Autorotation on a airplane seat?

[ohman]

So I ran across this article about a woman who was on a commercial airliner that broke apart in midair. The woman in the story apparently fell 2 miles and survived. She suggests it might be because the seat (and the other seats attached to it) might have been "rotating like a helicopter."

I've attached a quote and the link if you want to read the rest of the story.

 

Anybody think there is a possibility her helicopter theory might be right?

 

 

 

As the plane broke into pieces in midair, Koepcke was thrust out into the open air:

 

"Suddenly there was this amazing silence. The plane was gone. I must have been unconscious and then came to in midair. I was flying, spinning through the air and I could see the forest spinning beneath me."

 

Then Koepcke lost consciousness again. She fell more than three kilometers (two miles) into the jungle canopy but miraculously survived with only minor injuries. Ninety-one other people aboard Flight 508 died.

 

Koepcke says she is not a spiritual person and has tried to find logical explanations for why she survived.

 

"Maybe it was the fact that I was still attached to a whole row of seats," she says. "It was rotating much like the helicopter and that might have slowed the fall. Also, the place I landed had very thick foliage and that might have lessened the impact."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/02...ivor/index.html

[Gomer Pylot]

Maybe, having an intact row of seats should slow the descent, whether the spin was there or not. It increases the surface area, and that should also help with the impact in the canopy. Lots of luck involved all around.

[kodoz]

Autorotation? Bullsh1t. The only debate here is whether it was angels or fairies.

[Chopperjess]

I vote fairies.

[Tom22]

The only way to know for sure is to replicate the autorotating airplane seats. Any volunteers? Needless to say, it was a good thing she was wearing her seatbelt.

[goromadgo]

I've heard of dudes burning in on parachute jumps and walking away, but this takes things to new heights! (pun completely intended)

 

She must have been wearing her lucky knickers...

[Justin DBC]

Sure... It could have been the increased surface area of the row of seats that broke off with hers. It could have been the thick foliage she landed into. It could have been a 3 seat autorotation. Hell, it could be all three. But one word in the above statement seems to be the most relevent. Hell. She sold her soul to the devil on the way down! The picture on that CNN report was doctored from the original that was printed in the World Weekly News... The only accurate publication out these days. Take a look for yourselves!

crash.bmp

Edited July 3, 2009 by Justin DBC

[Chopperjess]

Definetely Fairies. Picture proves it!

[AngelFire_91]

The only way to know for sure is to replicate the autorotating airplane seats. Any volunteers? Needless to say, it was a good thing she was wearing her seatbelt.

 

Sounds like a job for "Mythbusters!"

[adam32]

Sounds like a job for "Mythbusters!"

 

Yeah...because we know everything they do is spot on...