Well would you believe it!

[Mock Turtle]

William Rankin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

On July 26, 1959, Rankin was flying from Naval Air Station South Weymouth, Massachusetts, to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina. He climbed over a thunderhead that peaked at 45,000 feet (13,700 m); then — at 47,000 feet (14,300 m) and at mach 0.82 — he heard a loud bump and rumble from the engine. The engine stopped, and a fire warning light flashed. He pulled the lever to deploy auxiliary power, and it broke off in his hand. Though not wearing a pressure suit, at 6:00 pm he ejected into the −50 °C (−58 °F) air. He suffered immediate frostbite, and decompression caused his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to bleed. His abdomen swelled severely. He did, however, manage to make use of his emergency oxygen supply.

Five minutes after he abandoned the plane, his parachute had not opened. While in the upper regions of the thunderstorm, with near-zero visibility, the parachute opened prematurely instead of at 10,000 feet (3,000 m) because the storm had affected the barometric parachute switch and caused it to open. After ten minutes, Rankin was still aloft, carried by updrafts and getting hit by hailstones. Violent spinning and pounding caused him to vomit. Lightning appeared, which he described as blue blades several feet thick, and thunder that he could feel. The rain forced him to hold his breath to keep from drowning. One lightning bolt lit up the parachute, making Rankin believe he had died. Conditions calmed, and he descended into a forest. His watch read 6:40 pm. It had been 40 minutes since he had ejected.

Gleaned from a book about weather systems that I am reading.

 

[We Never Know]

William Rankin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Gleaned from a book about weather systems that I am reading.

Before his shoot opened he was in freefall for five minutes from 47,000 feet?
Am I reading that right?

 

[Mock Turtle]

Before his shoot opened he was in freefall for five minutes from 47,000 feet?
Am I reading that right?

Yep. The nature of the clouds caused him to be thrown about seemingly, and got even worse when his parachute did open. In the book it mentions up draughts and turbulence (in this type of cloud formation) countering gravity to explain why this happened. The book being - What Does Rain Smell Like? (2019) by Simon King and Clare Nasir.

 

[Wirey]

William Rankin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Gleaned from a book about weather systems that I am reading.

...and I get upset when my plane hits turbulence.