Man survives 2 mile fall.

[Mikey_]

Like, woah.

Expert jumper Michael Holmes survived a parachute malfunction

Spinning violently out of control as he fell toward Earth and an almost-certain death at hundreds of miles per hour, skydiver Michael Holmes had a split second to consider his demise when his parachute and a reserve failed high above New Zealand in December.

“Oh, [expletive]! I'm dead. Bye,” said Holmes, who landed in a bush and lived to tell about it in an exclusive interview on TODAY on Monday.

Holmes' harrowing escape from death, desperate farewell, wave goodbye and hard landing in a blackberry bush were captured by the helmet-mounted cameras he and fellow skydiving instructor Jonathan King donned Dec. 13 before jumping from a plane at 14,000 feet — more than two miles up.
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An expert skydiver and canopy parachutist, Holmes, 24, said he was concerned but did not panic when his main chute failed about 4,000 feet above the ground. He knew the primary chute had deployed, but could not see that it had become entangled with the backpack that housed the chute and a reserve.

Falling back on his extensive experience and training, Holmes ignored his out-of-control spinning — 84 revolutions in all — and worked to free the main chute to clear way for the reserve to open. Time was running out, and Holmes knew it.

“It was when I pulled the chute cable to release the reserve parachute that I thought, ‘This is bad,’ ” Holmes recalled. “Looking back on it, I'm amazed I didn't pass out. I almost passed out.”

Source

[Saber]

Saw on TV: Another guy quite a while ago (a few years) survived a similar accident, though it wasn't revolutionary. Actually, it was quite bad. Fortunately, he lived too.

[polobunny]

Yeah, you guys read the trick. Always land in a blackberry bush if you have to jump from somewhere high. =P

[Dr Mario]

There's a weird set of odds in play here. Once the human body hits terminal velocity (which is after around 200m free-fall, IIRC) it doesn't matter how much more distance you add to the fall, the chance of survival remains roughly the same*. The odds still suck, but they're barely any worse than a 300m fall.


*assuming our hypothetical jumper lands the same way, onto the same surface.

[polobunny]

There's a weird set of odds in play here. Once the human body hits terminal velocity (which is after around 200m free-fall, IIRC) it doesn't matter how much more distance you add to the fall, the chance of survival remains roughly the same*. The odds still suck, but they're barely any worse than a 300m fall.


*assuming our hypothetical jumper lands the same way, onto the same surface.

Yeah, we all know that, but 2 miles sounds so much crazier.

[Ktiger41]

Yeah, you guys read the trick. Always land in a blackberry bush if you have to jump from somewhere high. =P

lolz. maybe I should plant them all around my house in case i fall off the roof

[Strongbad]

This guy is on Leno right now. The video of him hitting the ground is pretty intense. It even has what would be his last words if he were to die. "Oh shit....I'm dead.....bye." He really needs to work on that for when it really does happen.

[youthquake]

i heard the blackberry bushes, when in full bloom, provide a great squishiness, as well as a tasty treat.

my question is how he picked out the bush while falling. seriously, what goes through your head? "Go for the bush..."

[Strongbad]

i heard the blackberry bushes, when in full bloom, provide a great squishiness, as well as a tasty treat.

my question is how he picked out the bush while falling. seriously, what goes through your head? "Go for the bush..."

He had no control over his descent. In fact, there was a lot of water that he could have chose to land in if he were in control. He was caught in some sort of spin and he just got lucky.

[Blood Wings]

All he had was a punctured lung, and a broken ankle, I'd call that more than lucky.

[Strongbad]

All he had was a punctured lung, and a broken ankle, I'd call that more than lucky.

Call it a miracle if you find it convient to do so, but while the odds may not have been in his favor, it certainly was a possiblity. Now if he would have fell onto a gaint bed of spikes covered with C4, been impaled, blown up, and survived. That would be a true miracle.

[Vagabond]

Call it a miracle if you find it convient to do so, but while the odds may not have been in his favor, it certainly was a possiblity. Now if he would have fell onto a gaint bed of spikes covered with C4, been impaled, blown up, and survived. That would be a true miracle.

Now thats a true miracle. I would say that it was fortunate for him to land in the bushes but nothing miraculous.

[Dinosaurman]

np: Bullet for My Valentine - 4 Words (to Choke Upon) "The Poison Digipak"

Relevance?


I read about a man,
who fell 16 storys out of a hotel window and survived just the other day.

[Inferno.]

Relevance?


I read about a man,
who fell 16 storys out of a hotel window and survived just the other day.

This is the spam section. anything goes. :heyhey:

[Mikey_]

This is the spam section. anything goes. :heyhey:

Not really. The Hangout is the spam section, and almost anything goes, there. That's why I deleted your last post. :heyhey: Don't do it again.