William Rankin
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Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin is the only person ever to survive a fall from the top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud.[1] He was a US Air Force pilot, and a World War II and Korean War veteran. He was flying a jet fighter over a cumulonimbus cloud when his plane's engine stalled and he was forced to eject and parachute into the cloud.[1]
[edit] The fall
In the summer of 1959, Rankin was on a routine flight from South Weymouth Naval Air Station, Massachusetts to Beaufort, North Carolina. He was climbing over a thunderhead which peaked at 45,000 ft (13.7 km). Flying at 47,000 ft (14.3 km) and at mach 0.82, a loud bump and rumble was heard from the engine, the rpm fell to zero, and the light began flashing.[1] As he pulled the lever to deploy the auxiliary power, it unexpectedly broke off. Although the temperature outside was −50°C and he was not wearing a pressure suit, his only choice was to eject. At 6:00 pm, he ejected from the plane.[1] He suffered immediate frostbite, and decompression caused his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to start bleeding. His abdomen swelled as if he was pregnant. Pain seared across his body, but it was numbed by the cold. He managed to use his emergency oxygen supply.[1] Five minutes had passed since the beginning of his descent, but his parachute did not open. He was still in the upper regions of the thunderstorm, with near-zero visibility, when his parachute opened. After ten minutes, Rankin was being carried upward by updraughts and was getting hit by hailstones. The violent spinning and pounding caused him to vomit. Lightning appeared, resembling blue blades several feet thick, and the thunder caused physical pain. The rain was posing a drowning hazard, and he had to hold his breath. One lightning strike lit up the parachute, making Rankin believe he had died.[1] After this, conditions began calming, and he descended in a forest. His watch read 6:40 pm. He went searching for help and was admitted into a hospital at Ahoskie, North Carolina. He suffered from frostbite welts, bruises, and severe decompression.
