There have been quite a few plane crashes the past week and this question popped into my head of which I need a good explanation in science about the possibility of survival or not and why.
Assuming I am on a plane that is quickly losing altitude, just before the plane hits the ground I jump off the plane.
- Is it even possible to jump?
- If I can jump, will the gravitational pull be different and thus make me survive? Would this be equal to jumping off the ground? (Assume that I am immune to the plane explosion)
Answer
You can't jump very quickly. The average vertical jump of NBA players is 28 inches. How fast are they going at max?
$$v^2 = 2 a x$$ $$v = \sqrt{2 g (0.71m)}$$ $$ v = \sqrt{13.95m^2/s^2}$$ $$ v = 3.7 m/s$$
That's not very fast. It means that at a maximum you can remove less than 4m/s of your impact speed. Since a plane crash may be 100m/s, that doesn't help much.
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