You're more than 3.6 km (12,000 ft)
above the Earth.
And there's no turning back now.
But as you jump out of the plane,
and see how beautiful
the Earth looks below you,
you start to think this might not be so bad.
Then you pull the cord
to open your parachute,
and all your worst fears come true.
There's no parachute coming out,
and now you're plummeting towards
the ground at about 200 km/h (125 mph).
You've only got a minute
before you hit the ground.
Is there anything you can do
to save yourself?
Every time your life depends on a parachute,
there is a 1 in 1,000
chance that it won't work.
But a malfunctioning parachute
isn't necessarily a death sentence.
According to skydiving experts,
the secret to surviving
is all about how you react
when the parachute fails.
Just like most survival situations,
the best thing to do
is to slow everything down.
Slow down your breathing
and avoid hyperventilating,
slow down your thoughts so you can focus,
and slow down the speed of your fall
so you don't splatter on the ground.
To do that,
you'll need to spread out your body
into an x-shape.
Spread your arms and legs,
point your chest towards the ground,
and arch your back and head upward.
This will create more air resistance,
and slow your acceleration,
giving you time to choose where to land.
Although the giant pool of liquid
below you might look like a more
appealing landing spot than the solid ground,
it would probably be just as deadly.
Like concrete, water doesn't compress,
so landing in a lake
would be just like landing on a sidewalk.
Sure, you could position yourself
to reduce the impact, but
even then you could
still be knocked out cold.
And being unconscious underwater
does not help you survive,
so let's find somewhere better.
To move sideways through the air,
away from the water,
and towards a safer target,
you'll need to use a skydiving technique
called tracking.
Bring your arms and legs in
against your body to steer it as you fall.
Your three best options for landing spots
would be a swamp,
snow,
or trees, because
they would all extend your deceleration time
and help you slow down.
For instance,
If you were to land on solid ground,
your body would decelerate
from its falling speed of 200 km/h (125 mph)
to 0 km/h in half a second,
hitting you with enough g-force
to kill you instantly.
But if you were to land somewhere that
provides more cushioning,
you could extend that deceleration
by a couple of seconds, which
would significantly reduce the g-force,
and give you a better chance of surviving.
If you can't see a swamp, snow, or trees
anywhere nearby, then
your next best option
would be to look for something big
to break your fall, like a rooftop, or a bus.
These structures are not very strong,
so when you hit them,
they'll break and absorb some of the energy
of your fall.
So now it's the moment of truth.
You've chosen your target landing spot,
and now you're going to hit it.
The best way to do this
would be to point your toes
toward the ground,
and land on the balls of your feet.
I know what you're thinking.
"That sounds painful!"
And you're right, it will be.
But the idea is that
your body will have more time
to slow down if you land feet-first.
The long bones in your legs
will absorb a large amount of the
impact energy before they fracture.
Essentially, you'll be sacrificing your legs
to protect the rest of your body.
Just before landing,
put your head down, with the fingers
of each hand locked together behind it,
and point your elbows in front of your face,
to protect your head and neck from impact.
The main reason why people die
from falling off tall buildings and bridges
is severe head trauma.
Even if you do everything else right,
if you end up
bouncing on your head when you land,
you won't survive.
So quickly, get into position.
That should be all you need to
Are you still there?
Alright, now here comes the hard part.
You need to figure out where you are,
and get help as soon as possible.
But don't worry,
we've got just the video
to help you get you out of this alive.