If I am sky diving and my main and reserve parachutes fail what can I do to increase my odds of survival?

Answer 1

nothing. you are going to hit the ground at around 120 mph.
is few seconds of thrill worth your life? I personally would not chance it!

Answer 2

Funny that people don't like the answer from LARRY J7 because he's right, your reserve is right there in front of you and maybe you can fix it? One of my parachuting friends says "In parachuting you have plan A, if that fails you have plan B, if that fails you have the rest of your life to deal with it".

If you are a student then your main will still be attached, students only dump their main if it's taking them somewhere bad and there's no other alternative, at least that was the case when I learned.

So you are plummeting towards the earth with two malfunctioning chutes. First work out which chute is most likely to be salvageable, maybe your main or reserve only has a line over the canopy. So that's probably not going to kill you anyway, but did you bring a knife? Can you cut that line?

As LARRY J7 said, a common reserve issue is that it's captured by the main, pull it down again and then throw it out to try and get clear of the main.

Maybe you tumbled into your chute because you were unstable, try and fight your way clear, see of you can work your way out. If you can then maybe the chute will inflate.

If all else fails, try to pick a soft spot.

Answer 3

In a worst case scenario...You have no chute at all, you're plummeting at about 120mph, and the odds are heavily stacked against you. But, I recently saw in the news that a skydiver experienced this situation and actually survived and after researching this, I found several stories of survival. More often then not, the survivors luckily land in bushes or something to cushion the blow.

However, assuming there is nothing to cushion the impact...here's what could be attempted. I would think that you would want to spread your entire body out, so your entire body would hit the ground all at once, which would distribute the weight of your body to every surface. I guess I would try to land on my back to avoid the facial crush. Being spread out horizontally would also increase your drag which means you would fall slower. Chance of success is slim next to none, but this would give you the greatest chance of hopefully keeping a heart beat.

Answer 4

Ditto what Larry J7 and Chris H said. Try your best to deploy one of your chutes. Hitting the ground at terminal velocity, any way, shouldn't be an option.

The British Ministry of Defense had commissioned a specialty knife for the SAS for just such a predicament. It's a curved blade, with the cutting edge on the inside of the curve. It had no point, so you're less prone to tearing your canopy or impaling yourself.

A more modern knife is the one that EMTs use for cutting seat belts and harnesses in accidents. It'll neatly cut your pack, but is less likely to damage your chute and lines.

When your butt is on the line, always have a plan C, D, E, F, etc.

Answer 5

If you have a partial opening and a total on your reserve, you may survive, but you are most likely going to be hurting. I got wrapped up in my main once and after freeing myself partially, I had to hand deploy my reserve which opened approximately 50 feet from the ground. Nothing was broke, but I am still having trouble with my back. Another second and I would be dead, but by the Grace of God I survived.

Answer 6

There comes a time in every persons life, when they know without a doubt that they are about to die, Your only option in this situation is to relax and enjoy the view, because weather you go down screaming like a baby or with a smile on your face, the end result will be the same, why not enjoy it!!

Answer 7

You should always prepare your self for such a possibility as this. I suggest two things. Firstly, always carry an extra large head scarf to fastion into another emergency chute. (It won't help but will get your mind off of it.) Secondly, Carry a bright Orange flag and hold it up high just before you hit, this will show your friends where to start digging.

Answer 8

Okay. For normal people I would say pray to your god whoever (or whatever) that may be. But I`m going to give you a little "extra" advice. Aim for a tree or some sharp rocks!!!!! I swear that this always works. I know. I`ve tried it. Well I didnt. My friend did. But he screwed it up and, well . . . . . it didnt end well. I still have that stain on my sunroof.

Answer 9

some factors that can help your chances to survive may be:
landing in a water, or better in high fresh snow, landing on an inclined terrain, have something that can reduce your limit speed during the fall....for example if you manage falling at 160km/h instead of 200km/h it may help...but 70km/h is even better....
Of course it's very very difficult to survive .....but not impossible

Answer 10

I've never understood why someone would jump out of a perfectly good airplane in the first place.I guess you should try to aim for the concrete,that way you won't suffer.

Answer 11

Another way is signalling your parachute partner to dive in toward u and hook u up and land together safely.

Amazing Video has shown this is successfully done.