Jumping from a Plane in an Emergency

[JeepDiver 0]

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would I be able to get it on without the other passengers going berserk and attacking me so they could get it for themselves? It would be an airborne riot, probably...

My thoughts exactly.

After landing the pilot was disappointed that he missed the centerline by 6 inches.

[Scoop 0]

Out of interest anyone know the minimum safe cruising speed for a large commercial aircraft like the one pictured? It would be awesome to have everyone piling out of that!

[freeflyfree 0]

I was a flight attendant working for a company that had 727s and 737s. the only way you could jump out of the airplane would be if a bomb exploded inside and opened a big enough hole for you to jump out of...in the case of the 727 I had a plan...fly below 14.000 depressurize the cabin open the back door (aft air stairs) this would release the stairs but the DB COOPER thingy would keep it closed. then throw the rafts (they are heavy) onto the closed stairs and jump on it in order to break the DB COOPER lock .

this lock is a flimsy piece of metal that moves in place when the air pushes it...

the things I thought when I was bored up there working.

Felipe

--
Blue Skies
NO FEARS, NO LIMITS, NO MONEY...
"A Subitánea et Improvísa Morte, Líbera nos, Domine."

[mdrejhon 8]

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An interesting story about an old friend of mine (its been a lot of years since I've heard it so I'm sure I've got some details wrong but I do remember the gist of it.)

There was a skydiver named Steve Morrell. He was a pilot in the military for a lot of years, and later on a pilot for Northwest airlines. He also did a lot of base jumping.

At one point he was base jumping in Saudi Arabia, jumped off a cliff and had a cliff strike and hurt himself pretty good. His buddy carried him out and they got him to a hospital. Because of this, he missed his flight back to the US. The flight he missed - the Pan Am flight which exploded over Lockerbie.

He always wondered what would have happened if he had been on that flight - because:

1. He said he always kept his rig underneath the seat in front of him, and being a practiced base jumper, knew he could get his rig on in some quick amount of time - 30 seconds or something...

2. This flight supposedly split apart in mid-air - most passengers weren't killed by the bomb but by the crash into the ground...

He always wondered what would have happened if he had made that flight, got his rig on, and somehow this skydiver who happened to be on the plane, happened to have a rig, happened to be returning from Saudi Arabia, and somehow mangaed to be the only survivor....

Ya never know...

W

Man. Very interesting and almost unbelievable - if accurate.

I also saw videos where someone "put on a rig" in mid skydive (chuteless type jumps). So, theoretically, you don't even need to put the rig on before freefall. If he happened to be able to grab a hold of the rig before "falling out" of the distintegrating plane. That'd be only 1 second if it was under your seat (grab by leg straps). As long as you were holding onto the rig and were high enough to have time to put it on in freefall or more realistically, deploy while using some kind of a really tight lock-hold on a leg straps (like I saw in a video), deploy while hanging from leg straps, and climb into the rig under canopy. I think it was something done by Greg Gasson, right? (name may be wrong) Granted, it would take a real experienced guy to be able to do it...

But I can see the danger, being the only survivor and suspiciously with a parachute, the authorities will be looking mighty scary, wondering what the hell you were up to, you'd be the prime suspect in the airplane disaster...

All improbable, but interesting to ponder...

[Witelli 0]

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That's without the issues with the speed you'd be going... 500mph wind isn't exactly friendly.

Hmmm. I'd be willing to bet that going 500 mph at 35,000 feet altitude wouldn't be much more stressful to the body than we experience at normal skydiving altitudes. Granted you will probably die from rapid decompression, cold and lack of oxygen, and like you said, smacking into a wing. But I think I read somewhere that if you jump high enough, you can approach 1,000mph and gradually slow down as the air becomes denser. Terminal velocity, I believe is based on weight, surface area as well as the density of the air. Any Psysicists around to confirm?

[gulaz 1]

I dont know much about other aircraft types, but on most boeing products, you would have a hell of a time opening the door... it pops inwards a few inches first (the door edges are angled so that the door is bigger than the opening when closed). Then it swings outwards towards the front of the plane. Your best bet for getting out of a 737, would be to climb down into the aft cargo pit through the floor, and then try to open that door on the right hand side of the aircraft (it swings upwards and inwards)... havent ever closed the door inside of it, so im not sure whats on the other side of the door, but im sure you can open it in case someone locks you in there. But the main doors in the passenger area wouldnt open too easily in flight.

