No he didn’t? I literally just read the short interview he gave. The plane had already crashed, there was a hole he was able to open up with his legs and get through. There was no leaping and the plane wasn’t actively crashing, it was 100% crashed when he opened his eyes, realized he wasn’t dead and managed to wriggle out
Wait, how? Based on what I’ve seen (might no longer be the case as with ongoing investigations), the plane crashed literally within seconds of getting airborne. How was he able to 1. Know the plane was gonna crash, and 2. Be quick enough to unbuckle, open the emergency door, and jump within seconds?
He was in a window seat at the exit door, and the bulkhead between him and first class was on the far side of the exit door I think.
Of all the seats on the plane that could do this, his is the one.
Right, I understand he was in the best position. But if you see the videos, it crashed within 32 seconds of liftoff, and there wasn’t really indication other than it stalled at the same very low altitude until it quickly went down, unless it was obvious inside (i.e. oxygen masks deployed, etc.).
If he managed to open the emergency door and jump out within that time span, that is some very very quick timing and reflexes.
Note: no opinion either way, but thought exercise;
Pilots mayday’d ATC ~10 seconds after take-off. Survivor could’ve heard the engines die, oxygen masks may have deployed when ram-air turbine spun up, may’ve seen the ground getting closer instead of further away. Twenty adrenaline-fueled seconds is quite a bit of time. Main variable keeping me skeptical is finding a survivable intersection of fall height and distance from explosion.
Engine failure during take-off would lead to an abrupt decrease in the rate of change of acceleration; by definition the ‘jerk’. Escaping via the emergency exit in that time is feasible. Timing the jump…questionable, but possible.
This is what boggles the mind for me. He has this miniscule unknowable opportunity to get the door open, and jump from the plane at just the right time.
He had to hit the sweetspot combo of low altitude and airspeed that doesn’t cause him to die upon hitting the ground, but results in him being far enough from the blast of the aircraft itself impacting the ground. Its gotta be a fraction of a second window of time. He is literally one of the luckiest people in aviation accident history.
Still being one of the luckiest people in aviation accident history, he may just have opened the door and stood there, and when the plane hit the ground been thrown by chance in the direction out.
Thinking about it, this is probably the best option, statistically. Timing the jump has virtually no chance of succeeding, but if you stand by the door you have an almost 25% chance of being thrown out the right way.
Survivability doesn’t decrease linearly with increased fall height. Bear Grylls famously survived a 16,000 ft /5,000 m drop in 1996 and made a full recovery. It takes a fair bit of luck but I guess being the sole survivor of a plane crash means he had that base covered no matter the exact events.
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I read that there was a big bang as they were attempting to gain altitude. From the video it looks like I’d descended pretty smoothly. Obviously 30 seconds is so quick, but maybe the guy heard the bang, saw it going down and immediately moved to the door.
OR, he was in on it…bring the conspiracies
He planned it all!!
(Obliviously sarcasm, and the footage doesn’t show anyone jumping, but it would at least remotely and theoretically start to explain it, still how he could have done it without being stopped idk.)
I hope only to nope out as bravely as this man
There is only one thing to do: Call Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, get the Mythbusters back together and have them figure out if this is possible. I don’t care what it takes, it must be done.
I am afraid I got bad news for you.
That’s no news, I knew of Grant before he ever joined the Mythbusters. Sometimes I see something that reminds me of him and it saddens me to think I live in a world without Grant. That man made the world better, just by existing. RIP
But in another article he’s saying he has no idea how he got off the plane.
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