Could you survive falling from a plane without a parachute?

Question

I seem to recall a scene in Indiana Jones where he uses a lift raft and skiis down the mountainside. Is this realistic at all, what if one themselves fell against a steep slope in a similiar manner is survival possible? Has anyone ever survived such a fall?

Answer 1

Yes!
During WWII, an American tail gunner whose parachute had already burned inside the B-17 he was in, jumped without, since he figured that would be less painful than burning to death.
When he woke up three hours later, he hadn't even broken a bone even though he jumped from about 20,000'
It was winter, and when he approached the ground, he hit the outer branches of a tree and landed on a snow covered bush (Not GWB).

Answer 2

If the plane was parked on the runway, you could survive a fall out of it.

From altitude, your speed is the result of the plane's forward momentum, probably above 250 MPH until wind drag slowed you to your final air speed which is around 150 MPH. Hitting anything solid at this speed is fatal. Hitting water at this speed is fatal as well. Hitting a slope - even soft snow - would require a change in vector equal to the difference between your direction of falling and the angle of the slope. The change in direction would be instant. There are no natural slopes so gradual that this acceleration would not be fatal. Theoretically, a slope could be so gentle that the acceleration would not be fatal but no such slopes exist on Earth. Maybe if you fell out of a space craft over some other planet with a different gravity well than Earth, you could survive.

This does not include incidents where the person's parachute did not open fully, and they survived the impact. They were not traveling at terminal air velocity.

;-D Spectacular stunts where the skier jumps down a sheer face are done at speeds far less than terminal air speed.

Answer 3

There was an Englishman, a rear gunner who fell when his plane 18000 feet without a parachute and was captured by the Germans during World War II. I don't remember his name, but he fell on some trees and the fall was also cushioned by snow, i think he suffered very little damage to his body, juts a few bruises, but I am not sure of that. The fall had been authenticated by the Germans then.
Life's Lovely! Love & Live Life!

Answer 4

Yes! A tail gunner from a B17 Bomber in WW II survived a fall without his parachute. He hit a large spruce tree which helped break his fall. He did suffer several broken bones and was shortly captured and treated by the Germans.

Answer 5

Yes, Reader's Digest published an autobiographical account of an airman who fell from a B29 at 30,000 feet when one of the "gunner's bubbles" blew out during a test flight. His fall was broken (many times) by an evergreen tree. As I recall the story, even though he had more than one broken bone, he WALKED away from the fall!

Answer 6

A pregnant woman survived a fall without a parachute and didn't know she was pregnant at the time of the accident. She gave birth earlier this year.

Answer 7

Yes, it is possible, but the chances of making it alive is very slim. I would keep my parachute on if I were you!!

ps- the Indiana Jones stunt is definately "movie only". It couldn't happen in real life.

Answer 8

During WWII, a paratrooper's chute failed to open. He landed in a haystack. He was lucky that the Germans were not hiding a tank in it, which they often did. If I recall the story correctly, this man became a race car driver at Indy. I cannot recall his name, but hope somebody else does. Vukovich, maybe???

Answer 9

like 10 years ago there was a kid on the news that had fell down niagra falls and survived so i guess anything is possible.

Answer 10

There are a few people that have survived a fall from an airplane but they are clearly in the minority.