hymen_destroyer t1_ja6yuwy wrote on February 27, 2023 at 8:22 AM

I think you only have to fall a couple hundred feet to reach terminal velocity. So your odds of surviving a fall don't appreciably change between 1000 and 30,000 feet. It mostly depends on where you land and the orientation of your body at impact. I heard it was actually better to fall into like tall wispy trees like a stand of spruce, anything that slows you down even slightly before you hit the ground can measurably improve your chance of survival.

mgvertigo101 t1_ja7yy8s wrote on February 27, 2023 at 2:58 PM

Shouldn’t the chance of survival go way down at cruising altitude levels due to hypothermia, hypoxia, etc

CameronMH t1_ja828wj wrote on February 27, 2023 at 3:21 PM

But you won't die of hypoxia or hypothermia while falling as skydivers don't jump from cruising altitude, and even if you did you wouldn't be there for long enough to pass out, you cover about 10000 feet per minute at terminal velocity and cruising altitude for a plane is roughly 35000 feet

Within 60 seconds you would be at a low enough altitude to breathe just fine and 2-3 minutes later you will be on the ground