This article attempts to list of the highest falls survived without a parachute. Some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.
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This article attempts to list of the highest falls survived without a parachute. Some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.
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The following is a list of individuals who survived a fall without the utilization of a parachute that is equal to or greater than 100 feet (or 30 metres).
Please note that some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.
| Name | Image | Distance of fall | Date | Notes and References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feet | Meters | ||||
| Vesna Vulović | 33,330 | 10,160 [1] | 1972 | Flight attendant from Serbia who was the sole survivor of an airplane bombing mid-air. Likely landed in part of fuselage in heavily wooded and snow-covered mountainside. Suffered many bone fractures. [1] [2] [3] | |
| Luke Aikins | 25,000 [4] | 7,620 | 2016 | On July 30, 2016, Aikins jumped from an aircraft without any parachute or wingsuit at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m) above Simi Valley, California, watched by a live audience. After about two minutes of free fall he successfully landed in a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) net. | |
| Ivan Chisov | 23,000 | 7,000 [1] | 1942 | Soviet Air Force lieutenant who was shot down by Germans during World War II, and skid down a ravine when his parachute failed to open. Suffered severe spinal injuries. [5] [1] | |
| Alan Magee | 22,000 | 6,700 [1] | 1943 | American airman who was shot down by Germans and crashed through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station. Suffered several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and a nearly severed right arm [1] [6] | |
| Nicholas Alkemade | 18,000 | 5,500 [1] | 1944 | British Royal Air Force rear gunner survived a fall with only some bruising and a twisted knee. Landed in deep snow drift in a pine forest near Berlin. [1] | |
| Larisa Savitskaya | 17,130 | 5,220 | 1981 | Sole survivor of Aeroflot Flight 811 who was in an aircraft fragment after the mid-air collision, which landed in a swampy glade. [7] [8] | |
| Bear Grylls |  | 16,000 [9] [10] | 4,870 | 1996 | British soldier in Kenya whose parachute failed to deploy during special air service military training in Zambia [10] or Zimbabwe. [9] He landed on his pack and broke his back in several places. |
| Christine McKenzie | 11,000 | 3,400 | 2004 | South African skydiver who hit power lines and fractured pelvic bone. [11] | |
| Juliane Koepcke |  | 10,000 | 3,200 [1] | 1971 | Sole survivor of the LANSA Flight 508 plane crash, landed in seat and suffered broken collarbone and other injuries; hiked for 11 days through Peruvian rainforest to safety. [1] |
| James Boole | 6,000 | 1,800 | 2009 | British skydiver who landed in snow in Russia. Broke back and rib, but was walking within a week. [1] | |
| Victoria Cilliers | 4,000 | 1,219 | 2015 | Survived a murder attempt [12] | |
| Ryōyū Kobayashi |  | 954 | 291 [13] [14] | 2024 | This is the unofficial world record for the longest ski jump (hosted by Red Bull), 291m. [15] The event occurred on April the 24th. [16] |
| Ryōyū Kobayashi | | 925 | 282 [14] | 2024 | This is the unofficial former world record for the longest ski jump (hosted by Red Bull), 282m. [17] This event occurred on April the 24th. |
| Ryōyū Kobayashi | | 849 | 259 [17] | 2024 | This is the unofficial former world record for the longest ski jump (hosted by Red Bull), 259m. [17] This event occurred on April the 23rd. |
| Ryōyū Kobayashi | | 839 | 256 [17] | 2024 | This is the unofficial former world record for the longest ski jump (hosted by Red Bull), 256m. [17] This event occurred on April the 24th. |
| Joshua Hanson | 200 | 60 | 2007 | This accident occurred in January 2007 as Hanson ran from an elevator, losing his balance and falling through a window from the 17th floor to the ground landing on his feet, he suffered internal bleeding and had several broken bones. [18] | |
| Tim Stilwell | 15th Floor (~150) | ~45 | 2013 | Locked out of his apartment in June 2013, decided the best course of actions was to attempt to hang and fall onto his neighbour's balcony. Slipped from the 15th floor. (~150 feetassuming each floor is 10 ft.) and landed on the roof of a building at ground level. Some suggest the roof broke his fall, medical experts state he was very lucky to have survived the fall. His injuries were; broken bones, internal bruising. However Stilman was expected to make a full recovery. [19] | |
| Yuan Huangtou |  | 108 [20] [21] [22] | 33 | c. 559 | Huangtou was a prisoner, who was set on an experiment conducted by Gao Yang with a few other prisoners to be executed via launching themselves gliding off of the 108-foot tall Phoenix Tower in Ye, capital of Northern Qi. Huangtou was the only individual to survive, gliding over the city wall, landing at Zimo, the western segment of Ye. He was handed to Bi Yiyun who executed him via starvation later. |
| Danny Yamashiro |  | 100 [23] | 30 | 1985 | On December 22, 1985, whilst attempting to rescue his stranded girlfriend from a 20-foot (6.1-meter) in height fall that occurred from mountain climbing, Yamashiro slipped and fell headfirst 300 feet (90 meters) and later another 100 feet (30 meters). The second fall took place during a rescue effort and was captured on film. It aired on newscasts throughout Hawaii. He suffered severe head injuries, skull fractures, multiple tears in his scalp, a shattered ankle, damaged organs, extensive lacerations, and became comatose. |
| Davide Capello | 100 | 30 [24] | 2018 | One of the survivors of Ponte Morandi bridge collapse, which occurred on 14 August 2018; Capello's car fell 30 metres (100 feet), however he managed to walk away unscathed. | |
| Mclloyd Francis Chidzalo [25] | 50 | 15 | 1994 | Sole survivor of a Malawi Army helicopter crash in the central region of Malawi.[ citation needed ] | |
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