Random People Who Fell from Ridiculously High Heights, But Managed To Survive (12 items)

(#8) Steve Fossett’s Hot Air Balloon Was Destroyed By A Storm As He Crashed To Earth

Steve Fossett was an adventurer who made several attempts to travel around the world in a hot air balloon. In one such attempt in August 1998, he suffered a catastrophic accident as his balloon crashed into a storm front. Hail tore apart the structure and sent his small capsule tumbling towards Earth. After falling almost 30,000 ft, Fossett woke up to discover he had not only survived the ordeal but was also completely unharmed.

The capsule had landed in water and protected him from injury, though, he did have to spend 10 hours at sea before he was rescued.
(#5) Alan Magee Lived Through A Plane Crash

WWII Air Force Sergeant Alan Magee was part of a B-17 Flying Fortress crew that was hit by German fire during a mission. The airman not only found himself plummeting towards the planet’s surface in the wreckage of his plane, but he had also been hit by gunfire during the attack. Yet, miraculously, he still managed to eject himself from the aircraft.

Falling through the air, Magee found that his parachute wouldn't work as it had been damaged, meaning he was in free fall when he crashed through the glass ceiling of a train station. Bizarrely, this glass ceiling actually managed to save his life, cushioning the fall enough so that he only had some minor injuries.
(#9) Teen Survived Suicide Leap From Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge has become a hugely popular location for those attempting to commit suicide. The 200+ ft fall kills 98% of all of those who jump on impact, and the icy cold waters below make it even harder to survive. But survival is possible. This is exactly what happened to a 16-year-old girl who jumped from the bridge in April 2011.

Precisely how she survived is not known, but research suggests that the younger and fitter a person is the more likely they are to manage to live through the ordeal.
(#7) James Boole Stayed Alive During A Skydive Gone Wrong

James Boole is an incredibly experienced skydiver who completed some 2,500 jumps during his lifetime. However, all of this experience did not prevent him from falling 6,000 ft in Russia when he opened his parachute too late for it to fully inflate. He hit the ground with a tremendous amount of force, leaving a one-yard crater in the snow.

Somehow, Boole was able to survive, sustaining a broken back and ribs. This allowed a miraculous recovery whereby he could walk after just a week of the accident.
(#12) Tim Stilwell Fell From The Fifteenth Floor Of A Hotel

After finding out that he was locked out of his own apartment in June 2013, Tim Stilwell decided the best course of action was to try to hang and drop onto his neighbor's balcony. Things didn't exactly go as planned, and the 20-year-old slipped and fell from the fifteenth floor of the building and landed on the roof of a building at ground level. According to medical experts who attended the scene, he was incredibly lucky to have survived the fall.

And some suggested that the roof of the building may have broken his fall, preventing life-threatening injuries. He came away with broken bones and internal bruising but was expected to make a full recovery.
(#4) Christine McKenzie Fell 11,000 Feet Onto Power Lines

August 2004 was not a good month for South African skydiver Christine McKenzie. The 23-year-old was in free-fall when her parachute failed to open. This prompted her to try her reserve chute, but this too malfunctioned and became tangled as it partially inflated. The incredibly rare occurrence meant that McKenzie hardly slowed before she smashed into a series of powerlines before hitting the ground. Those powerlines saved her life, though, absorbing most of the energy from the fall and drastically reducing her impact.

Despite the fact that literally everything that could go wrong in her jump did go wrong, McKenzie managed to survive with just a broken pelvis and some bruising.