Is it possible to jump from an aircraft into water and survive?

Question

Without a parachute from a normal free fall height.

Answer 1

Most likely you would die without a chute to slow your fall. When you fall from a great height and hit water it's nearly the same as landing on concrete. Even if the plane was close to the water the speed of the plane could cause you to hurt yourself since you would hit the water at about the speed the plane was moving.

Answer 2

Your question is ambiguous. If you are at some significant altitude or traveling at some significant speed...then no, you will not survive. Otherwise, yes.

What I think you really mean to ask is does water soften the fall so that one would survive where one would not if the impact falling from the same height were on something solid.

The answer to that is...maybe.

Terminal velocity of a falling person is about 120 mph (give or take). So that's about as fast as a human will fall freely through the air. Terminal velocity is obtained when the force of gravity pulling the person down is exactly offset by drag forces holding the person back. There are equations to find that velocity.

When falling into water at terminal velocity, the water does not give way sufficiently to soften the blow. That's because water is noncompressable; so its molecules do not move out of the way fast enough to make room for the falling body when it's coming down at 120 mph or so. At that speed, smoosh I'm afraid.

On the other hand, at slower fall speeds, water molecules have time to get out of the way and will soften the impact. It softens the impact because the moving molecules absorb some of the energy of the impact; thereby, transmitting into the water energy that would otherwise go into the person's body. And that's what we mean when we say soften the impact.

A prime example of this is that twenty foot diving board you've been meaning to jump off. Though the impact with the water below might sting, it will not hurt you. The molecules of water can move out of the way as you enter the pool. But if you were to jump off that tower onto the cement behind the tower, you'd be seriously injured if not killed...cement molecules don't move for anyone.

Up to this point, I've described only the impact from a freely falling body. When jumping from a moving platform, like an aircraft, you simply add velocity to what would be in effect from a freely falling person. Thus, you simply add more energy to the free fall energy...more energy for the water molecules to dissipate.

Clearly, whatever effect the water wil have on a freely falling person will be enhanced by the addition of the energy due to a moving platform. Thus, even if jumping from twenty feet, for example, if your aircraft is moving at 120 mph near the surface of the water, that motion will cause about the same impact as entering with a terminal velocity of 120 mph...smoosh.

Bottom line, the answer to your question depends on the kinteic energy to be dissipated by the water. If there is a lot of KE, then smoosh; if not, then ouch. And that KE can come from the fall, the moving platform, or both.

Answer 3

Of course, depending on how high one is when one jumps out, how fast the aircraft is travelling, and whether or not one has a parachute. Your question specifies neither altitude nor air speed, which are important considerations.

For instance, if one were to jump out of a slow-moving aircraft flying at a thousand feet and land in the water, one would most likely be killed. On the other hand, jumping out of even a low-flying aircraft travelling at several hundred mph would probably be fatal, also.

Both of the scenarios above assume one jumps out without a parachute, but even with a parachute survival can be problematic depending on the height from which one jumps. If the altitude is insufficient to allow the parachute to fully deploy and/or sufficiently retard descent one could still be killed by hitting the water.

Answer 4

It really depends on the hight that you are above the water, if you are say 10 to 20 or 30 feet, yes, but the splash will some what hurt a little, but not from an aircraft, bc the speed you fall from the aircraft is fast, and without a pairashut, when you hit the water, you will get a shock wave of pain, and be knocked out, and may die, but sometimes it depends on the way you enter the water, to survive.

Answer 5

Certainly, if the aircraft is a seaplane that is floating in the water.
It is also possible to jump from an airborne aircraft and survive if you have a parachute on and land in the water.

However if you jump from an aircraft from an altitude of 10,000 feet without a parachute and land in water or a haystack, your chances of survival are nada.

Answer 6

Yes.. but 2 conditions must be met:

1) The aircraft must be close enough to the body of water to prevent the point of impact from causing fatal bodily harm. The positioning of the jumpers feet can also maximize safety. (feet first, feet together, head up, hold breath). The less splash, the safer the jump.

2) The body of water must be deep enough to prevent fatal impact between the jumper and the ground. The safer the jump (see positioning above) the deeper water necessary to accomodate the jumper. The less splash, the more water depth needed.

Answer 7

Yes, but depending on how fast you were gong and how you hit the water. For the most part most people would not survive.

We just had a guy here in Tampa jump off a bridge that everyone else dies off of and he lived. So I guess anything is possible. thgere was once a guy in Denver CO who free fell 5000 ft, bounced twice off a parking lot and got up and walked away. However, I would not recommend trying your aircraft dive anytime soon, unless it is a slow moving helicopter.

Answer 8

Normal free fall height would be something over 5000ft? People have survived falls like that on land, so I suppose it would be possible into water, so long as you were fished out before you drowned. Not very likely though!

Answer 9

Depends how high a person jumps from the aircraft--if its too high, the hitting the water is like hitting cement--especially if there is not resistance to help (such as a parachute).

Answer 10

Yes, depending on the altitude from which one jumps, the ground speed of the aircraft, and to some degree the depth and temperature of the water.