An American jumped out of a plane without a parachute and did not crash. How did he do it? Mozhaisk landing: from a strafing flight without parachutes onto German tanks Surviving the fall

Where to aim? Magee crashed onto the stone floor of the station, but his fall was slowed when he crashed through the glass roof a moment earlier. It's painful, but it's life-saving. A haystack will also do. Some lucky ones survived after falling into dense bushes. The thicket of the forest is also not bad, although you can run into some branches. Snow? Just perfect. Swamp? A soft, vegetated bog is the most desirable option. Hamilton talks about a case where a skydiver with a parachute that didn't open landed right on high-voltage wires. The wires springed and threw him up, saving his life. The most dangerous surface is water. Like concrete, it is practically incompressible. The result of falling on the ocean surface will be approximately the same as on the sidewalk. The only difference is that asphalt - alas! — will not open up beneath you to swallow your broken body forever.

Without losing sight of your intended goal, take care of your body position. To reduce the speed of your fall, act like a skydiver during a skydive. Spread your legs and arms wider, throw your head back higher, straighten your shoulders, and you will automatically turn your chest towards the ground. Your drag will immediately increase, and there will be room for maneuver. The main thing is not to relax. In your, frankly, difficult situation, the question of how to prepare for a meeting with the earth, unfortunately, remains not fully resolved. The journal War Medicine published an article on this topic in 1942. It said: “Load distribution and load compensation play an important role in trying to avoid injury.” Hence the recommendation - you need to fall flat. On the other hand, a 1963 report published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) argues that the classic formation adopted among skydivers is optimal for preserving life: feet together, knees high, shins pressed to the thighs. The same source notes that survival in a disaster is greatly facilitated by training in sports such as wrestling or acrobatics. When falling on hard surfaces, it would be especially useful to have some martial arts skills.

Japanese skydiver Yasuhiro Kubo trains like this: he throws his parachute out of the plane and then jumps out himself. Delaying the process to the limit, he catches up with his equipment, puts it on and then pulls the ring. In 2000, Kubo jumped out at an altitude of 3 km and spent 50 seconds in free fall until he caught up with the backpack with his parachute. All these useful skills can be practiced in a safer environment, for example, in free-fall simulators - vertical wind tunnels. However, the simulators will not allow you to work out the most important stage - meeting the ground.

If there is a water surface waiting for you below, get ready for quick and decisive action. Based on the surviving lovers of jumping from high bridges, we can conclude that the optimal way would be to enter the water as a “soldier,” that is, feet first. Then you will have at least some chance of getting to the surface alive.

On the other hand, the famous cliff divers who hone their skills near Acapulco believe that it is better to enter the water head first. At the same time, they put their hands with clasped fingers in front of their head, protecting it from blows. You can choose any of these positions, but try to maintain the parachute position until the very last second. Then, just above the water, if you prefer to dive like a soldier, we strongly recommend that you tense your buttocks with all your might. It would not be very decent to explain why, but you can probably guess for yourself.

Whatever surface awaits you below, under no circumstances land on your head. Researchers from the Institute for Highway Safety have concluded that in such situations, the leading cause of death is traumatic brain injury. If you are still carried head first, it is better to land on your face. This is safer than hitting the back of the head or the top of the skull.

07:02:19 Altitude 300 meters

If, after falling out of the plane, you started reading this article, then by now you have reached just these lines. You've already got the basics down, and now it's time to pull yourself together and focus on the task at hand. However, here is some additional information.

Statistics show that in the event of a disaster, it is better to be a crew member or a child, and if there is a choice, it is better to crash on a military aircraft. Over the past 40 years, there have been at least 12 plane crashes with only one survivor. On this list, four were crew members and seven were passengers under the age of 18. Among the survivors is Mohammed el-Fateh Osman, a two-year-old child who survived the Boeing crash in Sudan in 2003 by landing in the wreckage. Last June, when a Yemenia Airways jet crashed near the Comoros Islands, 14-year-old Bahia Bakari was the only survivor.

The survival of crew members can be associated with more reliable passive safety systems, but it is not yet clear why children are more likely to survive. FAA research notes that children, especially those under four years of age, have more flexible bones, more relaxed muscles and a higher percentage of subcutaneous fat, which effectively protects internal organs. Small people—as long as their head does not protrude from the backs of airplane seats—are well protected from flying debris. With a small body weight, the steady-state fall speed will be lower, and a smaller frontal cross-section reduces the chance of running into some sharp object when landing.

