There are cases of people who have survived falls from extreme heights. Some have had faulty parachutes, others fell with some sort of wreckage, and a very few were completely in free fall the entire time. Usually there is something that has broken their fall at the last second, decreasing the speed just enough for them to survive. Many of their accounts can be found at this website: http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/ffresearch.html

Once a WWII ball gunner fell out of the plane with no parachute and landed in 8 foot deep snow. He survived but broke both legs.

Yes, but highly unlikely. Many more have died from such an event than have lived to tell of it. I don't recommend it.

Due to terminal velocity (ie the maximum speed a human being can reach when falling to the earth) if you can drop from 1000 feet then any higher makes no difference. As long as something can break the fall it has been known for people to survive, however it is very unlikely!

I saw an Oprah show where a woman had this happen when her chute did not open properly, so she was rapidly spiraling downward during her entire fall. She broke many bones, including facial. She's had many plastic surgeries... The most amazing part was that she was pregnant(altho she didn't know it at the time)and her baby was born apparently normal!

28,500 to 30,000 is the basic skydive altitude. There has been reports of a skydiver actually surviving the freefall to earth and surviving. This was witnessed by by officers I used to work with. The Skydiver freefell into an orange grove near Zephyrhills Florida and sustained multiple bone fractures and some internal injuries, however survived.

Yes, but the scrapings don't look good!

If someone answers yes, they must have the arch angels flying by their side.

I have heard of people who have lived to tell the tale. However I am sure they probably did not walk away unscathed. They were probably in a lot of pain and had multiple fractures all over their body. Not something I really ever want to experience.

There have been instances but few and far between and most in pretty bad shape.

Possibly. I actually have never been, and probably will never go. To scared.

A relative of mine was a skydiving instructor. His shute failed and he died an hour or two after impact leaving a young wife and 5 year son.

Yes, if you follow these instructions there is a high chance you will live. 1. As soon as you realize that your chute is bad, signal to a jumping companion whose chute has not yet opened that you are having a malfunction. Wave your arms and point to your chute. 2. When your companion (and new best friend) gets to you, hook arms. 3. Once you are hooked together, the two of you will be falling at terminal velocity, or about 130 miles per hour. When your friend opens his chute, there will be no way either of you will be able hold on to one another, because the G-forces will triple or quadruple your body weight. To prepare for this problem, hook your arms into his chest strap, or through the two sides of the front of his harness, all the way up to your elbows, and grab hold of your own strap. 4. Open the chute. The chute opening shock will be severe, probably enough to dislocate or break your arms. 5. Steer the canopy. Your friend must now hold on to you with one arm while steering his canopy (the part of the chute that controls direction and speed). If your friend’s canopy is slow and big, you may hit the grass or dirt slowly enough to break only a leg, and your chances of survival are high. If his canopy is a fast one, however, your friend will have to steer to avoid hitting the ground too fast. You must also avoid power lines and other obstructions at all costs. 6. If there is a body of water nearby, head for that. Of course, once you hit the water, you will have to tread with just your legs and hope that your partner is able to pull you out before your chute takes in water. How to Prepare. Check your chute before you jump. The good news is that today’s parachutes are built to open, so even if you make big mistakes packing them, they tend to sort themselves out. The reserve chute, however, must be packed by a certified rigger and must be perfect as it is your last resort. Make sure that: * The parachute is folded in straight lines—that there are no twists. * The slider is positioned correctly to keep the parachute from opening too fast.

i wouldn't think so but if the mirical of god happened you might.

sometimes yes, sometimes no

People have...give it a try!

I think as long as you didn't hit your head or suffer grave internal injuries, you might be able to escape with broken bones. There again, it would depend on the severity of the injuries. If you fractured your spine, you'd end up paralyzed. In any event, it's most likely that even if by some miracle you managed to survive, you would end up with devastating injuries, paralysis, or both.

yes and no

No because without a parashute you would die becuase the parashute is the one that protects your fall.

This question is along the lines of one I answered a very long time ago. http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/74693 There are a few links to confirmed incidents there.

People have, and in fact people have stood up and walked away after the fall,....its just very very very uncommon.

Only if you land on a giant Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man.

I'm not that lucky, so I won't be finding out for sure.

You can jump from way up in the sky. But without a parachute you're most likely gonna die...

