What is the maximum height a person can plummet from and survive? Even a fall from the first floor can end up badly, nevermind one from 33,000 feet. However, Yugoslavian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic managed to survive a fall from this height after her plane blew up in the air as a result of a terrorist attack. She endured severe injuries, but later decided to return to aviation as a flight attendant again.

We decided to find out how you can increase your chances for survival when you fall and it seems like nothing can save you.

Bright Side found out information which is worth knowing just in case, though we hope that you’ll never need it in reality.

If you fall out of a window

Bend your knees (but not too much) and hold your legs together. This way both of your legs will touch the ground simultaneously, and the impact will be weaker. Additionally, try to land on the tips of your toes to absorb the force of the impact. You will most likely break your legs, but this is the lesser of two evils. Don’t do the following: don’t land on straight legs, don’t spread them apart, and don’t land on one leg thinking that you’ll save the other this way.

If you fall from an airplane

It will take you about 3-6 minutes to fall from the height of 33,000 feet, and the fall itself will have the speed of 120 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the chances of surviving are incredibly slim, but it’s still worth trying to save your life.

Try to curl up in your seat or climb on some wreckage; this will increase your chances for survival. This is what Larisa Savitskaya, a woman from the USSR who stayed alive after falling from a height of 3 miles, said about the plane crash she became the victim of:

The wings of AN-24 were torn away along with the fuel tanks and the roof. I was sleeping at that moment. I remember a terrible blow and a burn; the temperature fell from 77 to minus 22 degrees F. There was a screaming and a howling of the wind. I was thrown into the aisle and found myself in the tail part of the plane. Suddenly I remembered one Italian movie, Miracles Still Happen. The main character of that movie saved herself in a plane crash by curling up in her seat. Somehow I got into a chair. I didn’t think I’d survive, I just wanted to die painlessly. There was a green flash and a blow. I landed in the forest falling on young trees, and that saved my life.

There are twice as few survivors after a solo free fall than those who were falling clinging to some wreckage. One of such people was a military pilot Alan Magee. In 1943, he fell from his aircraft that was flying at the height of 20,000 feet, and survived after crashing through the roof of a train station. If you happen to be in such a situation, remember this advice:

Try to direct your flight: to move backwards, bend your legs as if you want to touch your head with your heels. To move to the right, lower your right shoulder and bend your body to the right.

Try not to land on water even if you’re a good diver. When a person falls from an extreme height, the impact from hitting the water will be the same as colliding with concrete. Direct your fall toward a field, some plants, trees, or bushes. On the other hand, there’s a chance that you’ll be pierced with a stick or branch. The best alternative would be snow or a haystack.

Of course, except for this knowledge, you have to have luck on your side too. But since you’ve read this article, you can be sure that your chances for survival have significantly increased.

Illustrator Natalia Kulakova for BrightSide.me