wow that for real!!

Originally posted by The Blade Runner
wow that for real!!

If you're refferring to Vesna, Blade, then yeah no #, it's true.

Check out the link I left, there's a few other incredible paruchetless jumps.

[Edited on 15-5-2003 by mad scientist]

Wow, talk about God as your copilot!

There was a story about an American B-17 crewman who bailed out over German occupied territory in WWII. He bailed without his chute, and his fall was softened by numerous tree branches and a very deep snow drift.

He was found by German forces, who surprisingly gave him a good deal of medical treatment, and then presented him with the Iron Cross (!) for surviving the fall!

hmm. maybe it's me, but deliberately jumping from an aircraft without a parachute seems to be a rather ill-advised idea.

Read the link, in some cases, as with the WTC, doing so is the better alternative to dying burning or something similar...

Dragonrider, that probably was a Lancaster Bomber crew member (not a B-17 crew member) who bailed out without a chute during WW 2. With the exception of the ball turret gunner, B 17 crew members were supposed to wear their parachutes when combat was possible. The tail gunners in the Lanc's could not wear parachutes because there was no room. Their chutes were stowed forward of the gun position (they used the type that just clipped unto your harness). In case of an emergency, the Lanc tail gunner just clipped on his chute on the way to the exit. The guy in question was a tail gunner in a Lanc on a night bombing mission over Germany that was hit by a German night fighter. The plane caught fire immediately and started down. Also the gunfire from the night fighter shattered the tail gunner's canopy. When the guy went for his parachute, he discovered that it had been burned by fire and he was stuck alone on a burning bomber. Rather than going down and burning to death, he returned to his shattered gun position and jumped. Fortunately he landed in a bunch of trees which broke his fall. He wrote his story for the Rider's Digest around 1960.

thanks for reminding us of that amazing tale, j-flieger: it used to be (maybe is) in the Guinness Book.

The Russian guy's head's not right, I fear. Is it physically possible?

Lieutenant I. M. Chisov

January 1942: Russian Lieutenant I. M. Chisov flew his Ilyushin 4 on a bitter cold day in January 1942. He was attacked by 12 German Messerschmitts.
Chisov bailed out at 21,980 ft. because he thought that was his best survival option. He free fell to escape the German fire. His plan was to open at 1000 ft.

He lost consciousness during his freefall. He landed on a steep ravine with 3 ft. of snow and plowed through the snow until coming to rest at the bottom.

He awoke 20 minutes later. He 'only' had a concussion of his spine and a fractured pelvis.

He recovered quickly and was back on duty as a flight instructor 3.5 months later.


Nick Alkemade

March 23, 1944: Nick Alkemade of the Royal Air Force survived a chuteless jump. He was a tail gunner in an AVRO Lancaster bomber. While returning from a bombing mission the aircraft was attacked by German Junkers JU-88. Alkemade was trapped in the turret after the bomber caught fire. His parachute was in the cabin area. Alkemade jumped from the aircraft, preferring a quick death to being burned.
He fell from 18,000 ft, all the while thinking of his ultimate death. He relaxed his body and fell in a slightly head down position.

His next recollection was looking up at the stars through some pine trees. He could not believe he was okay. He moved each arm and leg and soon realized he was not even hurt badly.

Completely grateful of being alive he smoked a cigarette, before even getting up. He thought about what had just happened to him.

He realized that the pine trees, with their pliable branches, slowly reduced his descent rate to one that was survivable. In addition, the soft snow cover reduced the landing forces even more.

He finally stood up. His leg was sprained and would not support his weight.

A short time later, the Germans captured Alkemade. The Gestapo did not believe his story of jumping without a parachute. They thought he was a spy. Finally, after inspecting the parachute harness and finding the burned parachute at the crash site they believe him.

let me get this straight....

1. Paralyzed from the waist down.
2. Continued to fly with them for years.

As what? Certainly not a stewardess...

She was considered "lucky"? No thanks...I think I would have rather died in the crash, than suffer God's "benevolence" here....

Jag, that may be the story I heard, although I thought it was an American pilot, and understand that he was actually decorated by the Germans of all people for surviving the crash.

Originally posted by dragonrider
Jag, that may be the story I heard, although I thought it was an American pilot, and understand that he was actually decorated by the Germans of all people for surviving the crash.

No American was ever decorated with the Iron Cross in WWII.

It still brings up the question: "Why would anyone want to leave a perfectly good airplane".