Oh! Snap!!!

[boars]

If you look at the video, this is exactly what I believe happened. At 300+ feet fall, the water's surface tension would have certainly killed her. In fact, a lot of people each year jump off the Golden Gate Bridge to commit suicide knowing this.

She's very lucky given the circumstances and this is exactly why I won't bungee jump. If that rope breaks, there is NO back up. I'll skydive any day of the year knowing there is a backup 'chute if my primary doesn't open.

It's interesting you should say that, about the backup parachute that is. On my time off over Christmas I was with my family when we noticed some parachutists sailing down above us, so we stopped to watch. Seemed to keep noticing another one we missed every so often... then we noticed a poor person who was clearly tangled. Reserve didn't help that unlucky individual. Was not a fun place to be

Heard nothing about it on the news, which I was checking a lot in hope the poor bastard actually survived... Lots of tandems up that day

What a terrible christmas for all involved.

My heart goes out to them.

 

[ChevyFazer]

I don't understand how you could say that.

By three hundred feet free fall, from zero velocity, she would reach terminal velocity.

So irrespective if she fell 600ft or 300ft after the rope broke, she'd still hit the water at the same speed.

As for the 'surface tension' argument, the surface tension would be non-existent in white-water. She was jumping above rapids, thus no or minimal surface tension. (the problem is trying to displace an equal amount of water, to her mass - thus the collapsed lungs as the air would have been forced out.)

Cheers,
Rick

He's right if the cord broke after it had tension on it, which it probably did, it would have slowed her a lot, thats if the cord broke close enough to the ground, there was a guy a while back who did a stunt like that but with a quick release and a bungy just long enough that when his feet hit the ground he pulled the release and stood on his two feet while the cord shot back into the air

 

[mave2911]

He's right if the cord broke after it had tension on it, which it probably did, it would have slowed her a lot, thats if the cord broke close enough to the ground,

My understanding was that she fell 300ft AFTER the cord broke, so my point of whether the bungy cord had tension or no, would have made no difference. Whether she was travelling at 10kph when the cord broke, or was actually going up at the time is irrelevant - terminal velocity is the fastest speed one can fall. (change of profile notwithstanding)

As such, I would think that in either case, her speed at which she entered the water would have been the same.

Cheers,
Rick

 

[Downs]

He's right if the cord broke after it had tension on it, which it probably did, it would have slowed her a lot, thats if the cord broke close enough to the ground, there was a guy a while back who did a stunt like that but with a quick release and a bungy just long enough that when his feet hit the ground he pulled the release and stood on his two feet while the cord shot back into the air

That guy must have a set that clanks when he walks

 

[ChevyFazer]

My understanding was that she fell 300ft AFTER the cord broke, so my point of whether the bungy cord had tension or no, would have made no difference. Whether she was travelling at 10kph when the cord broke, or was actually going up at the time is irrelevant - terminal velocity is the fastest speed one can fall. (change of profile notwithstanding)

As such, I would think that in either case, her speed at which she entered the water would have been the same.

Cheers,
Rick

She didn't have enough time to reach terminal velocity, it takes about 3 seconds to reach 50% of TV and about 15 seconds to reach 99% from the time she left the ledge to the impact was about 8 sec, and from the time the cord snapped to impact was about 1.5sec so she was no where close to terminal velocity

 

[mave2911]

She didn't have enough time to reach terminal velocity, it takes about 3 seconds to reach 50% of TV and about 15 seconds to reach 99% from the time she left the ledge to the impact was about 8 sec, and from the time the cord snapped to impact was about 1.5sec so she was no where close to terminal velocity

A person's terminal velocity, in an outstretched position (as you would be if you were falling) is approximately 55m/s. Now, the maximum rate of unassisted fall, due to gravity, is 9.81m/s/s meaning in the approximate time of 2 seconds, the female was travelling at approximately 20m/s.

But, she obviously had to be travelling much, much faster than this, or the video isn't accurate with time keeping, because the reporter said she fell 365ft (111.252m)

So, either she was falling at a rate of 55.626m/s, or it was 365ft from the bridge to the water, meaning the 'fall' distance was much less, once the length of the bungy cord is subtracted. (meaning she was only fallling at close to 20m/s for the two seconds, or so, it took her to reach the water once the cord broke.

Another consideration, however, is that the female MUST have had downward momentum to place the cord under enough stress to cause it to break!

This means that she was QUITE LIKELY falling faster than the 20m/s illustrated and was actually closer to terminal velocity.

I'm not about to split hairs and say 40m/s isn't terminal velocity, so a fall at this rate is much more survivable, but I've seen people fall much shorter distances into water and die....

Cheers,
Rick

 

[ChevyFazer]

Seeing how the news always tries to make things seem way worse then they really are, over dramatize everything, when they say she fell 365ft I'm taking that as the distance from the jump point to the water. I'm pretty sure if she was falling 120mph or greater she wouldn't have survived. Either way she is one extremely luck gal.

 

[oaks]

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate? :BLAA:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2R3FvS4xr4]Airspeed Velocity of a Swallow - YouTube[/ame]

I read she fell about 25m after the bungee slowed down her initial free fall then snapped. Still in a South Africa hospital waiting on her lungs to be in shape to fly home.

Australian woman survives 111m bungee fall into the Zambezi River | Herald Sun

I did a jump in NZ once upon a time (http://www.600riders.com/forum/bar/38258-i-want-jump-off-bridge.html#post410142) where there was a boat waiting down below, but I wouldn't risk it in Zimbabwe/Zambia of all places.
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