How to Survive a Free Fall

choi

(1) David Abel and Alli Knothe, Cat Survives Fall from 19th-Floor Window; Vetenarians Say It Not Unusual. Boston Globe, Mar 23, 2012.
http://articles.boston.com/2012- ... 1_cats-fall-stories

Note: The two citations of the report are from
high-rise syndrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-rise_syndrome
(a) references 1 and 7:
Whitney WO and Mehlhaff CJ, High-Rise Syndrome in Cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 191: 1399–1403 (1987).
(b) Reference 5:
Vnuk D et al, Feline High-Rise Syndrome: 119 Cases (1998–2001). Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 6: 305-312 (2004).
http://jfm.sagepub.com/content/6/5/305
(Zagreb)

(2) C Claiborne Ray, Taking the Plunge. Mew York Times, Mar 13, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/1 ... lling-elevator.html
("Q. If I find myself in a free-falling elevator, is there any position that might increase my chance of survival? ")

Note:
(a) elevator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator
(section 7 Elevator safety: 7.1 Cable-borne elevators)

Quote: "In 1852, Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, which prevented the fall of the cab if the cable broke.

Elisha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha
(a prophet in Old Testament)


() Inj Prev 2000;6:62-68 doi:10.1136/ip.6.1.62-b
INJURY CLASSIC

De Haven H, Mechanical Analysis of Survival in Falls From Heights of Fifty to One Hundred and Fifty Feet. Inj Prev, 6: 62-68 (2000; the reprint of a 1942 article)   
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/6/1/62.3.full

Quote:

"A deceleration exerting a force 150 times the normal pull of gravity on a body will increase its normal weight 150 times during the time this increase of force acts. Thus, a force of 150 g acting on a man normally weighing 150 pounds (68 kg) would increase his apparent weight to 22 500 pounds (10 200 kg) during the force interval. This increase of force—and weight—would be distributed over, or applied to, his body as pressure in areas of contact dictated by resisting structure.

"The human body can tolerate and expend a force of 200 times the force of gravity for brief intervals during which the force acts in transverse relation to the long axis of the body.