Skydiver falls 12,000 feet.. survives!

[Goober]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/mos/skydiver.html?in_article_id=435694&in_page_id=1990&in_a_source=

[Astir]

This has happened a rare few times in recent history...I wonder under what very special circumstances a human being actually survives such an extreme plummet. It's something to think about.

[jilola]

5000 ft drop will normally easily have you at terminal velocity upon impact. The velocity, though, depends on the amount of canopy you have deployed and the attitude in which you fall.
If he had both canopies out but failed his velocity would have been well below normal terminal velocity so it's not entirely impossible to survive the impact. Hardly likely but potentially possible.
Two half open canopies and soft ground just might do the trick.

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Van-Stolin]

The story is real.  He was on Jay Leno, aparetly he had his first shuut pulled, but it didn't deploy right, so he ended up spinning, so he pulls the detacher, but it doesn't cut.  So he waits and then pulls the second shuut, but it doesn't deploy at all and then he has a couple seconds left before impact and waves goodbye to the world.

He is one lucky guy.