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Free FallThe Free Fall Research Page |
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Free FallThe Free Fall Research Page |
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A few people have survived a fall of thousands of feet without a working parachute. This research page is dedicated to recording their stories. After more than five years of research we have completed the Long-Fall Survival report. Click here to visit the Green Harbor Publications store front where you can purchase the Long-Fall Survival report and other books. |
| Use the bar at the top or bottom of each page to find an area that interests you. In general, the stories fall into one of the four categories listed in the links to the right. You can also find a quick overview of the Free Fall Research page on our site map |
Free Fallers Wreckage Riders Unlucky Skydivers Other Amazing Stories |
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News
Saved by Snow Another falling story was caught on video. This time it's from Russia and involves a cameraman named James Boole who was filming another skydiver, lost track of time, and opened his parachute too late. Hitting a snowy slope was key to his survival. See it on video and read more on the Incident Log. Eight Lives Left After 34 Story Fall December 2008: Agence France Press reports that a seven-year-old cat named "Voodoo" recently survived a 34-story fall from his owner's high-rise apartment. The owner, Sheree Washington, said that Voodoo liked to stand on a small ledge outside the apartment. How he fell is not known, but it appears that a well-placed bush broke his fall. Voodoo suffered only minor scratches and a damaged paw. For more on falling cats, see our Questions page. Tree Saves Balloonist After Long Fall On August 31, 2008, Chuck Walz was the pilot and only passenger in a hot air balloon during the Great Southeast Balloon Fest. He was flying in a navigational competition when the basket of the balloon began to rock, he said, due to wind shear. It is unclear what caused the balloon to deflate, but witnesses described its fall as "like a rock with a shoestring." Walz said he was at 13,600 feet at his highest. He later said that his global positioning system (GPS) put the speed of descent at 95 miles per hour. The balloon came down in a residential neighborhood, landing in a tree about 20 feet from a house. Walz was pitched out of the basket at a height of about 10 to 12 feet. He was conscious when rescuers arrived but his leg was badly injured, he broke his pelvis, and he suffered burns to his right hand and arm. His fall was recorded by photographers. A good view is this still photo by Ricky Hilton. See also the Fox Carolina news report on the story and the Channel 7 news report New York, New York: Another Long Fall Survivor in the Big Apple On July 31, 2008, a 12-year-old girl named Grace Bergere was on the roof of her West Village apartment building showing her cousin the view from the rooftop deck. She climbed a ladder beside a brick chimney to get even higher but somehow when she reached the top she fell. Her descent down the chimney covered 14 stories (an estimated 180 feet). Her rescuers did not expect to find her alive. Upon opening the door of the furnace, however, they could see Grace's hand reaching out of the soot. A two-foot pile of ash at the base of the chimney appears to have saved her. She was hospitalized at Bellevue for an injured hip and was listed in fair condition. Fire Lt. Simon Ressner speculated that she fell head first and landed on her back. Grace's father, Steve Berger, is a well-known jazz guitarist. (I have no idea why Grace's last name has an 'e' on it and her father's doesn't but that's the way it was in the Associated Press article...) Window Washer Survives Long Fall On December 7, 2007, a window washer named Alcides Moreno survived a long fall from the top of the 47-story Solow Tower on East 66th Street in Manhattan. His brother, Edgar, who was working with him, hit a fence and died immediately. Alcides’ survival may have been helped by the window washing platform, which it appears he rode to the ground. His fall may have been slowed or halted somewhere around the 10th floor by the cables connected to falling platform. Whether he fell 500 feet at once or stopped briefly before the last 100 or so feet, his survival is still amazing. His condition was grave for several weeks as he lay unconscious. On Christmas day he spoke for the first time since the accident. Doctors now say he will recover, although he will require extensive physical therapy. See articles by the Associated Press and the New York Times for more details. A Short Film about Alan Magee's Fall In 2000, Rodney Ascher (www.rodneyascher.com) made a short film called "Triumph of Victory" about Alan Magee, the U.S. airman who survived a long fall from a disabled bomber in World War II. It's about three minutes long, the length of time of Magee's fall (according to the calculations of the filmmaker). The film starts with an exploding B-17 and continues with much falling and screaming by the actor playing Magee. His flailing, tumbling body is superimposed over battle scenes with World War II aircraft. The film is accompanied by patriotic music and is patterned after newsreels and government films of the 1940s. You can see Triumph of Victory on Youtube. Werner Herzog Documentary about Julianne Koepke Werner Herzog’s documentary "Wings of Hope" is available on DVD. It can be found through www.wernerherzog.com. It is on the first of a six DVD set (the DVDs are sold individually) that includes much of Herzog’s work. "Wings of Hope" is a must-see for fans of the Free Fall Research page. Coincidentally, Herzog had nearly ended up on the same flight as Julianne Koepcke (see Wreckage Riders), who survived a long fall after the aircraft she was in broke up during a storm in December of 1971. The film documents Julianne Koepke’s return to the site of the crash and traces the route of her 10-day trek through the Amazon rain forest to safety. Noel Farrelly reenactment video In April of 1977, an Irishman named Noel Farrelly fell 7,000 feet after his main parachute failed and his reserve only partially opened. (It's described in one account as a "horseshoe malfunction."*) He was saved by a well-placed tree, which broke his fall. (He, in turn, broke a sizeable branch off the tree.) Farrelly, a member of the Irish parachuting team, was hospitalized with multiple injuries but survived. Filmmakers Mandy and Leo Dickinson included a reenactment of the incident in a 1992 video entitled "Dead Men's Tales." Thanks to Kieran Ryan and Allen Foster for pointing this incident out to us and providing additional information. The video is only available in PAL format, which is not of much help to viewers in the U.S., but may be of interest to those in Europe. *See Wikipedia for a definition of a horseshoe malfunction (commonly known as a "horseshoe mal.") Michael Holmes video It turns out that not only did Michael Holmes have a helmet cam, but so did his buddy Jonathan King. Holmes showed up on the Today show on Monday February 12, 2007. The video is not on the Today site but can be found on a Dutch site called Jaggle. Many thanks to Arjo Verweij for sending us the link. It's also on YouTube. Thanks to Dave Reynolds for pointing that out. Another take on this video is this Mail On Sunday Exclusive. Man Survives 16-Story Skyscraper Fall Joshua Hanson, a Wisconsin man visiting the Twin Cities for a dart tournament, survived a 16-story fall on January 20, 2007. He and a group of friends had been out drinking and returned to the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency and were "horsing around" on the 17th floor. He went over a safety bar, crashed through a window, and fell about 160 feet. He landed feet first on a roof at the first-floor level. He was hospitalized in critical condition with a badly broken leg and collapsed lungs. Channel 5 Eyewitness News, the ABC affiliate in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul), did a series of excellent stories whose links are shown below. If you only look at one, check out the one on the science of falling: The first story He's in critical condition The 911 call How strong was the glass? Science of falling The Free Fall Research page is primarily focused on falls from aircraft, but we have covered a couple of skyscraper falls. If you know of any such falls that were higher than 10 stories, please let us know. Michael Holmes and Benno Jacobs There have been two recent incidents (that we know of anyway...). The latest one happened in New Zealand on December 12th and involved a man named Michael Holmes (see the Incident Log for full details). The news did not reach the media until December 21st but shortly thereafter we received five e-mails from visitors to the Free Fall Research page. We would like to thank Roger (no last name given), Graham Stevens, Alan Scheckenbach, Peter Ceulemans, and Simon Roberts for letting us know. The other incident took place in South Africa in August and involved a man named Benno Jacobs. No one wrote in about that incident, perhaps because it was remarkably less spectacular than Holmes' fall (Jacob's parachute was described as being 75% open...). Mythbusters On a Mythbusters episode that first aired on August 10, 2005, the show concluded, after dropping a piece of an airplane fuselage about 2,000 feet, that it was plausible that someone could survive such an incident, even though their test dummy, Buster, was crushed in the fall. Had he been sitting in another part of the fuselage, they surmise, the outcome would have been different. The show was inspired by Vesna Vulovic's amazing survival story. It seems to me that Vesna already proved the point beyond a shadow of a doubt, but that's TV for you. TV Documentaries: Takes 6, 7, and beyond July 2006 (list updated January 2009): We have recently gotten two new