What would you do in this situatuion?

[Sainty43]

Hi guys,

I have a question for you people. If you were flying a light aircraft and had a midair collision and lost a wing, obviousely you would have little or no control and the aircraft would plummit to the ground! The chances are you arent going to live, but if you jumped out the aircraft at say 300ft you might survive the fall (some parachute jumpers have from much higher jumps!) I know its a very strange question to ask but Someone asked me the other day and to be honest I had never thought about it!

Cheers guys,

Lee

[Whirlygig]

I would have thought that bit of your aircraft and the aircraft with which you collided would probably get you on the way down.

Have a bang seat fitted and wear a parachute!

Cheers

Whirls

[Sainty43]

I rarely fly with a parachute or bang seat!

[dublinpilot]

I don't think it would make much difference one way or the other.........personally I think I'd take my chances in the aircraft rather than out, but wouldn't hold much hope either way.

[kevmusic]

Originally Posted by Sainty43

if you jumped out the aircraft at say 300ft you might survive the fall

Don't try this at home, folks!

Kev.

[Sainty43]

I really doubt that!

Well i've heard of parachute jumpers with failed parachutes surviving 10,000ft falls! It's unlikely but could happen!

Lee

[iannay]

I remember reading of a tigermoth midday during a display, both planes locking together and both pilots surviving the subsequent crash.

Interestingly, one of them made the decision to open up his engine before impact to help lesson the impact. I suppose you want the nose up before trying that one.

Staying with the aircraft will at least give you some decent crumple zones if you're lucky to hit right......

[Polarhero]

You would have to be able to jump very fast, as what remained of the aircraft would be going down at some speed more than likely.

Was some thing like this on Myth Busters, was a falling lift and the person jumping at the last second. But it does not work you would need to jump up at the speed the lift or aircraft was falling, and no was on earth can a human just that hard.

[Sainty43]

I suppose it's all to do with Terminal Velocity as to what speed you hit the ground and im guessing a falling aircraft would have a higher Terminal Velocity than a falling person, right? If so I would take my chances and jump out at say 1000ft reach Terminal Velocity and pray I land on a haystack!!

I may be wrong!

Lee

[dublinpilot]

and pray I land on a haystack!!

More likely on top of your wrecked aeroplane!

Well i've heard of parachute jumpers with failed parachutes surviving 10,000ft falls! It's unlikely but could happen!

That is true, but I suspect the difference is to do with the surface that they land on.....trees for example may be more cushioning than rock!

Staying with the aircraft will at least give you some decent crumple zones if you're lucky to hit right......

This is why I said I'd stay with the aircraft......it's also possible you might have a little bit of control left too, which could help you.

[turniphead]

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photoga...5MinusWing.wmv

It does not always follow that if you lose a wing all else is lost

[Sainty43]

A lot of interesting reply's! I suppose your right in saying there might be a little control left. If I lost say both wings I would probably jump from the aircraft. You would have so little control left, but depending on the amount of control I suppose I would stay in the aircraft. It would be scary as hell though I imagine!

Lee

[mm_flynn]

There certainly are instances of ridding the wreckage successfully http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/wreckage.html. In most cases I would have thought an aircraft spinning out of control would decend at maybe 10,000 - 15,000 fpm which is roughly 120-180 mph. You would need to be wearing your Superman Cape to go as slow as 120 Terminal velocity. Your 'Jump' up may briefly knock 5 mph off ( If you can jump high enough to hit your head on a ceiling 1/2 meter above you). It then all depends on the crumple zones and internal restraint in the wreckage when you hit vs. the ground's crumple zones when you hit.

[PompeyPaul]

I think it's a myth

If you are in a lift or aircraft that is falling to the ground and you jumped just before hitting the bottom then it would make no difference to your impact speed (and thus nasty jerk and deceleration you will become subject to)

The only thing you will succeed in is accelerating the wreckage \ lift beneath you so it hits the earth slightly harder.

The interesting question is whether it is better to stick with the wreckage or not. I think it is immaterial. Whilst the wreckage IMHO WOULD provide some protection by absorbing the energy of impact it would also be a hinderance as it would add to the impact energies too.

I would rather be away from the aircraft simply for the fact that you stand a change of a soft landing and escape (i.e. into water) instead of being trapped inside some buckled wreckage that later ignites.

Note I'm not a very experienced aviator or analysts, just a simple physicists and so this might all be total rubbish.

[Captain Smithy]

Me? I'd rather just sit and hope that the poor buggers who have to zip me up in my body bag don't find too much of a mess

[VFE]

The remaining wing would still be producing lift so in effect the aircraft would (assuming everything else is unaffected) display the same characteristics as you'll witness in a spin because in a spin you are effectively becoming a one-winged aircraft. I know one person who survived hitting the deck in a spin but he's in a wheelchair now.

If you lost a wing in flight I'd recommend sticking with the aircraft. The chances are that the rotational velocity of the aircraft would prohibit any possiblilty of making an airbourn escape anyway! At about 50 feet (could you judge this in a spin??), and assuming a nose down attitude I'd apply back pressure to the control colunm and maybe even open the throttle but in all honesty... you are going to be very very lucky to survive it. So....

Keep a good lookout scan going at all times!

[Sir George Cayley]

It's not the fall, but .......

....the sudden stop that hurts!

A flippant answer maybe but in there is a clue to survival.

How many accidents have we heard about in which AAIB suggest that if the pilot had worn head protection the outcome may not have been fatal?

Also, what about padding? Ever seen how much foam cushioning some aeorbatic aces use?

In the end though I guess fate is the arbiter. One can fall off a step ladder at home an kill your self so smacking into the ground at any rate of knots in a (non) flying machine is a lottery.

Sir George Cayley

[Basil Smallpiece]

First of all I would most probably have avoided the collision as my 'Flarm' set would have warned me of the proximity of another aircraft. Where I fly all gliders, most helicopters and an increasing number of light aircraft have it fitted. (flarm.com)

If however it were to happen I would pull the red handle above my head, igniting the rocket on the shelf behind me that then extracts the rescue parachute, and enjoy the view as I gently float to the ground. (brsparachutes.com)

[Piper19]

There were indeed parajumpers surviving the fall from 10000ft, but there are more people that survived an aircraft crash. So I stay seated.

[eharding]

Originally Posted by Basil Smallpiece

If however it were to happen I would pull the red handle above my head, igniting the rocket on the shelf behind me that then extracts the rescue parachute, and enjoy the view as I gently float to the ground. (brsparachutes.com)

...or, in the case of a missing wing, observe in wonder as the chute becomes tightly wrapped around your now wildly tumbling aircraft, leaving you with a dilemma - which company to send an SMS snottogram to first? - because I'd imagine you'd be fairly pressed for time to get both texts done...