r/theydidthemath • u/Fizzerolli • 3d ago

[request] Assuming fresh powdery snow, how deep would it have to be for the paratrooper to survive, if possible?

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My son sent me this. My immediate thought based on nothing is that it’s unsurvivable regardless of the depth.

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209

u/duru93 3d ago

Idk how to do the math, but context for those who do most US airborne operations drop at 1,000 feet, but depending on clouds that can be higher or lower.

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u/NoMansSkyWasAlright 3d ago

With the old T10 paracutes, it would've been 800 feet in training, 500 feet for some actual combat jumps from an aircraft moving at ~140 knots. With the newer T11s, it's now 1100 feet in training and if there's been a combat jump since the new model parachute dropped then I certainly don't know about it.

Source: Was with the 82nd airborne.

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u/electrogeek8086 3d ago

How survivable is a 500 feet drop without a parachute? At first glance it doesn't seem that high.

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u/ErisGrey 3d ago

I survived. At the time of my accident, I was one of 8 people.

https://www.reddit.com/r/a:t5_29marg/comments/e5pedf/my_injuries_and_what_made_me_open_this_subreddit/

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u/LegendofLove 3d ago

jesus fuck that's a lot of injuries. I'm amazed you managed to survive through all of that ignoring the actual smashing into the Earth. Not being able to sleep, being on 650 meds and all those injuries must be hell. Has any of it gotten better since that post?

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u/ErisGrey 3d ago edited 3d ago

It was better, than got worse after covid hit me. For about a week, it really felt like I had just hit again. I'm back on all the medications I was in the begining, plus a few more due to complications post covid. It significanly flared, and added a couple more auto-immune issues caused by the long term inflammation. I was on Chemo to rein in the immune system, but my pancreas and liver started to fail. A lot of treatments are paused while waiting for my pancreas and liver to heal, so we're having to do more non-invasive treatments at the moment.

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u/LegendofLove 3d ago

I'm really sorry to hear all this. I hope you can recover some and have the slightest semblance of health for whatever remains of life

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u/thexvillain 3d ago

I have a friend whose parachute didn’t deploy on his final training jump. He survived with similar injuries. I would have thought you were him, but his happened in 2009.

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u/ErisGrey 3d ago

Was it at Bragg too? I know a congressional inquiry got opened up eventually. I heard there were other accidents, but no detail on how bad they were.

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u/JoshuaFalken1 3d ago

Holy fuck.

How you doing now?

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u/ErisGrey 3d ago

Day to day still. Back on far more medications than I want to be, but moved to a place that is far more beautiful than where I used to live. My drive to my specialists is only 20 minutes now instead of 2+ hours.

They've scheduled annual ablations on the spine and neck for me. The next one is in June, we are doing 5 levels bilateral.

In between the ablations, I get trigger points when needed. We'll usually do about 50 injections per session, with 3 sessions. Right side, then left side, then neck. (EG right side of back right next to spine and going out towards the side) We try to do more, but I actually start to heave/vomit after too many.

I was told my heart is no longer a concern. But my pancreas and liver started failing in September of last year. So I'm still on weekly/bi-weekly blood monitoring.

Covid hit me really hard. I wasn't even sick, when one day I collapsed in the kitchen. The Chronic Inflammation with covid was not a good combination. I got rhabdomyosis again, and lost all my muscle mass again. The nerve issues got flared up even more. My Nerve Conduction Study showed 32% absent response. They officially added both MS and Fibromyalgia to my medical issues.

I never forgot that they said I'll be lucky to make it to 40. So a few years ago my 40th birthday was extra special for me. Took the whole family down to Universal Studios (Hollywood, California).

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u/NoMansSkyWasAlright 3d ago

Shit dude. I definitely thought I might know you for a minute but the guy I know had his incident happen in ‘14 or ‘15. Also I don’t think he was nearly as badly injured and his was an incident of someone with a partial malfunction landing in his chute as they were coming down.

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u/Joatboy 3d ago

Daaaaaaamn