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I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

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Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#61

Post by goodcanadian »

epigramx wrote: post #47

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?

Due to surface tension, hitting water at speed is actually worse than hitting concrete. As a sibling comment stated, from his injuries, he almost certainly landed feet first. His shattered feet and hips absorbed enough of the impact that he was able to survive. The unopened chute would also have slowed him down somewhat [EDIT: and presumably served to orient him "properly" for landing].

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#62

Post by abritinthebay »

iopuy wrote: post #27

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…

I got pulled out and through a Cat 3 after heavy rains... and that was enough. Can't even imagine the scariness of a Cat 5 (multiple!!)

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#64

Post by unicornporn »

anonymouslee wrote: post #55
unicornporn wrote: post #52

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.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson explores this idea towards the very end. Doesn't give it much time but obviously it's hard to interpret from our end.

Thank you. I was kind of hoping someone would have suggestions for further reading. :)

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#66

Post by empressplay »

unicornporn wrote: post #52

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.

This is known as "quantum immortality" [0]

[0] https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_immortality

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#68

Post by 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.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#69

Post by mavidser »

et-al wrote: post #11

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.

The RAT actually worked. It was what made the radio come back online.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#70

Post by eksemplar »

twright0 wrote: post #67
eksemplar wrote: post #63

Why are fighter pilots such extraordinary story tellers?

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

True, and it's anecdotal, but I've seen quite a few good stories from various fighter pilots and I honestly can't think of something similar from other lines of work.

I mean, I've obviously seen good storytelling from journalists and writers, but they've often spent lifetimes honing their craft.

I wonder if it's the focus and awareness that gives pilots such a potential.

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