Although people do survive, your chances aren't very good, Hamilton says, so it's better to avoid the situation entirely. In the end, the best way to survive a tumble out of an airplane may be to wear a parachute.
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While your freefall time will vary, you can expect to fall for this long depending on your exit altitude: 9,000 ft: approximately 30 seconds in freefall. 14,000 ft: approximately 60 seconds in freefall. 18,000 ft: approximately 90 seconds in freefall.
Although forces of gravity are at play, you're technically weightless from the moment you leave the airplane until the parachute begins to open. This is why you feel a floating, as opposed to a falling, sensation. Physics proves it! An undisputed freefall sensation is wind speed strength.
Land feet-first.Landing feet-first concentrates the impact force on a small area, allowing your feet and legs to absorb the worst of the blow. If you are in any other position, try to right yourself before you hit the ground. Fortunately, attaining the feet-first position seems to be an instinctive reaction.
However, from the cruising altitude of a normal commercial aircraft (around 10km), and for the terminal velocity of a human (~55m/s**), it would only take around 3 minutes to hit the ground.
A retrospective analysis of 101 patients who survived vertical deceleration injuries revealed an average fall height of 23 feet and 7 inches (7.2 meters), confirming the notion that survivable injuries occur below the critical threshold of a falling height around 20-25 feet [1].
The NTSB says that despite more people flying than ever, the accident rate for commercial flights has remained the same for the last two decades, and the survivability rate is a high 95.7 percent.
In case of an emergency landing it is nearly always better to chose land for your landing rather than water. This is particularly true for the only plane I fly these days that has fixed landing gear. Landing any plane with extended landing gear on water is certain to be a disaster.
So in summary, the sinking feeling you get after takeoff is a result of your inner ear's response to the sudden change in acceleration and gravity as the plane leaves the ground. It's a completely normal sensation and nothing to be concerned about.
The idea is to get as much altitude as possible, as close to the airport as possible. So you have a relatively steep initial climb, followed by a reduction of climb angle to cruise climb and a power reduction.