[Sen.Blutarsky 0]

My thinking has been that if an aircraft of the majors is flying under the control of a commercial pilot who I believe is operating within the law and the aircraft is holding any attitude that would permit me to don a rig and reach an operable exit then I should remain tightly strapped to my seat. Of course I should immediately put on my rig, bail out and trust my equipment if the pilot or aircraft behaviors are so crazy that it's impossible to get to my gear and open some door to escape safely. Similar results obtain in my view


Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

[blewaway5 0]

Some one correct me if I'm wrong but I think the video you're referring to is Joe Jenning's The Good Stuff. The gentleman jumping "chuteless" is actually, if you look real close, wearing a harness under his clothes with a snap link to hook himself to different points on the harness.

Fun little experiment, have a friend drive progressively faster down a nice straight road and see how long you can hang a pilot chute out the window before you have to let go of it. I bet the straight road won't need to be too long Point to all this...no way a person could hang on to a rig that is opening.

Just my 2 shiny pennies

Truman Sparks for President

[NWPoul 1]

It is possible, at least in case of Hop and pop deployment
There is a kind of fun jump "kaplya" (drop) on russian when two jumpers leaving the plane then first deploy his main (usually round) while second jumper hang on his harness, so they are both descents under one canopy for a while...

Why drink and drive, if you can smoke and fly?

[mnealtx 0]

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It is possible, at least in case of Hop and pop deployment
There is a kind of fun jump "kaplya" (drop) on russian when two jumpers leaving the plane then first deploy his main (usually round) while second jumper hang on his harness, so they are both descents under one canopy for a while...

Also known as a "Mr. Bill" in the States...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Travman 6]

I was wondering when someone would bring up the Cooper vain.
DB Cooper leaped from a 727 carrying 21 pongs of $20 bill strapped to his body. No one can be sure if he survived or not, but since this they have installed the cooper vain that prevents the doors being opened in flight.

[twibbles 0]

Hmm, my two cents worth. As far as i know, a door opening mid flight isn't very healthy for a commercial airliner in general. The doors are not designed to be opened into the airflow and opening it at that kind of speed the door isn't going to stay attached for long. Damaging the airframe as it rips off and causing a whole lot of trouble.

If the aircraft is in an emergency bad enough for me to want to bail out, the pilot is going to have a difficult enough time controlling the aircraft without someone go around opening doors and making things more difficult.

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[vpozzoli 0]

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I was wondering when someone would bring up the Cooper vain.
DB Cooper leaped from a 727 carrying 21 pongs of $20 bill strapped to his body. No one can be sure if he survived or not, but since this they have installed the cooper vain that prevents the doors being opened in flight.

A quick search on DB Cooper turned up this interesting article. It even mentions dropozone.com, but only on the very last page
http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/DB_Cooper/index.html?sect=27

Apparently at least one person succeeded in this kind of stunt (hijacking + extortion + jumping ship with a rig and the money), and survived. He was later found and arrested because he was unable to keep his mouth shut about it.
On the other hand several others died in various botched attempts.

Vale

[diverdriver 5]

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I'm taking that you haven't landed in many jumps planes then. The last time I landed with one (high winds) more than one skydiver was complaining and nervous as the ground grew closer. Of course the ground is going to get closer, we're landing, what did they expect?

Most skydivers have hundreds or thousands of canopy landings...but I would venture to guess that the vast majority have very few small plane landings. Being apprehensive about a small plane landing doesn't make someone a "wuss".

Yes it does. You should here the whimpering and crying that goes on when I tell them we are landing the plane without dropping. And I'm considered to be one of the "good" pilots out there. Friggin sissies.





...said in all jest too.

Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

[mnealtx 0]

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And I'm considered to be one of the "good" pilots out there.

That's where the number of landings equal the number of takeoffs, right?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[HydroGuy 0]

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And I'm considered to be one of the "good" pilots out there.

That's where the number of landings equal the number of takeoffs, right?

Hahahahahahahaha

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[mnealtx 0]

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And I'm considered to be one of the "good" pilots out there.

That's where the number of landings equal the number of takeoffs, right?

Hahahahahahahaha

I dunno about you, but I'd be starting to get worried if there was a large discrepency there!!

I'm pretty sure that Chris realizes my comment was *DEFINITELY* made in jest...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[billvon 2,400]

A few replies:

>I'd be willing to bet that going 500 mph at 35,000 feet altitude
>wouldn't be much more stressful to the body than we experience at
> normal skydiving altitudes.

