What happens when you fall free from an airplane at an altitude of thousands of meters?

There have been cases of surviving after free fall from an aircraft at an altitude of 9.1km. However, if you really become a victim of this disaster, how many percent chance of preserving life?

Since 1940, about 50 people have survived the crash from an airplane. All these lucky cases landed in a 'cushion' enough to save their lives.

The highest altitude that people can still survive after free fall from the plane

The most noble must mention the accident that took place on January 26, 1972, a commercial aircraft of JAT airways exploded in the sky at an altitude of 9.144km . While everyone was convinced that all the passengers and crew were killed, something unexpected happened: Vesna Vulovic - a flight attendant on the flight miraculously survived and established So world record.

Air hostess luck Vesna Vulovic.

According to Vesna's account, at the time of the explosion, she was standing at the tail of the plane and this position was unaffected. When the tail parted and fell to the ground, Vesna Vulovic was locked by a food trolley, so she wouldn't fall into the air. Finally, the tail (inside Vesna) falls into the extremely thick snow of a mountain in Czechoslovakia (old). The impact caused Vesna Vulovic to suffer a serious injury, break a lot of bones, but most of all, she preserved her life.

There are still cases of surviving even without falling into the snow!

In the case of surviving a high-altitude crash after Vesna Vulovic in 1943, it was the military pilot Alan Magee . In particular, after his plane was hit while on duty in the sky of France, Magee was thrown out into the air and fell freely, at that time he was at an altitude of 6.7 km from the face. land.

Fortunately, Magee fell into a train station, he broke the glass roof of the building and when Magee was found, the pilot was in a suspended state due to steel beams hooked into his clothes. and of course, despite many injuries, he is still alive. You might think that glass on the roof can hardly act as a ground cushion. But even if it is not as smooth as snow, if you do not respond to Magee's survival glass, it will be almost '0'.

What really happens if you fall from a height of 9.1km

The above survived cases are really very rare and require the convergence of a series of lucky factors. In a practical perspective and with a much higher probability of occurrence, when falling freely from a height of 9,144 km (as is the case of Vesna Vulovic), things happen very quickly and you only have 170 seconds until when touching the ground. During this time, you will be frozen by low temperatures (at a height of 9.144km, temperatures range from -40 to -57 degrees C). Besides, another problem that you face is the lack of oxygen, because the higher the air, the more dilute it is. When the brain is not supplied with enough oxygen, we will quickly lose awareness, before we can find a way to manage it. What may be called luck in this case is that we will be awake a little later, when down to a height where the oxygen is dense (usually 1 minute after starting to fall).

When you fall freely, the speed will increase dramatically according to the acceleration of gravity, namely about 9.8 meters per second. However, at a time, the falling speed will not increase due to air resistance, it is calculated that if you fall from a height of 9.1 km, you will reach a constant speed of 190 km / hour. , this number will have a move depending on the body characteristics and posture of each person falling.

The way to increase your chances of living is to search for a ground position that can serve as a 'cushion'

According to the lesson learned from the above plane crash survivors, the way to increase the chances of survival is to search for a ground position that can serve as a 'cushion'. Of course, it should be soft surfaces. It is reported that most people are still alive due to falling into the snow, so this is one of the best options. Besides, some other cases were also saved by falling into the forest, bushes. However, the trees are a double-edged sword, because it is sometimes very good but if it is unlucky, this might be the worst choice.

After aiming for a grounding position, the next thing you should prepare is the landing position. According to experts, the best way to land when falling from a height is to use your feet to touch the ground first, then lean slightly behind to touch the ground and finally the shoulder. This grounding seems to cause pain in many places but it ensures maximum safety for organs above the waist (important internal organs with the central nervous system).

Back to reality

Of course all of the above advice will only increase your survival when you fall free from the plane. However, the possibility of this type of accident is very low because the aircraft is considered the safest means in the world.

More important and practical knowledge that you need to grasp, if you regularly travel by plane, is how to keep calm and respond to small incidents in the cabin or how to use rescue equipment. , escape on the plane!

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