Before Baumgartner: Five people who fell from huge heights and lived

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner is to jump from the edge of space on Sunday and break a new skydiving record with a 23-mile free fall.

But who are some of other people who have risked their lives – either by jumping or accidentally falling from a great height – and survived?


Name: Joe Kittinger
Date: August 16. 1960
Height fallen from: 19.5 miles (31km)
Method:  Parachute jumped from helium balloon.

The historic parachute jump by Colonel Joe Kittinger, of the United States Air Force, set the record that Baumgartner is trying to beat.

Colonel Kittinger, now 84, leaped from a helium balloon 102,800ft above ground in a bid to test equipment for Cold War pilots as part of Project Excelsior.

During his 6,000ft free fall, Colonel Kittinger set another still standing record when his speed peaked at 614mph (988km) and almost broke the sound barrier.

But with skydiving still in its infancy, few knew what effect jumping from such a height could have.

Colonel Kittinger’s right hand swelled to twice its size after his glove broke.

 

Name: Vesna Vulvovic
Date: January 26, 1972
Height fallen: 33,000ft
Method: Falling in the tail of a plane after a mid-air explosion

Former Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulvovic holds the unwitting record for the highest fall without a parachute after the plane she was on blew up in mid-air.

The then 22-year-old plummeted to the ground in the tail section of Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 after a suspected bomb ripped it apart over what was the Czechoslovakia.

Luckily, the segment landed at just the right angle on a snowy mountain slope of Srbska Kaminice in the modern day Czech Republic.

She was the only survivor among the 28 passengers and crew.

Despite being paralysed from the waist down, she learned to walk again after 17 months and continued to fly with Yugoslav Airlines for another 20 years.


Name: Joe Herman
Date: April 1944
Height fallen: 10,00ft (3,000metres)
Method: Falling from WWII bomber

Flying Officer Joe Herman of the Royal Australian Air Force survived free-falling almost 10,000ft after grabbing on to the leg of another pilot with a parachute.

The captain of the 466 Sqadron Halifax bomber had ordered his crew to bail out after the plane became badly damaged over Bochum in Germany.

Unfortunately, when it was Flying Officer Herman’s turn to jump, he was blown out of the bomber before he could put his parachute on.

Luckily, on his way down he was able to grab on to the leg of mid-upper gunner John Vivash and land safely.

Flying Officer Joe Herman spent the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war.



Name: James Boole
Date: May 2009
Height fallen: 6,000ft (1,800m)
Method: Skydiving into mountain wihout parachute


Skydiver James Boole survived plummetting 6,000ft into a Russian mountain after failing to open his parachute in time.

Luckily, the 34-year-old Briton, whose dive partner failed to signal in time that he should open his chute, had his fall cushioned by deep snow.

But Boole, a father from Tamworth, Staffordshire, still suffered a broken back and rib, bruised lung and chipped teeth after he crashed to the surface.

He described the impact as ‘like being hit by a speeding truck’ and thought he was going to die while he coughed up blood.
Yet a year later, having fully recovered, he was back skydiving again.

Name: Ivan Chisov
Date: January 1942
Height fallen: 23,000ft (7,000 metres)
Method: Falling without a parachute from a plane

Russian bomber pilot  Lietenant Ivan Chisov plunged 23,000ft to the ground without a parachute after falling unconscious while bailing out of his stricken plane.

The Soviet navigator, who was trying to destroy German positions during a WWII battle in his homeland when his Ilyushin Il-4 was hit .

He feared he would be an easy target for an enemy fighter if he released his canopy right after jumping.

So he decided to skydive to just beyond the point where the battle was raging. Unfortunately, he passed out before he could release his parachute.

He hit the ground at 150mph and slid down a snowy ravine, which helped to cushion the impact.
Despite breaking his pelvis, he was flying again after three months.