If your IAS (indicated airspeed, per the airspeed indicator) is 380 knots, then that's exactly what you will feel. IAS is how much air is going by you. Your _true_ airspeed may well be much higher, but it's IAS that you care about - and most jets don't cruise at very survivable airspeeds.

>This flight supposedly split apart in mid-air - most passengers
>weren't killed by the bomb but by the crash into the ground...

I tend to doubt that. Say you're flying along and the plane comes apart. Now, the odds of your seat being ejected whole through a hole in the plane the plane are pretty low. More likely, the plane is going to disintegrate around you. That involves metal coming apart around you, the walls caving in towards you, the seats folding in to each other, debris spraying around the cabin. Imagine, if you will, the worst funnel you have ever been in, say on a 100-way. Now imagine that at an airspeed of 400mph with the people replaced by chunks of jagged metal - and you're attached to one of those pieces.

I have no doubt that many of those people were killed by impact, but I tend to doubt it was impact with the ground.

Some other points -

About the only two air disasters I have heard about where this may have been an option is the JAL 747 that blew its rear pressure bulkhead (and most of the tail) and the Aloha Airlines that lost its upper fuselage. Even then, you're going to have to navigate swaths of torn metal and wiring in a 200+MPH wind blast. The only time your odds of survival are going to be higher by attempting to exit are when a) there's a hole you can fit through, b) the plane is somewhat under control (i.e. it's still somewhat stable) and c) it's not controllable enough to land. The only situation I have ever seen that fit those criteria was the JAL flight.

DC-9's and MD-80's have rear doors that can sometimes be opened (the Cooper vanes on one Super-80 we were working on were broken) and some Airbus aircraft have powered, inward-opening doors that retract into the overhead.

[Witelli 0]

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If your IAS (indicated airspeed, per the airspeed indicator) is 380 knots, then that's exactly what you will feel. IAS is how much air is going by you. Your _true_ airspeed may well be much higher, but it's IAS that you care about - and most jets don't cruise at very survivable airspeeds.

Good to know, thanks.

[mdrejhon 8]

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Some one correct me if I'm wrong but I think the video you're referring to is Joe Jenning's The Good Stuff. The gentleman jumping "chuteless" is actually, if you look real close, wearing a harness under his clothes with a snap link to hook himself to different points on the harness.

Fun little experiment, have a friend drive progressively faster down a nice straight road and see how long you can hang a pilot chute out the window before you have to let go of it. I bet the straight road won't need to be too long

Very interesting to know about Greg Gasson (I think that's the name). Who knows, it may have even been a special super-soft-open pack job too.

Also, don't forget those circus gymnasts climbing ropes - people who twists the rope around a leg or arm many times and literally hang without holding on.

Same could theoretically be done with rig legstraps (if symmetrical on both sides, using both arms twisted around each individual legstraps about 4 or 5 times). I guess it would take a circus acrobat to accomplish hanging on during opening! Betcha it would be very painful as the opening would cause the twists to tighten/suffocate the arms.

But billyvon's note would make this completely moot anyway.

[sweep 0]

All these guys are such naysayers. I think we should all sit kitted up anytime we're on a commercial flight, just in case. That way if we get sucked out the door when the bad guys blow it out it doesn't matter whether or not our brother is strong enough to pull us back in.

And all this stuff about how fast and how hard it would be, can't be that bad if you can be dangled by the wrist for a good while before you slip away (specially when the guy in question doesn't look that light), and I didn't see a lot of shards of metal or all this other stuff the "experts" seem to be saying would be happening despite clear video evidence to the contrary.

All I'm saying is if Wesley Snipe's brother had been wearing a rig already, he could still be alive, plus he could have dumped high, followed the bad guys down and caught them without Wesley having to learn how to do a swoop to pin and terminal Mr Bill in like 8 jumps.



Sweep

----
Yay! I'm now a 200 jump wonder.... Still a know-it-all tho..

[billvon 2,400]

> That way if we get sucked out the door when the bad guys blow it out it
>doesn't matter whether or not our brother is strong enough to pull us back in.

True. And if the Borg grab the plane in a tractor beam, and carve it up in mid-air, and suck up the part we're not in, we could just step up to the edge and jump off. I've always worried about that.

[Squeak 17]

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> That way if we get sucked out the door when the bad guys blow it out it
>doesn't matter whether or not our brother is strong enough to pull us back in.

True. And if the Borg grab the plane in a tractor beam, and carve it up in mid-air, and suck up the part we're not in, we could just step up to the edge and jump off. I've always worried about that.

Now you're just being a silly Billy

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?