It has happened (fell into a Blackberry bush), but it's not likely. http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/content/articles/2006/12/20/michael_holmes_fall_feature.shtml Got a VIDEO of it! http://www.glumbert.com/media/skydivenightmare

A very very few people have survived by some miracle of circumstances but realize that for average people, even a fall from 20' can be fatal.

only a sheet of cloth 1/4 of your body size can slow you down by 3m/s so if you ripped your shirt off and used it as a parachute you have a chance of surviving, if you fell in a river, or on top of a bouncy castle.

only a sheet of cloth 1/4 of your body size can slow you down by 3m/s so if you ripped your shirt off and used it as a parachute you have a chance of surviving, if you fell in a river, or on top of a bouncy castle. Some people have survived however, by clinging onto wreckage such as an aeroplane (this happened in WW1, faulty parachute) but few have survived freefalling. There is no difference from if you jump from 1000000 feet or 100000, exept the time that it takes, you still would probably die =D

1) Anyone could, especially with a good physical condition, if you have luck and fall on something making the landing softer. But the probability is quite low, I think. Even if you do not die, you could also end you life in a wheelchair or have a similar health problem. By the way, as far as high altitude free fall is concerned, water such as the sea is not soft! I suppose if you could control it, it would be better to try to fall in a wood or in bushes. 2) Here some examples: "- Surviving falls JAT stewardess Vesna Vulović survived a fall of 33,000 feet (over 10,000 meters) on January 26, 1972 when she was thrown from JAT Flight 364, after the plane exploded over Srbská Kamenice in former Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She broke several bones and was in a coma for 27 days. In World War II there were several reports of aircrew surviving long falls: Nick Alkemade, Alan Magee, and I.M. Chisov all fell at least 6,000 meters and survived. It was reported that two of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing survived for a brief period after hitting the ground, but died from their injuries before help arrived. - Record free fall Joseph Kittinger starting his record-breaking skydive.According to the Guinness book of records, Eugene Andreev (USSR) holds the official FAI record for the longest free-fall parachute jump after falling for 80,380 ft (24,500 m) from an altitude of 83,523 ft (25,457 m) near the city of Saratov, Russia on November 1, 1962. Andreev did not use a drogue chute during his jump. - Accidental free fall On June 6, 1989, a NASA stratospheric balloon launched from Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (then known as National Scientific Balloon Facility) in Palestine, Texas, suffered an uncommanded payload release while flying at 120,000 feet over a thunderstorm near Graham, in Texas. Months after the accident, a post-flight investigation concluded that a lightning bolt traveling upside from the clouds provoked the incident. The payload hit the ground at an estimated speed of 700 miles per hour. No one was harmed, but the incident forced the agency to change its policy, forbidding the flying of balloons over thunderstorms." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls 3) You could survive better if you had something else as a parachute slowing you down. For instance a wingsuit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingsuit_flying 4) You would have a better chance with a smaller gravity, such as that on the moon. However, you should not fall from too high if there is no atmosphere, because there would be no resistance of the atmosphere gas, so you would have a constant acceleration. And it depends also on the softness of the ground.

Be undead when you jump.

its possible but then you'll have to buy a compact car, like the 'smart car'!

Although it is possible to hold onto somone during a terminal opening it is not possible to do so in an emergency situation, here is why. 1. When jumping with other people the idea is to get as far away as possible before opening 2. normal opening height is 2500 feet, if your have a main malfunction you will be under 2000 feet before you even start to deal with it. 3. Everyone else will be open by now. And you should have cutaway and gone for your reserve. 4. When parachutes malfunction they dont just "not open" then come out in a mess. If you have a reserve malfunction you cannot simply remove it by cutting away as you did with your main. And you should be focusing on doing everything you can to fix the malfunctioning reserve. 5. With a mess above your head you cannot track over to your friends as you will no longer be in free fall and being thrown around by the malfunctioning reserve. However dont let the idea of a parachute not working put you off, main malfunctions are extremely rare, and reserve malfunctions even rarer.

yes i actually survived but i broke my clavicle mandible left tibia right femur and fibula cracked my pelvis on the side all of my left foot toes and broke 3 ribs not fun had to stay in a wheel chair for 2.5 months the hit itself was horrible i didn't know wether i was dead already or dreaming it was so painful don't recommend it please be careful god bless