3 ms·
This doesn't seem like a big deal, since it is only 15,000 feet and he had the help of an unopened parachute, which certainly slowed his descent, even though it
by lkrubner 4y ago
This doesn't seem like a big deal, since it is only 15,000 feet and he had the help of an unopened parachute, which certainly slowed his descent, even though it didn't slow his descent enough.
By contrast, Vesna Vulovic fell 33,000 with no parachute to help her, and she also lived.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9496466/stewardess-terror-fell-33000ft-plane-flight-bomb-survived/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9496466/stewardess-terror-fell...
- msla 4y agoBack-of-envelope math on an educational website says terminal velocity for a human in a horizontal position (that is, someone with some control over themselves trying to not go fast) is approximately 120 mph, achieved after falling about 1490 ft. https://owlcation.com/stem/Drag-Force-and-the-Terminal-Velocity-of-a-Human https://owlcation.com/stem/Drag-Force-and-the-Terminal-Veloc...
- lkrubner 4y agoOxygen is much thinner at 33,000 feet. You can still breath at 15,000 feet, most of us have hiked up a mountain almost that tall. In the USA, if you live out West and do a lot of hiking, you've probably gone up at least 12,000 and maybe 14,000, so you understand what 15,000 is. But 33,000 feet? That is much more difficult to survive.