Survive a Long Fall

What can you do if you slip off a scaffolding 10 stories above the ground, or find yourself free falling when your parachute fails? The odds are not on your side, but survival is possible. If you can keep your wits about you, there are ways you may be able to influence the velocity of your fall and lessen the ultimate force of the impact.

Steps

Strategy for Surviving a Fall from Several Stories

  1. Grab an object on your way down. If you can manage to grab a large object, such as a plank or a piece of rafter, you'll greatly increase your chances of survival. The object will absorb some of the impact when you land, taking a little stress off of your bones.[1]
  2. Try to break your fall into parts. If you're falling next to a building, or off a cliff in the wilderness, do your best to break your fall into segments by hitting a ledge, a lower cliff, a tree, or another object. This breaks up the momentum of your fall and divides it into several shorter falls, which gives you a much better chance of surviving.[2]
  3. Relax your body. If your knees and elbows are locked and your muscles are rigid, the impact of the fall will do more harm to your vital organs. Don't hold yourself stiff. Do your best to relax your body so that when you hit the ground your body is more easily able to take the impact.
    • One way to remain (relatively) calm is to focus on performing the steps that lead to greater survival rates.
    • Stay aware of your body, moving your arms and legs to make sure they aren't locked.
  4. Bend your knees. Possibly nothing is more important to surviving a fall (or simpler to do) than bending your knees. Research has shown that having one’s knees bent at impact can reduce the magnitude of impact forces 36-fold. However, do not bend them too far - only keep a slight bend so they are not locked.
  5. Land feet-first. No matter what height you fall from, you should always try to land on your feet. Landing feet-first concentrates the impact force on a small area, allowing your feet and legs to absorb the worst of the blow. If you are in any other position, try to right yourself before you hit the ground.[2]
    • Fortunately, attaining the feet-first position seems to be an instinctive reaction.
    • Keep your feet and legs tightly together so that both your feet hit the ground at the same time.
    • Land on the balls of your feet. Point your toes slightly down before impact so that you will land on the balls of your feet. This will allow your lower body to more effectively absorb the impact.
  6. Try to fall to the side. Once you land on your feet, you will fall either to the side, front or back. Try to avoid falling on your back. Falling to the side is statistically best. If you can't manage that, try to fall forward instead, breaking your fall with your arms.
  7. Protect your head for when you bounce. When you fall from a great height onto land, you will usually bounce. Some people who survive the initial impact (often with a feet-first landing) suffer a fatal injury on their second impact. You will most likely be unconscious when you bounce. Cover your head with your arms by placing your arms on the sides of your head with your elbows facing forward (and projecting in front of your face), and your fingers laced behind your head or neck. This covers a large portion of your head.
  8. Get medical help immediately. With all the adrenaline flowing in response to your flight, you may not even feel injured upon landing. Even if you are not visibly injured, you may have sustained Check for a Fracture when Performing First Aid or internal injuries that must be treated immediately. No matter how you’re feeling, get to a hospital as quickly as possible.

Strategy for Surviving a Fall from a Plane

  1. Slow your fall using the arch position. Unless you’re falling from an airplane, you won’t have enough time to try this step. Maximize your surface area by spreading yourself out using this skydiving technique.
    • Position yourself so that the front of your body faces the ground.
    • Arch your back and pelvis and tilt your head back like you’re trying to touch the back of your head to the back of your legs
    • Extend your arms and bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle so that your lower arms and hands point forward (parallel to, and on the sides of, your head) with your palms facing down; spread your legs to shoulder width.
    • Bend your knees slightly. Do not lock your legs and keep your leg muscles relaxed and fall into the motion to absorb most impact.
  2. Find the best landing spot. For very high falls, the surface on which you land is the greatest influence on your chance of survival. Search for steep slopes that gradually grow gentler, since you will not lose all of your momentum at once when you hit the ground. Observe the terrain below you as you fall.
    • Hard, inflexible surfaces such as concrete are the worst on which to fall. Very uneven or jagged surfaces, which present less surface area to distribute the force of impact, are also undesirable.
    • The best possible surfaces on which to fall are those that will compress or give way when you fall on them, snow, soft ground (such as a newly tilled field or in a marsh), and trees or thick vegetation (although these present a high risk of impalement).
    • Water is only safe to fall into up to around {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}; past this height it will be little better than falling on cement as it cannot be compressed. Dive-Off-a-Cliff also presents the high risk of drowning (since you will most likely be knocked unconscious). Water is much safer to fall into if it is frothy and bubbly.
  3. Steer yourself to the landing spot. If you’re falling from an airplane, you will usually have about 1-3 minutes before impact. You will also have the ability to travel horizontally a good distance (up to a couple of miles or three kilometers).
    • From the arch position described above, you can direct your flight forward by pulling your arms slightly back at the shoulders (so that they are not extended forward as much) and straightening (extending) your legs.
    • You can move backward by extending your arms and bending your knees as though you are trying to touch the back of your head with your heels.
    • Right turns may be accomplished while staying in the arch position by twisting your upper body slightly to the right (dipping your right shoulder), and left turns are performed by dipping the left shoulder.
  4. Use the correct landing technique. Remember to relax your body, keep your knees bent, and fall feet first. Fall forward, rather than backward, and protect your head with your arms in case you bounce.
    • If you are in an arch position, get your body vertical well before you hit the ground so that you don’t get caught in some other position at impact (as a guide, keep in mind that at 1,000 feet, depending on your velocity, you have about 6-10 seconds before impact).

Tips

  • If you find yourself flipping uncontrollably, try to regain stability by going into the arch position. If nothing else, the stability will help you remain somewhat calm.
  • If you do hit rock bottom, and the bottom consists of a loose sand / clay-like substance, there is a possibility you might get stuck there. Don't panic! Just make a stepping motion, as though you're stepping on a ladder, while using your hands to thrust you upwards in long and powerful blasts. You will have sufficient oxygen for at least one minute, which gives you plenty of time to reach the surface.
  • Keep calm, if you're too busy panicking you're not going to think right!
  • If you are over an urban area, you probably won’t be able to control your flight precisely enough to choose a good landing surface, but glass- or tin-roofed structures, awnings, and cars are preferable to streets and concrete rooftops.
  • Good physical condition and youth seem to positively influence free-fall survival rates. You can’t change your age, but if you’re looking for yet another reason to get in shape, here it is.
  • You can also practice classes in which it helps you if you're in a situation like this.
  • Never land on your heels, landing on your heels from high places can shatter both your legs and your spine. Always land on your toes to avoid fatal damage.
  • Empty your pockets in the air if you have time so that none of your belongings can impale you.
  • Avoid trying to fall on trees, because the tree will not break your fall. Chances are, you will get impaled by a branch.

Warnings

  • People very seldom survive falls from heights of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} or above, and mortality is high even at heights of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. It is always best not to fall at all.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • Injury Prevention OnlineAnalysis of falls from heights of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}
  • Jack R. Hunt Library, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University “Survival of High-Velocity Free-falls in Water” by Richard G. Snyder, 1965: a Federal Aviation Administration report
  • Greenharbor.com The Free Fall research page. Lots of information about free-falls from airplanes, including specific survival stories.
  • Jack R. Hunt Library, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University “Human Survivability of Extreme Impacts in Free-Fall” by Richard G. Snyder, 1963: a Federal Aviation Administration report
  1. ↑ http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/safety/4344036
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/01/09/falling-man.html
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