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?

Post image

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

7.3k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

210 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

71

u/SpoonNZ 3d ago

Tell me more about how the ground is a good visual reference point when it’s covered in a layer of snow thick enough for a man to jump into.

36

u/CaptainRex8669 2d ago

I'm from England, so I've never seen snow deeper than 2 inches. You're probably right actually.

21

u/SpoonNZ 2d ago

I’m from New Zealand. The Mt Erebus disaster happened long before I was born but it’s still something that comes up surprisingly often. If you can accidentally fly straight into a mountain because there’s no visual clues, maybe flying a few feet off the ground in the same conditions isn’t a good idea.

10

u/CaptainRex8669 2d ago

There's something called VMC, which stands for Visual Meteorological Conditions. And there's IMC, which stands for Instrument Meteorological Conditions.

Whether an area is VMC or IMC is determined by visibility, not wind. Flying at night, for example, is IMC. Flying in clouds is also IMC.

Any pilot can fly in VMC, but you can only fly in IMC if you and your plane are rated for IFR, which stands for Instrument Flight Rules.

The Mount Erebus Disaster happened in IFR conditions, but the scenario we are talking about here would be VFR, so there should be no danger.