Falling: Death before impact?

DS · 13-09-2003 5:04pm #1

Is this a myth or is it true? Is it in any way possible to die when you fall from a large height BEFORE you hit the ground e.g. a skyscraper
I've heard people say your heart stops from the fear/shock if the fall is unexpected or will result in certain death, or that your lungs can't withstand the speed and you can't breathe (but skydivers can withstand this so that doesn't make sense to me).
Anyway, what can happen, how often does it happen, and why does it happen? If you don't know please refrain from posting your half baked hair brained theories which no doubt most of you have. I've posted this on a good few medical websites I'm still waiting on replies, can't find anything concrete about this on the net.

Bluehair · 13-09-2003 5:38pm

Can't imagine you'd actually *die* before impact but if it was unexpected or done as an alternative to death by fire etc..(as reported in wtc on 9/11) you'd certainly experience very elevated levels of adrenaline etc. but i can't see how you'd die from it.

As a skydiver I can report that the freefall certainly isn't enough to kill or harm. It take approx 1000 feet and 12 seconds for the body to accelerate to terminal velocity of approx 120mph (about 5.5secs per 1000 feet subsequent). I say approx as there are a lot of variables inc body mass, size and orientation to the wind (going head down can pass 200mph but is difficult to do).

Breathing is not a problem in freefall.

Even if there was some prior medical condition that might leave the person more prone to heart attacks and they actually had one in such a situation there simply wouldn't be enough time for you to die *before* impact. The best you could hope for is a blackout from shock/panic.

mike65 · 13-09-2003 5:43pm

While the shock might kill you, the speed certainly won't. Terminal Velocity for a typical human is "only" 125 mph. Its the landing that does the damage...even that can be avoided if you land on some softish like snow/swamp and trees.

edit> I should have posted a bit quicker! See above..

Mike.

GuanYin · 13-09-2003 5:47pm

Someone falling from that distance could snap their head back and break their neck if they were to spin while they fell.

KdjaCL · 13-09-2003 5:48pm

Its usually the shock that kills you *** i would prefer to die of shock then hit the ground.

kdjac

KilOit · 13-09-2003 5:52pm

the fall doesn't kill you it's the sudden stop!

radiospan · 13-09-2003 6:19pm

If you're falling, what's the best part of your body to land on?

Presuming you'd survive at all of course...

Sangre · 13-09-2003 6:41pm

Your side, with your arm first along your body.

aphex™ · 13-09-2003 6:41pm

Originally posted by plazz2000
If you're falling, what's the best part of your body to land on?

Presuming you'd survive at all of course...

Your legs (if falling from a massive height). You dont need them to live.

Victor · 13-09-2003 6:41pm

It is possible to die before you hit the ground - a lot of tall buildings have canopies and flag poles and stuff.

However, shock / heart attack etc. won't have actually killed you - yet.

Originally posted by plazz2000
If you're falling, what's the best part of your body to land on?

As much of it as possible, it means the force is spread out over a much larger area. If possible arms crossed in front of face before you hit.

Falling into shallow water, go legs first, with the knees slightly bent.

Sangre · 13-09-2003 6:52pm

Originally posted by aphex™
Your legs (if falling from a massive height). You dont need them to live.

legs first would cause massive shock up the body, and body probably cause your neck to whip back and snap.

With the arms (ive heard), the force can travel to the collar bone and break it, dissapating the energy away from the neck. Apperantely it acts as a natural circuit breaker.

Although at certain heights you will die no matter what.

KilOit · 13-09-2003 7:08pm

i think 6 stories up does serious damage or death, seen a clip of a guy falling 15 stories and the force is umbelieable he actually bounced, at 2 stories or so you hit the ground at 20mph and goes up 7 or so by each story

Am I Sad? · 13-09-2003 9:31pm

I remember reading about a Yugoslav air hostess who's plane was blown up by a terrorist bomb at 30,000ft. She was the only survivor. She landed in a mountian fir forest. The branches point downward so she didn't get impaled, they slowed her fall and she landed in a big snow drift. Because of terminal velocity above a certain height it doesn't matter how high you are. EG you'll hit the ground at the same speed if you fall from 500 or 30000 feet.

This isn't one of those urban myths BTW. True story!!

http://www.avsec.com/editorial/vesna.htm

Oops wrong story, she was still in the fuselage. This is the one I was thinking of.