07:02:25 Height 0 meters

So, here we are. Hit. Are you still alive? And what are your actions? If you escaped with minor injuries, you can get up and light a cigarette, as did the Briton Nicholas Alkemade, the rear gunner of the tail machine gun, who in 1944, after falling from a height of six kilometers, landed in a snow-covered thicket. If no jokes, then a lot of trouble awaits you ahead.

Let us remember the case of Juliana Kopke. On Christmas Eve in 1971, she was flying on a Lockheed Electra. The airliner exploded somewhere over the Amazon. The 17-year-old German woman woke up the next morning under the jungle canopy. She was strapped into her seat and there were piles of Christmas presents lying around. Wounded and completely alone, she forced herself not to think about her dead mother. Instead, she focused on her biologist father's advice: "If you're lost in the jungle, you'll find your way out by following the flow of water." Kopke walked along forest streams, which gradually merged into rivers. She walked around the crocodiles and pounded the shallow water with a stick to scare away the stingrays. Somewhere, she tripped, she lost her shoe, and all she had left was a torn miniskirt. The only food she had with her was a bag of sweets, and she had to drink dark, dirty water. She ignored the broken collarbone and the inflamed open wounds.

Unfortunately, skydivers periodically experience situations when the parachute does not open and the reserve does not deploy. You can find yourself in the air at an altitude of several thousand meters without a parachute for other reasons. For example, during the war, pilots saved themselves this way by jumping out of a burning plane when all their equipment, including the parachute, had already burned out. The question arises: what to do if you fall out of an airplane without a parachute?

Let's say a person finds himself in the air, having fallen out of an aircraft at an altitude of 6500 m. He flies down at a speed of approximately 200 km/h. That is, a person will have approximately 2 minutes to figure out how to escape and take the appropriate necessary measures.

The exact speed of fall depends on several factors, including air density, body area, and weight. But in any case, it will be very high and you will have to think and find solutions very quickly. The extreme fear experienced by anyone who finds themselves in such a situation can prevent them from correctly assessing the situation and possible ways of salvation. But in some cases, the adrenaline rush, on the contrary, stimulates a quick search for the most suitable place to land.

It is important to get into the right position to slow your fall by increasing air resistance. The face should be down. Spread your arms and legs so that your body takes the shape of the letter “X”. Now you need to look down at the ground and try to find a body of water. Water can soften a fall even at such high speeds. However, for this there must be sufficient depth of the reservoir. The feeling of jumping into the water from such a height, of course, will not be pleasant. However, in this case, the person who has fallen from the airliner will have a chance to escape and survive. Once a body of water is located, aim for it. To do this, direct your body to this place. In such a situation, skydiving skills will be very useful.

If you don't see water below you, look for a forest or cluster of trees. There are cases when people fell from an airplane without a parachute into pine trees and survived such a fall. There is certainly a risk of injury. But when life or death is at stake, there is no need to think about possible injury from branches. Trees can soften the fall - and this is the main component of a successful landing.

If you fall out of a plane without a parachute and you can’t see any water or trees below you, look for a flat, large surface. For example, it could be a large truck or other large vehicle. Such machines can slow down the fall, taking part of the impact upon themselves. Car roofs are softer than asphalt. Snowdrifts or swamps will soften the fall.

During a fall, you must try to slow it down in every possible way. The longer you are in the air, the less force of impact will be and, accordingly, the greater the likelihood of survival. Any obstacles that can slow down the fall are relevant in this case. If, for example, you fall due to a plane crash, try to grab onto the wreckage. Surrounding yourself with debris will make you much more likely to survive.

This is how you land on the ground: your legs should be brought together and your knees bent. The muscles should be tense. The body must not be relaxed throughout the fall. When falling into the water, you must enter it with a string or a soldier, feet down. You need to tense your buttock muscles and protect your head with your hands.

