Skydiver Craig Stapleton
knew he was in trouble.
His parachute deployed improperly
and he began to spin out of control.
Things only got worse
when he released his backup parachute,
and it got tangled with his main chute,
making him spin even more violently.
All he could do was try and control
where he landed. And his best option
seemed to be a grape field below,
would the soft bushes cushion his fall?
Or would he be impaled
by the iron stakes
that line the field?
Find out on How to Survive
a Malfunctioning Parachute.
Craig wasn't
the only person to experience
a malfunctioning parachute.
Every time you use a parachute,
there's a one in 1000 chance
that it won't work.
But when it happens,
it's not always a death sentence.
Today, we've put together
a list of the three
most incredible stories
of the people who survived.
So if you ever find yourself
in this situation,
you'll know how to get out alive.
How did one survivor
land safely on his feet?
Is it better to aim for land or water?
And what if the parachute malfunctions
and you're attached to another skydiver?
Coming in at number three,
“Saved by the bush”.
At the ripe age of 25 years old.
Michael Holmes already had over
7000 jumps under his belt
and he thought
this one would be no different.
Following his usual procedure,
he jumped out of the plane
around 4572 meters
when he was about 609 meters
above the ground.
He deployed his parachute,
but something went wrong.
The parachute had caught on something
and Michael
began spiraling fast toward the ground.
He pulled out his hook knife,
a standard piece of skydiving
safety equipment,
and tried to use it
to cut the parachute off,
which would allow his
reserve chute to deploy.
He was spinning
so fast he couldn't
get his arms up and cut it off.
At that point,
Michael thought he would probably die.
Time was running out.
So at around 215 meters from the ground,
he pulled on his reserve chute,
hoping for a miracle.
But as expected, it didn't help.
Before he could think of anything else,
he smashed into the ground
and everything went black.
That is, until he woke up
dazed and confused in the BlackBerry Bush
that had broken his fall.
The bush was only one meter high
and not super dense,
but landing on the bush
was much better than landing
directly on the ground.
Michael had landed on his left foot,
then rolled onto his hip and shoulder.
Although he says
he didn't intend to roll,
it deflected the force of impact
over multiple body parts.
That wouldn't have happened
if he had landed vertically.
Spreading out the force of the impact
helped him to survive.
Number two, visiting the vineyard.
“We have wine waiting for us!”
Let's go back to our friend
Craig Stapleton.
You might not know it
from looking at him,
but Craig was a world champion skydiver.
He had made over 7000
jumps, was a safety and training advisor,
and was a regional director of the U.S.
Parachute Association.
But none of those achievements
stopped his parachute from malfunctioning
in 2013.
Craig hopped on a plane
to perform a flag trick
where you float
a flag in between to deploy parachutes.
But when Craig
went to deploy his parachute
30 seconds into the jump,
he quickly learned
that floating a flag was going to
be the least of his worries.
His main chute became
tangled in his backup chute,
and he spun violently toward the earth.
And he realized
his best option
would be a crash landing
in the grape field below.
He rolled up into a ball,
preparing for the impact.
Luckily, Craig missed
all the grape fields’ iron stakes
and landed in a soft dirt patch.
And by some miracle,
Craig survived with only some bruises.
A dislocated shoulder
and one heck of a story.
Now, before we reveal our number one
story,
let's see what we've learned so far.
First, don't deploy your emergency chute.
If you haven't disconnected
or cut away your main parachute.
Attempting to deploy the emergency chute
will likely tangle both parachutes.
Making matters even worse,
if a crash landing is your only option.
Aim yourself toward
a softer landing spot such
as marshy or woody areas.
Stay away from pavement and water.
If you hit water,
the impact could knock you out.
And then you could drown.
And don't land completely vertically.
Land on your feet
and immediately fall
in a rolling position.
This helps
to distribute the force of the impact.
But what if your parachute malfunctions
while your tandem skydiving?
“Was that supposed to happen?”
Well, that brings us to our top story.
Number one,
the ultimate sacrifice.
It was a beautiful day in Australia
when 14 year old Elijah
Arons went tandem
skydiving with 44 year
old instructor Tony Rokov.
Midway through their jump.
An unexpected gust of wind
deflated their parachute,
causing them both to plummet
towards the ground.
Tony,
a former Special Forces
commando who had been jumping
from planes, his entire
life, tucked himself underneath
Elijah and pushed him upwards
at just the right moment
as the two hit the ground.
Tony provided just enough of a barrier
between Elijah and the
ground to save Elijah's life.
Tragically, Tony Rokov
died while performing
one of the most heroic acts
imaginable, sacrificing his own life
to save Elijah's.
Our world is full of heroic
survival stories like this one.
Sure,
you could avoid the danger
by not jumping out of a plane
in the first place.
But what if you don't have a choice?
What if you're flying somewhere?
The plane rips open
and you're sucked out.
Well, we've got just the video for
you here on how to survive.