You're hurtling toward the ground at a speed of 190 km/h (118 mph).
The wind howls in your ears.
Your brain silently screams in terror.
You're 35,000 ft in the air, no parachute.
You have 3 minutes.
Countdown to impact starts now.
So, how do you survive falling without a parachute?
The odds of survival aren't very high.
Nevertheless, some people have managed to survive this
spine-tingling scenario.
Those survivors used life-saving techniques to land in a manner,
and in a place, that minimized injury.
It is possible to contort your body as you're falling,
in order to aim for a landing spot,
and you can position your body to minimize impact.
Besides the screaming horror of falling fast at the hard ground,
positioning your body while you fall is hard,
and here's why.
At this height, it's hard to breathe and oxygen is scarce.
You'll begin to experience hypoxia,
which means much-needed oxygen isn't reaching your tissues.
The lack of oxygen and the shock from plummeting through the air,
may cause you to faint.
Luckily for you, as you fall closer to the ground,
you enter air that is easier to breathe, as it contains more oxygen.
That's at about 10,000 ft.
If you fainted, this will wake you up,
so you can once again experience the horror of hurtling to the ground.
You've got just under 1 minute until you meet the earth.
Here are some do's and don'ts to follow as you fall.
It's not going to slow you down much.
You're looking for a good place to land.
So, bring your arms in against your body to steer it as you fall.
Skydivers call this tracking,
and it will help you move horizontally towards a target.
Water does not compress.
If you smack against the ocean,
you'll have the same devastating outcome as slamming your body
against a sidewalk.
You're going to be knocked out cold,
and underwater is not a great place to be unconscious.
If you have to land in water,
try to land feet first with your limbs together,
like a pen or a knife,
and clench your bum muscles if you haven't already.
Now, the do's.
Assuming you're falling out of a plane that has disintegrated,
People who do this instead of freefalling,
have a better survival rate,
because they can use the part to slow down their falling speed,
like a kind of metal parachute.
Where you land will have the biggest consequence on your survival.
They're all relatively soft.
Trees can break your fall,
but unfortunately they can also impale you on a branch,
so forests are a bit of a gamble.
Once you're above your target,
Making yourself as big as possible will cause wind resistance
and slow your fall a bit.
This will allow your lower body to absorb most of the impact.
Don't forget to bend your knees.
Even if you land on your feet,
once you hit the ground, you'll most likely bounce.
Whatever you do, make sure you don't land on your head.
Even if you're landing on a soft surface,
landing on your head pretty much guarantees death.
It's a challenge, but if you follow these suggestions,
you have a good chance to be a survivor.
We'll see you next time on another According To Science.