Survivors of the fall

There are many stories about people who found themselves in such a situation when they realized that they were in the air at a high altitude, and their plane was unknown where. The main character of one of these stories is Russian Air Force lieutenant Ivan Chisov. During another flight in World War II, Ivan's bomber was attacked by the enemy. It was so badly damaged that the crew had to quickly bail out. Ivan had a parachute, but he was never able to open it. The reason he did not do this was as follows: there were many enemy aircraft around, which, having discovered the target, immediately fired on it. While Ivan was falling, he was unconscious. He was lucky enough to fall into a gorge covered with a thick layer of snow, which softened his fall. Ivan was injured. But he recovered quickly enough and continued flying.

Another story about a pilot K. Judkins. He was piloting a fighter jet. While at an altitude of about 4.5 km, an accident occurred during mid-air refueling, which forced the pilot to jump out of the fighter. For some reason the parachute did not open. But the pilot still survived the fall. Although he received a large number of serious injuries.

Parachutist L. Butler made her next jump in 2010. At first everything went as usual and as planned. But when it was time to open the parachute, it did not open. Each subsequent attempt to open it was unsuccessful. Then she tried to open the reserve parachute, but for some reason it did not open either. However, despite this, the parachutist survived. She suffered a concussion and broke her leg. But she remained alive. L. Butler herself claims that she survived thanks to prayer. It is also surprising that after the incident the woman continued to jump with a parachute. The first jump after the fall was especially difficult for her. She said that she even had to ask the instructor to push her out of the plane, since she was unable to jump out spontaneously due to fear and memories of her experience.

I encountered a similar situation Nicholas Alkemade. He served in the Air Force in Britain. During one of his flights, his plane was attacked. If he had remained on the plane, he would have burned alive or crashed upon impact with the ground. None of these options worked, and brave Nicholas jumped down without a parachute, as it burned out when the plane was damaged. The pilot landed on thick spruce trees that were covered with snow. The trees softened his fall. As a result, Nicholas landed successfully. He escaped with a fright and a sprained ankle. When the Germans captured him, they issued him a certificate confirming that the crash incident actually happened to the pilot.

Answering the question of what to do if you fall out of a plane without a parachute, the main thing is - try to remain conscious, take the correct position and look for a suitable place to land.

Several stories about real lucky people who were one step away from death, but still survived in an almost hopeless situation while falling from an extreme height.

1. A stuntman who jumped from a height of 7600 meters without a parachute and landed safely on a stretched net

Just recently, in July, extreme sports diver and skydiver Luke Aikins successfully jumped from a plane without a parachute - of his own free will. (He is one of two people on this list whose jump without a parachute was not an accident.)

The daredevil jumped from a height that was almost twice the height of a normal jump (7600 meters - usually skydivers jump from a height of about 4000 meters) and landed on a stretched net the size of almost 1/3 of a football field. To see what this does to nerves of steel (and other body parts), watch this video:

2. A skydiver who filmed an accident that happened to him during a jump


In 2006, harrowing footage of the fall of skydiver Michael Holmes, who survived a seemingly hopeless situation by making a hard landing in a blackberry bush, was captured by a helmet-mounted video camera that his instructor put on him before jumping from a plane from an altitude of 4,300. meters.

Holmes, 24, did not panic when he became entangled in his parachute at an altitude of about 1.2 kilometers. Relying on his wealth of experience and training, he, not paying attention to his uncontrolled rotation - he made 84 revolutions during the flight - tried to open the reserve parachute. He succeeded, but too late to really help in the current situation. The only thing that saved his life was landing in a blackberry bush.

He escaped with a collapsed lung and a broken ankle and later returned to jumping, saying: "This is what I do. This is what I love."

3. Skydaver, who found out she was 2 weeks pregnant after falling from a height
Shayna Richardson started skydiving when she was 21 years old. In 2005, the Joplin, Missouri, resident was making her 10th jump in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, with a new branded parachute when something went wrong.

She was making a solo jump at an altitude of about 900 meters when the main parachute failed to open and she was estimated to fall to the ground at a speed of 80 km/h. The girl does not remember the moment she hit the ground, but, according to the instructor who ran up to her, she constantly asked if she was sleeping and if she was still alive.

Richardson fell face down on the asphalt. As a result of the fall, she suffered multiple fractures to her skull and pelvis and also fractured her right fibula.

However, the biggest shock for everyone was that the hospital discovered that at the time of the jump the girl was in her second week of pregnancy. Despite everything that happened to her, the unborn child she carried under her heart was not harmed.

