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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.

  1. Is it even possible to jump?
  2. 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)
Kyle Kanos
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Undisputed007
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2 Answers2

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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.

BowlOfRed
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You cannot jump from an object in free fall. The reason is this:

If you are standing on an object in free fall this means you are yourself in free fall. In that case the Normal force experienced by you is $0$ N. If the Normal force is $0$ N then you cannot exert a force on the object (hence the object cannot exert a force on you via Newtons 3rd Law) therefore you cannot jump and avoid the crash.

PhotonBoom
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