and lives? Amazing

[Lixma 06]

He captured his plunge on a helmet-mounted camera, which kept filming even after he crashed into the blackberry at Five Mile Bay, puncturing his lung and breaking an ankle.

 

C'mon, YouTube.....make yourself useful.

[Zuki]

I remember reading a "story" when I was a kid, sometime during WW2 a pilot jumped out of his damaged plane... no chute or chute did not open. He was over a forest and brush/trees/snow were contributing factors that prevented his death.

[Jester_159th]

I remember reading a "story" when I was a kid, sometime during WW2 a pilot jumped out of his damaged plane... no chute or chute did not open. He was over a forest and brush/trees/snow were contributing factors that prevented his death.

 

 

I remember hearing the same thing. It was supposedly a Lancaster tail gunner who was blown out of the aircraft when it exploded. Story goes that he fell from between 20 and 30,00ft but was saved by landing in an extremely deep snow drift.

 

No idea if it's a true story or not (although it was presented as such). Never seen any documentary proof to back it up. If it is true though, I bet he needed a change of trousers afterwards!!

[Lexif]

There is also Vesna Vulović, a JAT stewardess that survived a 33000 feet fall when the tail of the DC-9 she was sitting in was ripped off by a bomb.

 

There are a lot more stories like this then one would think - have a look at The Free Fall Research Page: http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/ffresearch.html

 

This story sounds crazy:

"Al Wilson was a barnstorming plane-changer (i.e., someone who would step from the wings of one plane to another in flight). One day over southern California, Wilson accidentally stepped off a wing into the air, without a parachute. A pilot named Frank Clarke was flying below and behind, and flew down toward the falling Wilson. Wilson crashed head-first into Clarke's Jenny biplane and stuck in the upper wing panel. Clarke landed the plane and Wilson emerged alive."

:doh:

[3Sqn_Sven]

Can you imagine the relief?

[suntrace1]

Wow, now that's a story!

[PaddyTB]

I remember hearing the same thing. It was supposedly a Lancaster tail gunner who was blown out of the aircraft when it exploded. Story goes that he fell from between 20 and 30,00ft but was saved by landing in an extremely deep snow drift.

 

No idea if it's a true story or not (although it was presented as such). Never seen any documentary proof to back it up. If it is true though, I bet he needed a change of trousers afterwards!!

 

I'm pretty sure it was on that BBC Series "Bomber Crew"

 

From memory his chute was damaged by fire. In the end fire got to hot for him and he jumped out without a chute.

 

And like you said landed in a snow drift and became POW.

[S77th-konkussion]

Oh geez- there was a MythBusters show on just the other night with a similar start to this story- but he was supposedly saved by a explosion going off under him whereas the upward blast shockwave supposedly cushioned his fall at just the right moment. :huh: :huh:

 

Needless to say- although there was a great shot of the blast wave- clearly visible- there was no way to even come close to saving the test dummy under the story's circumstances..

[FanBoy2006.01]

Their was a report in an South African newspaper (In South Africa.) about a guy that went skydiving and whose parachute failed. He survived with only minor injuries. They called it a miracle.

 

The next day the newspaper published an article in which experts said that it was impossible.

 

Um, I think that's why they called it a miracle in the first place.

You don't switch on a light and if the lightbulb shines you say: "It's a miracle!"

[Guest IguanaKing]

About ten years ago, there was a USAF PJ who not only survived a bad chute from a 27,000' jump, but he eventually went back to being a PJ. I read it in Airman magazine a few years ago. When I find the story on the net I'll post it.