Q: In an article about the Virgin Galactic crash, it mentions that Juliane Diller fell 1.8 miles without a parachute and survived. What did that have to do with the Virgin Galactic story? I’m curious about her fall. Was she in the plane and came out of the plane? How did she survive?
—Robert Derro, Duluth
A: Peter Siebold, the pilot of the Virgin Galactic prototype space tourism rocket that crashed last month, survived a descent from nearly 50,000 feet. Siebold freed himself from the wreckage of the spacecraft and plummeted to Earth before deploying his parachute. He wasn't wearing a spacesuit and survived despite thin air and temperatures around 70 degrees below zero.
“You don’t just jump out of aircraft at Mach 1 at over 50,000 feet without a spacesuit,” veteran test pilot Paul Tackabury told the Los Angeles Times. It’s not known when Siebold deployed his parachute and he could have plummeted from about 60,000 to about 20,000 feet. Copilot Michael Alsbury was killed in the accident.Virgin Galactic calls itself the “world’s first spaceline” and has a goal of sending passengers to space.
Juliane Koepcke (now Diller) survived a 10,000-foot fall while strapped to her seat when the plane she was traveling in came apart during a thunderstorm over Peru in 1971. She was the only survivor of the accident that killed 91 others, including her mother. It’s believed her section of seats hit heavy foliage, cushioning its impact. After surviving the crash, Koepcke wandered through the jungle and floated down a river for about 11 days before being rescued.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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