Guy in a lancaster bomber fell 15,000ft without a parachute and survived during the seccond world war.

He was in the tail gun and when the plane was hit he rotated the turret to get his parachute (turret was too small to wear it). He found the chute on fire and spilling out into the fuisilage.

He was getting burnt so rotated the turret back round and jumped as he figured a bit of freefall then smack would be less pain than burning to death.

He came too in a crater in a deap snow bank underneath a canopy of fir trees and started blowing his rescue wistle. He was in occupied norway and captured. The germans varified his story and gave him a certificate to say he survived the fall. Think he came out of it with only broken ribs.

BrianD3 · 13-09-2003 9:53pm

Your legs (if falling from a massive height). You dont need them to live.

I remember seeing a pic of a guy who comitted suicide by jumping from a tall building. It wasn't pretty. Looked like he hit the ground legs first and did the splits which caused his lower abdomen to burst open spilling his guts and organs onto the ground.

BrianD3

mike65 · 13-09-2003 10:15pm

Originally posted by Am I Sad?
This is the one I was thinking of.

quote:
Guy in a lancaster bomber fell 15,000ft without a parachute and survived during the seccond world war.

He was in the tail gun and when the plane was hit he rotated the turret to get his parachute (turret was too small to wear it). He found the chute on fire and spilling out into the fuisilage.

He was getting burnt so rotated the turret back round and jumped as he figured a bit of freefall then smack would be less pain than burning to death.

He came too in a crater in a deap snow bank underneath a canopy of fir trees and started blowing his rescue wistle. He was in occupied norway and captured. The germans varified his story and gave him a certificate to say he survived the fall. Think he came out of it with only broken ribs.

I'm glad someone found that story which I first read as a teenager in the Jurassic Era. I was looking for it earlier...

Mike.

DS · 14-09-2003 2:48am

Yeah that's pretty much what I had thought, that just fear would not be enough to do anything more stressful to your heart than knowing someone was about to execute you or whatever. It just doesn't make sense that you "die" from pure fear, the heart is a very resilient muscle and doesn't just **** up when it gets a bit of adrenaline. Even if your heart was to stop mid-air it would take 5 minutes before brain damage sets in, and by that time you'd be long dead from terminal deceleration trauma i.e. impact
My friends are "positive" that you die before you hit the ground and told me it's a well known fact. Actually a lot of people seem to believe in this thing from what I've read on the net while researching this. Still haven't gotten a professional opinion on it though.

Silent Bob · 14-09-2003 9:54am

Originally posted by Victor
Falling into shallow water, go legs first, with the knees slightly bent.

And if you're a bloke, hands cupped over the voonerables. Apparently they can be ripped off on impact if you aren't careful.

Cliff divers always hit the water in this position

KilOit · 14-09-2003 2:37pm

true i read that somewhere before

stormkeeper · 15-09-2003 1:36am

I once heard that there are only 2 ways to die, that is either by your heart stopping, or your lungs stopping... Granted, a large fall would kill you outright, but which organ do you think gave up first?

Cake Fiend · 15-09-2003 2:12am

How about your brain being turned into pink mist by the impact?

KilOit · 15-09-2003 2:14am

neighter both. i say your bladder goes first

stormkeeper · 16-09-2003 12:41am

Originally posted by Sico
How about your brain being turned into pink mist by the impact?

You'd be brain dead then, as opposed to clinically dead... Then again, you'd just be a red splatter on the floor... Gooey :eek:

And, to reply to the above post, I think that would have gone pretty much after you fell off... But no one ever died from pissing themselves, though anyone who saw you do it (under, uh... normal circumstances) would die laughing

Dr. Dre · 16-09-2003 7:20am

Hope you were watching C.S.I. last night on RTE !!

I don't like the idea of landing feet first BTW, can't imagine that being in any way the "best" way to land, If I was falling I'd want to be aiming myself to land in the way that I would die quickest, presumably the head ?

LegacyUser · 16-09-2003 7:49am

Originally posted by Dr. Dre

I don't like the idea of landing feet first BTW, can't imagine that being in any way the "best" way to land, If I was falling I'd want to be aiming myself to land in the way that I would die quickest, presumably the head ?

works quite well for cats, always hearing about them falling x number of stories and walking away fine, yea i know they're much lighter and have 4 feet, but still...

Falling: Death before impact?

Comments