How much pain do you think a person feels if their plane crashes?

Question

I know this seems like an odd question, but I was reading about Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her plane crash and was wandering how much pain she would have felt when they crashed? I feel so horrible for them, the fear that must have been going through them, I am hoping it was quick and painless but was wandering if anyone knows? How fast it might have happened? Pain?

Answer 1

I don't think they experienced any pain because they must have died in seconds.

I would think the terror of knowing what is about to happen was much worse.

Answer 2

your question depressed me ...

:-(

Answer 3

It depends on the crash, similar to what happens in car accidents. Some die quickly on impact without warning, while others have scary lead-ups to the moment of impact. Then again, there are those who survive the accident only to later die of their injuries.

Obviously, if there was not much or no warning, they probably didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 resulted in the plane breaking up in the air. The amount of oxygen at that altitude would have rendered the passengers unconscience before they hit the ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flig...

Disasters on the ground also give very little warning and often happen quickly. The causes of death though vary and in how much they suffered. Those who were killed in the initial impact would have suffered less than those who died of injuries later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_di...

The passengers on other flights suffered worse, especially with anticipation. I believe Egypt Air 990 in 1999 was an example, and what is still the deadliest single aircraft crash, that of Japan Air 123 in 1985. They both went out of control first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Fl...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airli...

I believe the example you gave, they probably also didn't realize it until impact. I feel especially sorry for the family that lost two daughters than night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Ken...

In Flight Attendant training, they told us that accidents rarely happen for one reason. Most are a combination of errors.

You are far more likely to be killed in a car than on an aircraft. If you do beat the statistics, hang in there because more people *survive* than are killed in plane crashes.

By contrast (and the airlines don't release this information) people are often killed after a crash because they panicked and/or followed the wrong instructions. Do as directed and get out of the aircraft. Only stop and help if you can do so very quickly but usually it's better to take note of the location and inform someone outside of what's happening. Leave all your bags behind.

Hopefully, that's information you never have to use!

Answer 4

The people who know will not be alive to tell you how much physical pain they felt.

Answer 5

The same pain one might feel in any vehicle crash: train, boat, car, truck, bus … and the exact level and type of pain would depend on many variables.

If they hit the water at high speed, they all would have been instantly knocked out, and thus would not have felt any significant pain.