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How I survived a plane crash

bbc.co.uk

41–50 of 67 posts

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not comparable unless you're the pilot, really ...

I think the statistic that was interesting to the GGP was absolute likelihood of death, not likelihood that you will contribute to your death by incompetence. In that case, it's irrelevant whether you're the pilot/driver.

I don't want to get into a thing here, but many times I've been on the road and avoided accidents, sometimes serious ones, by driving intelligently. Almost all of the wrecks or near-really-bad-wrecks I see occur when both parties are not paying enough attention or don't know how to respond to the crisis.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#43
post #22

Is it just me or is the most incredible part that she survived the impact? I'd be curious to understand how she fell from that high and didn't die from the immediate impact or wounds sustained from that, such as broken limbs that would have rendered her immobile. I imagine she probably just hit a ton of tree branches which softened the impact considerably. The odds of that seem tiny, but then again it could just be s…

Well, they did crash into a rain forest that was so dense she couldn't even see the planes she heard above searching for the wreckage. I imagine crashing over something like that has to be one of the safest places it can happen (not counting the survival rates post-crash).

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#44

"... The pain was intense as the maggots tried to get further into the wound. I pulled out about 30 maggots and was very proud of myself. I decided to spend the night there. ..." Should have eaten the maggots, lots of protein.

She was probably talking about Bott Flies. They're parasitic insects that live in the healthy flesh of the victim. I say they were Bott's because she had worked to get them out of an infected animal before.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#46
post #33

I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. It's not the green hell that the world always thinks. If by Peruvian Rainforest she means Peruvian Amazon, I fathom how anyone wouldn't think of it as a green hell. Thousands of people have died simply from travelling through it . What an ordeal, though.

Well, her statement seems more reasonable in context: > Before the crash, I had spent a year and a half with my parents on their research station only 30 miles away. I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. Arguably, the biggest dangers of the Amazon forrest are malaria-carrying mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions, and lack of access to drinkable water and edible foo…

[deleted]

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#47
post #30

seems HN has finally become reddit. what does this have anything to do with hacking, startups, or even computers.

Seems like the fate of any popular news aggregator is to aggregate things of general interest, no matter how well-targeted it begins.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#48
post #22

Is it just me or is the most incredible part that she survived the impact? I'd be curious to understand how she fell from that high and didn't die from the immediate impact or wounds sustained from that, such as broken limbs that would have rendered her immobile. I imagine she probably just hit a ton of tree branches which softened the impact considerably. The odds of that seem tiny, but then again it could just be s…

If you were a passenger on an aircraft carrying 10+ passengers involved in a fatal accident in the 1970s, you had about a 1 in 4 chance of surviving [1]. Note that this includes accidents during taxiing, initial climb, and final descent (about 70% of airplane fatalities).

[1] http://planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#49
post #33

I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. It's not the green hell that the world always thinks. If by Peruvian Rainforest she means Peruvian Amazon, I fathom how anyone wouldn't think of it as a green hell. Thousands of people have died simply from travelling through it . What an ordeal, though.

Well, her statement seems more reasonable in context: > Before the crash, I had spent a year and a half with my parents on their research station only 30 miles away. I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. Arguably, the biggest dangers of the Amazon forrest are malaria-carrying mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions, and lack of access to drinkable water and edible foo…

[deleted]

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#50
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And maggots are actually good for an open wound, they keep it clean. Atleast that's what I heard a Veterinarian say.

Depends on the species of maggot. The good ones only eat dead flesh, effectively cleaning the wound. The bad ones eat everything.

How do you tell the difference?
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