above the Earth.

And there's no turning back now.

But as you jump out of the plane,

and see how beautiful

the Earth looks below you,

you start to think this might not be so bad.

Then you pull the cord

to open your parachute,

and all your worst fears come true.

There's no parachute coming out,

and now you're plummeting towards

the ground at about 200 km/h (125 mph).

You've only got a minute

before you hit the ground.

Is there anything you can do

to save yourself?

Every time your life depends on a parachute,

there is a 1 in 1,000

chance that it won't work.

But a malfunctioning parachute

isn't necessarily a death sentence.

According to skydiving experts,

the secret to surviving

is all about how you react

when the parachute fails.

Just like most survival situations,

the best thing to do

is to slow everything down.

Slow down your breathing

and avoid hyperventilating,

slow down your thoughts so you can focus,

and slow down the speed of your fall

so you don't splatter on the ground.

To do that,

you'll need to spread out your body

into an x-shape.

Spread your arms and legs,

point your chest towards the ground,

and arch your back and head upward.

This will create more air resistance,

and slow your acceleration,

giving you time to choose where to land.

Although the giant pool of liquid

below you might look like a more

appealing landing spot than the solid ground,

it would probably be just as deadly.

Like concrete, water doesn't compress,

so landing in a lake

would be just like landing on a sidewalk.

Sure, you could position yourself

to reduce the impact, but

even then you could

still be knocked out cold.

And being unconscious underwater

does not help you survive,

so let's find somewhere better.

To move sideways through the air,

away from the water,

and towards a safer target,

you'll need to use a skydiving technique

called tracking.

Bring your arms and legs in

against your body to steer it as you fall.

Your three best options for landing spots

would be a swamp,

snow,

or trees, because

they would all extend your deceleration time

and help you slow down.

For instance,

If you were to land on solid ground,

your body would decelerate

from its falling speed of 200 km/h (125 mph)

to 0 km/h in half a second,

hitting you with enough g-force

to kill you instantly.

But if you were to land somewhere that

provides more cushioning,

you could extend that deceleration

by a couple of seconds, which

would significantly reduce the g-force,

and give you a better chance of surviving.

If you can't see a swamp, snow, or trees

anywhere nearby, then

your next best option

would be to look for something big

to break your fall, like a rooftop, or a bus.

These structures are not very strong,

so when you hit them,

they'll break and absorb some of the energy

of your fall.

So now it's the moment of truth.

You've chosen your target landing spot,

and now you're going to hit it.

The best way to do this

would be to point your toes

toward the ground,

and land on the balls of your feet.

I know what you're thinking.

"That sounds painful!"

And you're right, it will be.

But the idea is that

your body will have more time

to slow down if you land feet-first.

The long bones in your legs

will absorb a large amount of the

impact energy before they fracture.

Essentially, you'll be sacrificing your legs

to protect the rest of your body.

Just before landing,

put your head down, with the fingers

of each hand locked together behind it,

and point your elbows in front of your face,

to protect your head and neck from impact.

The main reason why people die

from falling off tall buildings and bridges

is severe head trauma.

Even if you do everything else right,

if you end up

bouncing on your head when you land,

you won't survive.

So quickly, get into position.

That should be all you need to

Are you still there?

Alright, now here comes the hard part.

You need to figure out where you are,

and get help as soon as possible.

But don't worry,

we've got just the video

to help you get you out of this alive.