A Prayer but no Wing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pine branches and snow cushioned his landing

Alkemade's parachute was alight, and he preferred to jump rather than burn to death. Two crew parachuted out safely, but four crew died in the crash. The arresting Germans checked events out before giving him a certificate verifying his story. He apparently was gradually slowed by a series of snow covered branches, finally landing on a snowy slope. His only injury was a sprained leg.

Answer: An elevator cable broke, plunging an injured worker to the basement.

Betty Lou Oliver, an elevator operator, was injured in the crash. She was placed in an elevator by rescuers who were unaware that the cables had been damaged. The plunge is still recorded by Guinness as the longest survived elevator fall. I bet she went out and bought a lottery ticket after her double brush with death.

Answer: Passenger Juliane Koepcke

The 17 year old schoolgirl survived the fall still strapped to her seat, which apparently cushioned her fall as she hit the tree canopy. She then showed great courage and survival skills despite injuries and grief over her mother's death, by finding a stream and following it for several days. She was found by forest workers 10 days after the crash and taken to safety.

Answer: Joe Kittinger, August 16, 1960

Although Baumgartner broke world records for the highest jump, the longest freefall, and the fastest speed by a (surviving) person without benefit of a vehicle, USAF Captain Joe Kittinger's performance 52 years earlier predated many modern safety aids.

He rode a helium balloon to 102,800 ft, achieved 1149km/hr in descent, and deployed his chute at 14,000 ft. A truly remarkable achievement with the equipment available at the time.

Answer: He fell from a scaffold while cleaning windows

It was just a normal day cleaning windows for Chris, until he fell from his scaffold, possibly 200 ft above the ground. Fortunately a parked car was between Chris and the concrete pavement; he crashed through its roof, effectively demolishing it, jumped up and walked away. Unfortunately for the owner of the car, it was uninsured!

Answer: Yasuhiro Kubo

What more can I say, other than to suggest you don't try this at home (or anywhere else)?

Answer: She lost consciousness and was carried to 32,600 ft.

Ewa was a skilled pilot, but was unable to avoid being sucked into the massive cloud, despite her best efforts to fly clear. She eventually blacked out due to lack of oxygen and the extreme cold. Ewa recovered consciousness after perhaps an hour to find herself in a spiraling descent, and was able to guide the still-functioning glider to a safe landing.

Her body was encrusted with ice, and she nearly lost her ears to frostbite. Medics theorize that her body went into a state of suspended animation, as there is no way anyone could normally survive so long without oxygen.

Answer: He hooked up with a parachuting crew member

After a long fall, he hit what he thought was debris and held on. The 'debris' was gunner John Vivash, in process of opening his chute. Herman, being the lower of the two, suffered a couple of broken ribs on landing. They were both found by the Germans, and survived as prisoners of war.

Answer: He waited too long to deploy his reserve chute

He hit the ground on his parachute pack. Grylls said afterwards that he should have cut the main canopy away and deployed his reserve, but he thought he had time for the main to inflate. He was wrong, and he was fortunate to survive with three cracked vertebrae. It took a year of punishing exercise and therapy to fully recover.

Answer: The aircraft section she was in descended more slowly and hit snow

It seems Ms Vulovic was found in the wreckage of the centre section (at the wing junction) by a rescuer. She was pinned between a seat and a drinks trolley, and it's possible that her fragment of aircraft generated sufficient lift to slow its fall. It also fell into snow.