"Free Fall" Survivors

[Teacher Mark 53]

Amby's Hitler post got me thinking about a story I heard years ago about a R.A.F. Tail Gunner who jumped from his plane with no chute in WW2. Miraculously he lived. The part that isn't mentioned is that the Germans thought he was crazy when he finally got them to understand that he was claiming to have jumped from a plane. He was locked up in a sanitarium until they found the harness in the planes wreckage. He said that he was treated like royalty for the duration of the war. Here are 3 stories, including his:

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.

Alkemade died on Jun. 22, 1987.

The world record freefall without a parachute belongs to a female

stewardess from Yugoslavia, Vesna Vulovic.

Jan. 26, 1972: Twenty-two year old, Vesna Vulovic, was a flight attendant

on Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 enroute from Stockholm to Belgrade. A bomb,

planted by Croatian terrorists, exploded onboard when the aircraft was at

33,330 ft. Vulovic was in the tail section that fell to Earth. It landed at just

the right angle on a slope of snow covered mountains.

Rescue operations commenced immediately. Vulovic was severely injured.

She broke both her legs and was paralyzed from the waist down. She was

in a coma for 27 days. Her recovery took 17 months. She continued to fly

with Yugoslav Airlines for 20 more years.

Vulovic returned to the accident scene on Jan 27, 1997. She met her

rescuers and placed memorial flowers at the monument for the others that

died.

All others on board perished.

Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there.

http://boards.history.com/topic/World-War-...ival-Tales/4486

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Great, impressive and interesting facts Joe,

Thanks!

Is your 6-pack a Corona pack?

[Teacher Mark 53]

Great, impressive and interesting facts Joe,

Thanks!

Is your 6-pack a Corona pack?

No. it's grape soda. Take a look at my personal pic! That was before I quit drinking. This is what I look like now (I'm the one on the left):

Edited November 20, 2008 by Joe Six-Pack

[HAL 9000 96]

HAL 9000 is circuit-warmed by these stories.