30,000 feet
9,144 meters
9 kilometers
or 5.7 miles
On January 26, 1972,
an explosion aboard J.A.T. airways flight 367
resulted in the impossible.
22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovic,
fell from 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) in the air,
setting a world record for
surviving the highest fall without a parachute.
Is there a trick to
falling out of an airplane and surviving?
If you're a frequent flier,
you might want to pay close attention
to what's coming up.
Since the 1940s,
there have been almost 50 cases
of people surviving falls from airplanes.
In all of those cases,
the survivors were lucky enough
to have something to cushion their fall.
Vesna Vulovic, for example,
was in the back of the plane
when the explosion happened.
When the plane broke apart,
the tail section remained intact and,
pinned by a food cart,
Vulovic was prevented from being
sucked out into the open air.
The detached tail of the airplane
landed in deep snow
in the mountains of Czechoslovakia.
Vulovic suffered several broken bones,
but the airplane wreckage and
layers of deep soft snow
ultimately saved her life.
The second highest fall without a parachute
that someone survived happened in 1943.
Airforce gunner Alan Magee's bomber
was hit by enemy fire over France.
His plane burst into flames
and propelled Magee out of the plane
before he could grab a parachute.
Magee fell about 6,700 meters (22,000 ft.).
Apparently, he smashed through
the glass roof of a train station
and was found hanging from
the steel girders that held up the roof.
You wouldn't think that a glass roof
would cushion any kind of fall, but,
if it hadn't have been there,
Magee might not have survived.
So if you ever find yourself falling
from an airplane without a parachute,
grab on to something!
Anything!
And use it to break your fall.
Of course, that's easier said than done.
When you're in free fall from
9,144 meters (30,000 feet) in the air,
a soft landing is probably
the last thing on your mind.
It all happens so fast.
From the moment you're
outside of the plane,
it's only about 170 seconds
until you hit the ground.
During that time, you will be extremely cold,
and deprived of oxygen.
The average temperature at
9,144 meters (30,000 feet) in the sky
ranges between
-40° C to -57° C (-40° F to -70° F).
But you wouldn't feel it for long,
because you'd pass out
soon after leaving the aircraft.
at higher altitudes there is lower air pressure,
so it feels like there's a lot less oxygen.
This will cause you to lose consciousness,
at least for a while.
The air pressure will gradually rise
as you get closer to the ground,
so you would probably wake up again
after about a minute of free fall.
As you fall, your speed will increase by
9.8 meters (32 feet) per second,
every second,
because that's the Earth's gravity.
Eventually, you would stop accelerating
and reach a constant speed
known as terminal velocity.
This results from a buildup
of air pressure below you as you fall
because air can't get
out of your way fast enough;
and at the same time, the air behind you
doesn't fill in fast enough,
creating a sort of vacuum.
The difference in the air pressure below you
and the air pressure above you creates drag,
or air resistance.
When the force exerted by this air resistance
equals the force of gravity,
you've reached terminal velocity
and you'll be moving at a constant speed.
Falling from 30,000 feet,
you're likely to reach terminal velocity
at 190 km (118 miles) per hour.
Of course, your actual terminal velocity
will depend on your size and weight.
The heavier you are, the faster you'll fall.
But if you spread your arms and legs out wide,
you can increase the amount
of drag exerted on you.
That might slow you down a bit.
You'd enjoy it a lot more
if you had a parachute though.
Parachutes are lightweight and very wide.
A parachute would cut your falling speed from
45 meters (148 feet) per second
down to 5 meters (16 feet) per second.
If you don't have a parachute,
it would help to know where to land.
Look for somewhere that's soft,
so there's a chance of breaking your fall.
A lot of the people who have
fallen from airplanes and lived
have survived due to landing in deep snow,
or being cushioned by trees or bushes.
Unfortunately, a tree can either be really good,
or really, really bad.
If you don't see anything soft below,
your best bet is to try to land
feet first with your legs together,
slightly bent.
When you hit the ground,
you'll likely crumple to the side or back.
This is known as the 5 point impact sequence,
and while it will be incredibly painful,
it will save everything above your waist;
mainly your vital organs and your brain.
Of course,
these are all just recommendations
tips to make the best out of a bad,
and severely unlucky situation.
Humans aren't really built for
9,144 meter (30,000 feet) free falls;
and yet, every year we seem to achieve
something we thought was impossible.
So before your next flight,
you might want to pack a four-leaf clover,
just in case.
And for more ways to survive freak accidents,
paranormal activities, or apocalyptic events,
just keep watching What If.