# If you jumped from a 10 story building, what positon should you free fall with? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482 "2004-05-28T06:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482/21 "2004-05-28T16:59:57Z")
Note to self: “If you are going to try to post while being distracted at work, learn to preview so you don’t look like an idiot.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482/22 "2004-05-28T17:08:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m trying to find the cite for this, but I remember reading on more than one occasion of a Russian pilot during WWII that bailed out from over 30,000 ft. His chute failed to deploy at all, IIRC, and he survived by laning on the side of a very steep, snow-covered mountain. Instead of pancaking in, he slid down the side of the mountain several hundred meters. The snow and branches cushioned his decelleration. He broke just about everything, but survived. Yeah, I remember roughly the same thing. If it was a very steep mountain, I suppose he was also lucky that he didn’t trigger an avalanche and get buried by the snow that saved him. Those mountains can be handy. From an account concerning the Stewardess: > [@](#): > > … Vesna had two factors on her side. First, the drag on the tail section of the plane was sufficient to apparently cause the object to spiral down below terminal velocity. Second, the part of the plane she was in hit at an angle on the side of a mountain and continued to travel and thus not all of the forward momentum was stopped at once. She wasn’t really falling by herself, but the fuselage wasn’t intact, either. The bomb blew the plane into several pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482/23 "2004-05-28T17:45:21Z")
Deep Thoughts, by Jack handy: “If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you’ll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.” P.S. Methinks I have a crush on Shodan. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482/24 "2004-05-28T18:17:09Z")
Mmm… well, assuming I had time to do anything, I’d go headfirst. Considering the likelihood of spinal injuries and paralysis if I survived, I’d WANNA be dead. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482/25 "2004-05-28T20:22:35Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Mmm… well, assuming I had time to do anything, I’d go headfirst. > > Considering the likelihood of spinal injuries and paralysis if I survived, I’d WANNA be dead. My thoughts exactly. My father fell two storeyss off a ladder onto concrete two years ago. While he wasn’t paralyzed (he shattered his right ankle, shin, and right shoulder) I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone in so much pain in my life. I’ll go head first thankyouverymuch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-jumped-from-a-10-story-building-what-positon-should-you-free-fall-with/247482.md?page=1)