This article lists notable falls survived without a parachute. Some heights are difficult to verify due to lack of documentation and are approximated.
NameImageDistance of fallDateNotes and References FeetMetersVesna Vulović 33,330 10,160 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.Luke Aikins25,0007,6202016On 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 23,0007,000 1942Soviet 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.Alan Magee 22,0006,700 1943American 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 armNicholas Alkemade 18,0005,500 1944British 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.Larisa Savitskaya17,1305,2201981Sole survivor of Aeroflot Flight 811 who was in an aircraft fragment after the mid-air collision, which landed in a swampy glade.Bear Grylls16,0004,8701996British soldier in Kenya whose parachute failed to deploy during training with 21 SAS(R) in Zambia. He broke his back in several places. Christine McKenzie 11,0003,400 2004South African skydiver who hit power lines and fractured pelvic bone.Juliane Koepcke 10,0003,200 1971Sole 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.James Boole 6,0001,800 2009 British skydiver who landed in snow in Russia. Broke back and rib, but was walking within a week.Victoria Cilliers4,0001,2192015Survived a murder attempt when her husband had tampered with her main and reserve parachutes. Landed on a soft, newly ploughed field.Liang-feng Chin1,2503812018Soldier whose parachute failed to deploy during the Han Kuang exercise. He suffered severe injuries and was hospitalized for 40 days.Ryōyū Kobayashi9542912024This is the unofficial world record for the longest ski jump, 291m. The event occurred on April the 24th.Joshua Hanson200602007This 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.Tim Stilwell15th Floor (~150)~452013 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.Daisy McCumber11 Floor (~140 feet)~431946During the Winecoff Hotel Fire on December 7, 1946, McCumber leapt from an eleventh story window, falling some 140 feet (the hotel was 15 stories and 188 feet, roughly 12.5 feet per floor). 119 people perished in the fire, 32 of whom died jumping or falling. McCumber is one of two people known to have survived the fire by jumping (the other survivor was teenager Dorothy Moen who survived a fall from the 7th floor). A photograph by Arnold Hardy showing McCumber falling won a 1947 Pulitzer Prize.Yuan Huangtou108世哲从弟黄头，使与诸囚自金凰台各乘纸鸱以飞，黄头独能至紫陌乃坠，仍付御史狱，毕义云饿杀之。(Rendering: Yuan Shizhe and his younger brother Yuan Huangtou with a few prisoners each launch themselves from Tower of the Golden Phoenix [in Ye, capital of the Northern Qi]. Yuan Huangtou was the only one who survived from this flight, as he glided over the city-wall and fell at Zimo [western segment of Ye] safely, but he was handed to Bi Yiyun and sentenced to death by starvation.). History of Northern Dynasties under 19.（永定三年）使元黄头与诸囚自金凤台各乘纸鸱以飞，黄头独能至紫陌乃堕，仍付御史中丞毕义云饿杀之。(Rendering: [In the 3rd year of Yongding, 559], Gao Yang conducted an experiment by having Yuan Huangtou and a few prisoners each launch themselves from Tower of the Golden Phoenix [in Ye, capital of the Northern Qi]. Yuan Huangtou was the only one who survived from this flight, as he glided over the city-wall and fell at Zimo [western segment of Ye] safely, but he was handed to Bi Yiyun and sentenced to death by starvation.). Zizhi Tongjian under 167.33c. 559Huangtou 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 Yamashiro100301985On 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 Capello10030 2018One 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.
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