4. A parachutist who jumped from a height of 4300 meters did not open his main and reserve parachutes.


Brad Guy didn't intend to jump without a parachute, but he did and was lucky to survive.

Guy jumped together with an instructor. They were jumping from 4,300 meters when their parachute broke as soon as it was opened. He asked: "Are we going to die?" The only words he heard in response from the instructor, an experienced skydiver with 2,000 tandem jumps under his belt: “I don’t know.”

The reserve parachute opened, but the main chute became entangled, and they were spun as they fell. The men fell to the soft earth of a dam near the golf course. Both spent several weeks in the hospital.

5. The first wingsuit diver to land safely without the aid of a parachute


In 2012, 42-year-old British stuntman Gary Connery jumped from a helicopter from a height of 732 meters and became the first person to successfully complete a flight in a wingsuit, landing without a parachute.

During his 40-second fall, Connery reached a speed of 121 km/h. Nearly 100 volunteers, friends and family members built him a 100-meter runway from 18,500 cardboard boxes.

“It was bliss,” Connery said of the flight. “It was a special day in my life.”

6The 80-Year-Old Woman Slipped Out Of Her Harness Survived Jumping With An Instructor


In the case of 80-year-old Laverne Everett, the parachute opened, but she could not stay in the straps, so she also almost made a jump without a parachute.

She was preparing for the jump at a skydiving center in Lodi, California. And when the moment came to take a decisive step, the woman (for unknown reasons) changed her mind about jumping and began to resist, holding onto the open door of the plane with her hands. Her instructor had to free her hands, and together they fell out of the plane at an altitude of 4000 meters.

The agency was fined $2,200 for allegedly not tightening the seat belts sufficiently, which "increased the likelihood that the student skydiver could slip out of the harness and fall to the ground." Watch the creepy moments of the 80-year-old pensioner's jump in this video:

7. The pilot who survived a fall from a height of 4800 meters, falling into the ocean


In 1963, Navy pilot Cliff Judkins jumped from a burning FB Crusader into the ocean. His parachute did not open, and Judkins began to fall down from a height of 4800 meters, fully aware of what was happening during the fall.

He did not lose consciousness after the fall, swimming, despite his injuries, to the nearest life raft. He was in the water for 3 hours before he was picked up. The man was taken to hospital with internal hemorrhage and broken bones and made a full recovery.

8The Rookie Skydiver Whose Survival Is Nothing Short Of Divine Intervention


Novice skydiver and mother Lareece Butler was hurtled toward the ground when her parachute became tangled during a jump in South Africa. Instructor Joos Vos says her survival is nothing short of a miracle.

Her boyfriend watched the jump from the ground and saw her spiral down and then literally crash into a field.

26-year-old Larisa Butler escaped with a broken leg and pelvis, a concussion and bruises. She later claimed that she was pushed out of the plane after she became very frightened and began to resist, noticing problems with the parachute of other skydivers. However, this claim was rejected by the operator, the EP Parachute Club.

Jumping out of a plane without a parachute sounds like the stuff of a comedy cartoon, but it actually happened. 42-year-old Luke Aikins became the first skydiver in history to not only intentionally jump out of a plane without a parachute, but also to survive. If you think that an experienced skydiver is not afraid to jump without a parachute, then you are mistaken; Luke was very afraid. What can I say, it’s scary even just to look at it.

Luke Aikins jumped out of the plane with other skydivers from an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m). After two minutes of free fall, other skydivers opened their parachutes, leaving the daredevil alone with thoughts of landing

Luke jumped out along with the other three skydivers who had parachutes.

Luke is a highly experienced skydiver who has completed over 18,000 skydives and was involved in stunt filming for Iron Man 3.

Luke had to land in a 30 x 30 m net installed at the Big Sky Ranch in California

Luke's mom was the only member of his family who said she wouldn't watch her son during the jump.

As you can see his landing was successful

"I'm going to fly all the way to the net, but that's not the issue. It's that I have to deal with the parachute on my back and what it can do to my body," Luke said.

Just a few minutes before the jump, the show organizer learned that this requirement had been canceled and Luke immediately jumped out of the plane without a parachute.

Luke Eiknes is lying on the net, and his brain is trying in every way to understand what just happened

After Luke came to his senses he was overjoyed.

If after this jump Luke's motto becomes "never again," then we'll understand.