requests from different researchers at an independent film company in the U.K. called Wall to Wall Television. The first request came from Sajjad Bhatti who wanted to know how to get in touch with Vesna Vulovic. The other came from Melisa Akdogan, who wanted contact information for some individuals who had survived a long fall. I have to admit I’m getting tired of these requests. I only have contact information for a few people and if they wanted to be on TV they have had multiple chances by now. Still, if you survived a free fall and are dying to get on TV, then send me an e-mail and I will send your name to the next film company that contacts me. Amazingly, Wall to Wall is based in the United Kingdom, which is now the acknowledged world leader in free fall documentary proposals (I’m begging you Brits, have you ever seen one of these shows on TV?). For your reference, here is the scorecard. There are even more than I previously thought:
A correspondent from Germany wrote to say that a reference to the Free Fall Research Page was included in an article in the April 2006 edition of PM magazine. The article, by Sabine Schwabenthan, is called Wunderbare Rettung (Miraculous Rescues). Fortuitously, our travels bring us to Germany this coming week, which will give us the chance to see the full article. In the meantime, we wish a hearty welcome to German visitors to the site. We would greatly appreciate the addition of any German-language stories that we have missed. Danke! The Shayna Richardson Story We've given Shayna Richardson's story its own page. Shayna Richardson, 21, of Joplin, Missouri, survived a fall under an uncooperative reserve chute that sent her spiraling into a parking lot at an estimated 50 miles per hour. Her fall was recorded on video. We've included links to the video, as well as comments from her aunt and one of her instructors. Note: Shayna Richardson had a healthy baby boy in June. His name is Tanner. Click here for the CBS News story and video. TV Documentary, Take 5 December 2005: I believe this is the fifth time that I have received an inquiry from a film company about a possible Free Fall related project. This is the third request from the UK where falling appears to be a national pastime. Earlier requests came from a Japanese company and a Danish company. I'm not really sure if anything ever came of the previous projects. If you happened to be a Brit who has survived such an incident, then you may wish to contact Kate Griffiths of Pioneer Productions. Go out and buy David Carkeet's new book Did you like David Carkeet's The Unplanned Freefall? If so you will want to read his new book: "Campus Sexpot." It's a memoir of his boyhood days growing up in a small town in California. The central theme of the book is the impact on the community of a soft-porn novel that takes the town as its setting and uses thinly veiled take-offs of residents as its characters. Carkeet has written a great story about growing up, impending manhood, and the craft of writing. The book is published by the University of Georgia Press and is available for $22.95. See the Campus Sexpot web site. What you would see if you fell from 30,000 feet... If you want to know what you would see if you fell from 30,000 feet then have a look at the film 'G' by filmmaker Rolf Gibbs. He intentionally dropped a camera from an airplane. It was weighted to fall lens down and protected so that the video would survive the inevitable collision with the earth. It is a peculiar and amazing film. You can watch G on-line. There is also information on-line on how G was made. Thanks to Hutch Hubbard for sending this tip our way. It turns out that you might not see much at all unless you remembered to strap a set of goggles around your neck prior to your fall. See the Questions page for some additional details courtesy of Travis Brown. You say Al-cuh-may-dee, we say Al-ka-my-dee* March 2005: Another film company, this time one from Japan, has been in touch about a free fall incident. The Japanese, it seems, are very interested in Nicholas Alkemade. We provided some source information and in speaking about Mr. Alkemade on the phone we realized that we are not really sure how to pronounce his name. We have been saying "Al-ka-my-dee" but only because it sounded good. Does anyone know how to pronounce his name? If there are any Alkemade relatives out there, please contact us. You might get a speaking role in a Japanese documentary. *As it turns out, the right pronunciation is Al-key-maid. Our thanks to Jarrod Alkemade for setting the record straight! Jarrod, who is from Australia, does not think he is related to Nicholas... Jolanda Dubbeldam-Alkemade writes: “I grinned about your pronunciation experiments with the name ‘Alkemade.’ As a life-long world traveller born to the name I can tell you a story or two about the interesting variations out there! However, Alkemade is a good, traditional Dutch name. People settled in other countries are free to pronounce it as they wish, but in Holland we all (no discussion possible) say: ALL-kuh-mah-duh.” We then had an extended correspondence on the ‘verbal color’ of ‘uh.’ You see, Jolanda was not only born to the Alkemade name but is also a linguist and she stressed that the Dutch pronunciation of ‘uh’ is different from the English ‘uh’ basically a shorter sound, formed with the mouth more rounded, and closer to the front of the mouth. So, we have the final word on how the name is pronounced in Australia and Holland. But what about England? The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment February 2004: While doing a web search we came across an excellent site on the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment ("the famed Red Devils of the All-American Division in World War II"). The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment web site is a perfect model of what military unit historical sites should strive to be. Note: We have been in touch with the site's webmaster but he does not know of any free fall incidents that happened to members of the 508th. Richard G. Snyder: The Father of Free Fall Research Ever heard of the work of Richard G. Snyder? If there were a Free Fall Research Hall of Fame, he would be in it. He didn't survive a lengthy fall, but he did extensive research on the injuries of people who fell (and died). See the Recommended Reading page for more details. Another Documentary September 2004: We received an e-mail from Granada TV in the United Kingdom. They are working on a documentary called "I Survived Freefall," which should air later this year. Keep an eye out for it. Also, did anyone ever see the Easy Film documentary described below? If so, let us know. Help Tyco Walk In December of 2001, Tyco Zeletineanu fell 4,000 feet under a partially open parachute and suffered grave injuries. However, she is recovering and tells her story in excruciating but inspiring detail on a web site called www.helptycowalk.com. Free Faller Alan Magee Died in December 2003 Alan Eugene Magee (see Free Fallers) died on December 20, 2003 in San Angelo, Texas. He was 84. His obituary appeared in the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle. Don't Try This At Home... Professional goofball, David Blaine, has announced that he will jump "hundreds of feet from a helicopter into a river." He is planning this for his birthday, April 4, 2004. (4/4/04, isn't that nice?) He is coming off of a 44-day stay in a plastic box in London. (Does he have a thing about fours?) This might be a good time to remind readers of this web site that almost everyone who falls that far dies, assuming they don't have a working parachute. A teeny percent will survive, it is true, but many of those who do are gravely injured. If you are thinking about jumping any significant distance without a parachute, take our advice: Don't do it. Note to Mr. Blaine: Life is precious. Start thinking about getting a real job to earn money. It's not that bad. Really. Note to the note: April 4th has come and gone, with no indication that Blayne's helicopter jump occurred. Has anyone heard anything new on this? If so, please send a note to Jim Hamilton. Flight Journal Magazine Article, February 2004 Keep an eye out for the February 2004 issue of Flight Journal magazine. It has an article called “Bailout!” by Barrett Tillman that includes references to several stories that appear on the Free Fall Research page. The story also provides new detail on Greg Elcock and an ejection seat incident that is covered in the Other Amazing Stories part of this web site. We Beg to Differ, Detective Many of you will have read about Stephen Hilder, who died in a skydiving accident in July of 2003 when his parachute did not open. Later it was discovered that the chords on his main and reserve parachutes had been deliberately severed. Detective Superintendent Colin Andrews of the Humberside Police told BBC radio, "Whoever did this must have had a knowledge of parachuting. They must have known that when he jumped out of that plane he had no chance of surviving." Perhaps we should forgive Detective Andrews for his "no chance" statement, but we would hope that many skydivers, as well as readers of this web page, would have said instead that he had "only a very small chance of surviving." (Note: See the Incident Log under Cary Hopwood for additional information on this case.) Danish Documentary January 2003: A Danish media company named Easy Film is working on a documentary about people who have survived long falls. If you have survived such an incident and are interested in being interviewed for this documentary please contact Jon Micke of Easy Film. Vesna Vulovic Can Walk! Many thanks to all of the people who pointed out the Aviation Security magazine article about Vesna Vulovic and informing the Free Fall Research page that she recovered from her paralysis and can now walk. This site is now updated to reflect that. (See Wreckage Riders.) |
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