How high up was Burt's fall?

[nikvoodoo]

they could hear him scream easy, so maybe he was close

We know he was close. Michael said as much. But we won't know for sure how close is close. I don't know how close you'd have to be to be heard over the helicopter, nor do I know how loudly I would scream if I just realized I was falling to my death.

[ClearSights]

Doesn't scratch say at the end of the chapter " Put him with the old man " Do you think she means Burt? And if so it seems like he is alive because the person they found was alive so it wouldn't make sense putting him with a dead Burt

[Kc]

Looking at the cover art from the show the building he zipped to was six stories high. So about 60 feet?

I will say this much, the building on the cover art is NOT the same building they took off from.

[Dr. Hatchet]

Doesn't scratch say at the end of the chapter " Put him with the old man " Do you think she means Burt? And if so it seems like he is alive because the person they found was alive so it wouldn't make sense putting him with a dead Burt

Maybe more then one old guy though

[WestonWisdom]

I have a theory - Kalani's dead body broke the fall.

[Kn1ckerb0cker33]

I will say this much, the building on the cover art is NOT the same building they took off from.

Well assuming that the zip line leads to a shorter building (which I imagine it would, given how zip lines work) there might be a chance that Burt could have survived a shorter fall, but probably broke both of his legs if not his spine in the process. Or he could have just died from the fall.

From what Kc might be suggesting, I don't know how short the building is where they took off from but it gives Burt a better chance of survival (as small as it might be).

I expect nikvoodoo to come up with something that will debunk that even a shorter fall from a 4 - 8 story building is completely fatal XD.

@WestonWisdom lulz

[nikvoodoo]

No debunking. One can survive a fall from 40-50 feet with broken bones. The issue comes if he fell from higher. Once one reaches a certain speed, the height becomes irrelevant. Once that speed is achieved: game over.


Of course, there are exceptions

[WestonWisdom]

No debunking. One can survive a fall from 40-50 feet with broken bones. The issue comes if he fell from higher. Once one reaches a certain speed, the height becomes irrelevant. Once that speed is achieved: game over.it

Of course, there are exceptionshttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Chisov

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...llThatKillsYou

I think this explains both how Burt may have survived the fall and why he did.

[Dr. Hatchet]

I do think that Myth Busters made a thing about falling and hitting ground and hitting water, but as we all know we don't know how far he fell

[h3half]

Just remember that there have been freak miracles where people survive giant falls with (barely) a scratch. (Not the person, a cut on the surface of your skin). Falling leg-first is the best way to survive (so I've been told, I can't say I've tested it), so Burt might have a broken leg or two. Worst case; he's dead. Best case; he sprained an ankle or something weird like that.

Example:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-sh..._b_702527.html

Not the story I was directly thinking of, and this guy's legs got messed the heck up, but he lived. And he fell from MUCH higher than Burt did, up to four times higher.

EDIT: Just actually read the entire article I linked. There is a definate possibility of Burt living from such a fall, and since he was in the Marines in Vietnam, he may have had specialized training of some sort (Marines are picked for all sorts of weird jobs) and may have known that relaxing before impact could save your life.

Who knows. (Kc does)