Parachutist survives 2,000-ft fall



An Italian parachutist survived a 2,000 feet fall without a scratch after his parachute failed and he landed in a ploughed field. Luigi Petroni, 53, jumped from an airplane in Medulin, Croatia, when both his main and reserve parachute failed as he plunged to the ground.

He was taken to hospital but released after doctors said he had no injuries at all. A hospital spokesman said: “It is amazing that he is still alive.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C02%5Cstory_2-10-2007_pg9_6

I'm sure there's far more to this story than has been reported. I heard of someone surviving after they fell into a deep snow drift, but even then they weren't totally uninjured.

An article in a different language says he came down in a ploughed field.

Assuming he was falling at somewhere around 120mph and that the ridges of earth were 1 ft high so that he probably fell max 2 ft after initial impact, that's still an awful lot of deceleration for the body to cope with.

If he hit the ground like the sky diver in the picture...uh...they musta pulled him out with a mouthful of...of...his own a**!

That's not the first story of skydivers surviving the fall without a chute. Read about one earlier this year (I think it was then) in Australia or New Zealand.

Surviving is one thing. Having absolutely no injuries is another.

Reaper! That wasn't you in the picture was it???

Guys, Guys!!! P U L E E S E!!!!

He came down with his main fully inflated, trailing his un- inflated reserve!

He did a static line jump, where you are connected to the plane and it pulls your canopy out for you. He exited in an unstable flip, right through his deploying main canopy. It functioned just fine, but he panicked and pulled his reserve. It functioned properly, and he's lucky it didn't wrap with his main. He landed just fine under his main, trailing his reserve like a bedsheet.

Lucky bastard...he came close to really screwing the pooch!

Now...on to no parachute out...instant death. So don't ever believe these stoooopid news reports of..."His parachutes both failed, but he lived"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And no Spurs, that photo was taken at Empuriabrava, Spain, a great DZ on the water at the South of Spain right on the French border. One of my favorite places to jump, right after San Pedro!!!!

don't you just hate it when a pro comes in and bursts your "I just can't believe it" bubble?

Thanks for the lesson Reaper.

When you heading back down for a REAL visit? Not til the Boogie?

Hahaha LMAO - thanks reaper!
I was waiting for you to comment on this one.

A link to failed parachutes opening.

http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/unlucky.html

I wish I could find the insident about a Dr. landed in someone's yard and lived. Seems as thought heavy rains had made the yard soft enought that he excaped injury. I won't post the detales because I might not remember them correctly and can't find the news story about it.

The story about the doctor sounds like a little bit like Roger Reynolds, a Golden Knight who had a parachute failure and happened to come down in someone's front yard in 1974. The lawn was rain-soaked and there were doctors on the scene almost immediately as they lived in the neighborhood.

As for the Italian guy, the only published story was really inadequate in terms of details. Is there some account available somewhere that tells what really happened? Reaper, where did you hear about the static line jump, the fully-functioning canopy, etc.?

Roger Reynolds had a main parachute malfunction into a streamer, out but not fully inflated. he couldn't pull the cut-away handle and fired his reserve into the main. It partially inflated, slowing him considerably just before impact.

You cannot survive a freefall with nothing out.

Reaper knows all in the skydive world...he reads it on www.Dropzone.com

&nbsp All,
as you know, it's not the fall that kills you....


&nbsp &nbsp Dan

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