Could this man really have survived a fall from the 39th floor?

Yes, I must admit that I assumed she’d fallen without attachments.

On the other hand, I’m not aware of anyone else ever surviving being in an aircraft that exploded at 33,000ft so it’s still something of an achievement.

I knew a guy who survived an ~80mph impact into a car when a skydiving stunt went wrong. He hit a used-car lot. Broke a lot of bones, had plenty of pins & screws in his body but he was still an active skydiver when I was jumping. A friend of mine bought the gear he was wearing at the time, we used to call it the “Racer Death Rig”, you could still see blood spots on the harness/container.

What’s to demonstrate?

It works just like a regular parachute, except you can grab a cold beer on the way down.

Geez. It’s not rocket surgery.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, it’s not how fast you go, it’s how fast you stop.

[nitpick]Vesna Vulovic was in a DC9, not a DC3. 33,000 feet is a bit high for a gooney bird. [/nitpick]

No argument there.

Am I wrong for being amused that this guy survived a fall from 39 stories, while that other guy a couple of weeks ago died after jumping twenty feet onto a stage during a concert in California?

Meh. Just proves that living in Manhattan is uplifting while California sucks.

Winnah and new cham-pion!

Like the old saying: If you can fall 39 stories and live in New York, you can fall 39 stories and live anywhere.

[quote=“Tranquilis, post:9, topic:552353”]

Thy wish is granted.

  1. Landed feet-fisrt through the back window and rear seat.
  2. Car is BADLY messed-up - totalled, with a bent frame.
  3. Faller is in critical condition with supremely screwed-up legs, but was conscious (and screaming) shortly after impact.
  4. Per GMA, at least one of the owners (wife) of the car is pissed.

And furthermore, I read where he left his glasses on the roof of the building. Wonder if that was about not wanting to see the future.

I worked with a guy who had survived a parachute failure. We all wondered at first how he survived. It didn’t take long to realize he must have landed on his head.

I have read (no cite, sorry) that suicide jumpers often take off their glasses before they jump.

Insert tasteless superman wannabe joke.

Here’s an interesting site discussing human free fall.

Does it come with its own anvil?

I’m not sure “achievement” is the right word. She was fortunate, but she didn’t really “achieve” something.

Of course she did.

Terminal velocity.
:smiley:

:: G,D & R ::

Well, it mighta been terminal at one point, but she went into remission.

Stewardess’ Journal:
“Thrown from plane by large explosion. Have fallen 29000 feet. Everything going fine so far.”