FALLS PEOPLE AMAZINGLY SURVIVED

WORLD WAR II AMERICAN AIRMAN ALAN MAGEE

SURVIVED A 22,000 FOOT FALL

After being blown from his B-17 bomber, Magee fell over 20,000 feet

before crashing through the glass roof of the St. Nazarine railroad

station. Miraculously, the glass roof mitigated Magee’s impact,

saving his life. He ended up with 28 shrapnel wounds and

several broken bones.

HANS LANGE SURVIVES A CLOSE ENCOUNTER

WITH A MOUNTAIN

BASE Jumper Hans Lange found himself in a heap of trouble when

his leap from Bjoerkentind mountain went horribly wrong. As Lange

raced down the mountain at speeds of up to 100 mph, he realized

he was getting too close to the mountain wall and decided to

deploy his parachute in order to manoeuvre away. Unfortunately,

his idea failed sending Lange into repeated collisions with

protruding rocks before finally ending at the base of the mountain.

To everyone’s amazement, Lange only suffered a broken leg

from the whole ordeal.

JULIANE KOEPCKE SURVIVED A PLANE CRASH

IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

In what is possibly one of the worst ways to spend your Christmas Eve,

Koepcke was the sole survivor of the LANSA flight 508. It’s

estimated that Koepcke fell from a height of about 10,000 feet

before crashing into the Peruvian rain forest.

VESNA VULOVIC SURVIVED A FALL OF 33,000 FEET

22-year old Yugoslav airlines stewardess Vesna Vulovic survived a

fall of 33,000 feet after her plane was blown to pieces by a stowaway

bomb. Luckily, Vulovic was in the tail section that fell to Earth which

landed at just the right angle on a slope of a snow covered mountain.

She was the only survivor from the event and holds the Guinness

World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.

DAVE HODGMAN SURVIVED BEING TANGLED WITH

ANOTHER JUMPER AT 2,500 FEET

Dave Hodgman was jumping as part of a sky diving formation team

when disaster struck. At 2,500 feet, Hodgman deployed his parachute

but failed to see another jumper (Frank) above him who had also

just deployed his parachute. The two sky divers collided, tangling

each other and eventually landing in a parking lot. Dave was badly

injured but recovered and went back to jumping within three

months while Frank walked away relatively unharmed.

GARETH GRIFFITHS SURVIVES THANKS TO

THE SACRIFICE OF MICHAEL COSTELLO

Professional rugby player Gareth Griffiths was not prepared for the

tragedy that he was about to experience. Paired with experienced

instructor Michael Costello (who was also the representative for

Massachusetts) Griffiths was to engage in a routine jump. However,

on this day things went horribly wrong when their parachutes

failed to deploy. Seconds before they hit the ground, Costello

twisted his body, placing it between Griffiths and the ground.

The selfless sacrifice saved Griffiths life.

NICHOLAS ALKEMADE SURVIVED A FALL OF 18,000

FEET AFTER HIS PLANE WAS SHOT DOWN

Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade fell 18,000 feet after his plane was

shot down and fire had destroyed all available parachutes. Thankfully,

his fall was broken by pine trees and soft snow enabling him to

survive with only a sprained leg.

JOE HERMAN SURVIVED A FREE FALL BY

GRABBING A FELLOW FLYER'S LEG

When this Royal Australian Air Force pilot was blown out of his bomber

he found himself in the midst of chaos and falling debris.

Lucky for him, fellow flyer John Vivash was in the process of pulling

his ripcord. As such, Herman was able to grab onto Vivash’s leg

and survive the plunge to earth with only a couple of broken ribs.