Highest falls survived without a parachute

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This article attempts to list of the highest falls survived without a parachute. Some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.

List of the highest falls survived without a parachute[edit]

The following is a list of people who survived without a parachute of a minimum of 100 feet the same as 30 meters.

Some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.

Name Image Distance of fall Date Notes and References
Feet Meters
Vesna Vulović 33,330 10,160[1] 1972 Flight attendant from Serbia who was the sole survivor of an airplane bombing mid-air. Likely landed in part of fuselage in heavily wooded and snow-covered mountainside. Suffered many bone fractures.[1][2][3]
Luke Aikins 25,000[4] 7,620 2016 On July 30, 2016, Aikins jumped from an aircraft without any parachute or wingsuit at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m) above Simi Valley, California, watched by a live audience. After about two minutes of free fall he successfully landed in a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) net
Ivan Chisov 23,000 7,000[1] 1942 Soviet Air Force lieutenant who was shot down by Germans during World War II, and skid down a ravine when his parachute failed to open. Suffered severe spinal injuries.[5][1]
Alan Magee 22,000 6,700[1] 1943 American airman who was shot down by Germans and crashed through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station. Suffered several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and a nearly severed right arm[1][6]
Nicholas Alkemade 18,000 5,500[1] 1944 British Royal Air Force rear gunner survived a fall with only some bruising and a twisted knee. Landed in deep snow drift in a pine forest near Berlin.[1]
Larisa Savitskaya 17,130 5,220 1981 Sole survivor of Aeroflot Flight 811 who was in an aircraft fragment after the mid-air collision, which landed in a swampy glade.[7][8]
Christine McKenzie 11,000 3,400 2004 South African skydiver who hit power lines and fractured pelvic bone.[9]
Juliane Koepcke 10,000 3,200[1] 1971 Sole survivor of the LANSA Flight 508 plane crash, landed in seat and only suffered broken collarbone; hiked for 11 days through Peruvian rainforest to safety.[1]
James Boole 6,000 1,800 2009 British skydiver who landed in snow in Russia. Broke back and rib, but was walking within a week.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Five survivors of spectacular falls", Jon Kelly, BBC News Magazine, published 17 June 2013
  2. ^ Sandomir, Richard (28 December 2016). "Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Vesna Vulovic, air stewardess who survived a plane crash – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 3 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  4. ^ "US skydiver jumps without parachute into net from 25,000ft". BBC News. 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20190722130806/https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/the-indestructible-alkemade/
  6. ^ "The story of the World War II gunner who fell 22,000 feet without a parachute and lived".
  7. ^ "Лариса САВИЦКАЯ: "Для меня уже вырыли могилу"". Известия (in Russian). 2002-07-29. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  8. ^ Cuesta, Javier G. (2021-11-03). "Larisa Savitskaya: The sole survivor of an air disaster the USSR wanted to cover up". EL PAÍS English Edition. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  9. ^ "'Miracle' escape for SA skydiver". 24 August 2004.
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