1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The military prepares a 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: person for the worst. Expect to be shot at, Expect 6 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: long days and short nights, and most of all, expect 7 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: the unexpected. Marine Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin understood what came 8 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: with the job, although I'm not sure he ever could 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: have been prepared for what happened to him on July 10 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: ninety nine. Rankin had been a career Marine, having served 11 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: in both World War Two and Korea. He'd been flying 12 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: alongside his wingman, Navy Lieutenant Herbert no And, in a 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: pair of fighter jets known as F eight Crusaders. It 14 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,199 Speaker 1: was a high altitude flight which put the men about 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: nine miles or forty seven thousand feet above the ground. 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: Both pilots were on their way to an air station 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: minutes away from Beauford, South Carolina, when they noticed something 18 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: below them. A storm. Of course, high above the clouds, 19 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: Ranking and Nolan had nothing to worry about. Lightning flashed 20 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: and thunder rattled beneath their planes, but it was well 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: out of reach, and yet they'd have to fly through 22 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: that mess to make it to their station in time. 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: No matter, their planes were the top of the line, 24 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: capable of handling enemy fire and whatever weather came their way. 25 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: Until a voice came over Nolan's radio. It was Ranking 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: and he was in trouble power failure. He said, may 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: have to eject. His engine had died without warning, and 28 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: his plane was starting to nose dive. So he did 29 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: the only thing he could think of, despite what was 30 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: waiting underneath him. He pulled a pair of handles and 31 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: triggered an ejection. He was launching upward as his crusader 32 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 1: plummeted to the ground. You see, there were actually two 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: problems facing Rankin at that moment. Yes, the thunderstorm raging 34 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: below was a concern, but the greater risk was the 35 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: decompression sickness he was about to experience, also known as 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: the bends. It's a common affliction for deep sea divers 37 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: whose surfaced too quickly. Rankin had left the pressurized safety 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: of his jet and was now floating nine miles above 39 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: the earth as nitrogen bubbles began surfacing in his blood. 40 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: He would later describe the sensation as though his abdomen 41 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: had bloated to twice its size. And then there was 42 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: also the cold. So high up, without any protection for 43 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: his ankles and wrists, his extremities went numb. He couldn't 44 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: deploy his shoot yet, not until he reached ten thousand feet. 45 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,080 Speaker 1: Any sooner and he'd be killed by a combination and 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: of cold, decompression, sickness, and a lack of oxygen. So 47 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: he fell straight down into the center of a roiling storm, 48 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: and it all would have been over quickly if he 49 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: had descended at his current rate, But fate had another plan. 50 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: Rankin's shoot deployed too early, well before he'd cleared the 51 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: worst of the storm, and now lightning crackled around him 52 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: as the wind threw him around like a plastic bag. 53 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: The thunder shook his bones, fist sized hail fell around him, 54 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: threatening to turn his parachute into Swiss cheese. And then 55 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: there was the rain. Rankin took deep breaths, but instead 56 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: of air, sheets of water filled his nose and lungs 57 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: like he was breathing under water. All of this while 58 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: the decompression sickness got worse. Blood oozed from his nose, ears, 59 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: and eyes. The world spun around him, or maybe the 60 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: wind had decided to play with him like a cat 61 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: with a ball of yarn. Minutes or he'd entered the storm, 62 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: he emerged on the other side, his shot still intact 63 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: as he floated to safety. Unfortunately, though the storm had 64 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: one last trick to play. It's strong winds had carried 65 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: him sixty five miles off target, away toward a gathering 66 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: of trees, where his shoot got caught on some branches. 67 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: When he landed, he smashed into one of the trunks. 68 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: Dazed and nauseous, he cut himself loose and stumbled out 69 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: onto a nearby road, where he flagged down a passing driver, 70 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: who took him to the nearest shop to call an ambulance. Amazingly, 71 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: Rankin walked away from his adventure with only minor injuries. 72 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: He eventually wrote a memoir about his forty minute plunge, 73 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: having become the first and only person to fall through 74 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: a cumulo nimbus storm cloud and live to talk about it. Shocking, 75 00:04:53,440 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: I know. Statistically speaking, it's the safest way to travel, 76 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: despite the horrific news reports the number of fatal airline 77 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: accidents has actually gone down steadily over the last ten years, 78 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: no pun intended, I swear, while car accidents still rank 79 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: as one of the primary causes of death all over 80 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: the world. In America, you're more likely to choke on 81 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: a piece of chicken than you are to die in 82 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: a plane crash, And yet the stories and the fears 83 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: that come with them still persist, likely because such incidents 84 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: don't happen every day. When a commercial jet airliner disappears 85 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: over the ocean, it sparks alarm and outrage. Questions about 86 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: safety and what could have been done are asked, while 87 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: manufacturers dumped millions into preventative efforts, and yet people still fly, 88 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: and the airplanes they ride in still take off and 89 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: land thousands of times each day. They have to, because 90 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: if we dwelled on every time a plane fell out 91 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: of the sky, we never stepped foot on one again. 92 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: We remember t w A Flight eight hundred, which exploded 93 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: and sunk into the ocean shortly after takeoff in nine. 94 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: Malaysian Airlines Flight three seventy crashed into the Indian Ocean 95 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: in two thousand fourteen, taking two hundred thirty souls with it, 96 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: And then there was Air France flight three. The plane 97 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: was an Airbus, a commercial airliner powered by four massive 98 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: engines and capable of carrying over three hundred people across 99 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: the world. It left Paris's Charles de Gaul Airport the 100 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: morning of August second, two thousand five. Eight hours later, 101 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: it landed in Toronto, sort of. The plane had been 102 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: reliable since it debuted in nine. With three thousand, seven 103 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: hundred eleven flights under its wing and a season pilot 104 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: in the cockpit, there had been no reason to worry 105 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: about the plane not reaching its destination two d in 106 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: Ninete passengers boarded that morning from countries all over the world. 107 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: The flight itself had gone well, traveling over thirty seven 108 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: miles across the North Atlantic to reach a particularly rainy 109 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: and windy Toronto, Canada. Other flights at Pierson International Airport 110 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: had been grounded or delayed due to the thunder storms 111 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: in the area. It wasn't safe for people to be 112 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: in the air, but for those who already were, there 113 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: really weren't any other options. By the time they began 114 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: to approach the airport, Flight three needed to land, and 115 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: fast gas was running low. It had been cleared for 116 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: landing but was forced to turn up again and circle 117 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: back due to the strong winds. The turbulence shook the plane, 118 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: rocking the passengers from side to side. When the wheels 119 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: finally touched down, a handful of small explosions outside were 120 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: spotted from both passengers and the control tower. Fire had 121 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: broken out, Smoke began to fill the cabin, and yet 122 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: the plane showed no signs of stopping. It careemed down 123 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: the runway past the other parked planes. People inside gripped 124 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: their arm rests and the seats in front of them 125 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: to brace for impact. Panic spread throughout the cabin until 126 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: the plane came crashing to a halt in a ravine 127 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: just past the airport. The fire spread further inside. Rescue 128 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: personnel were deployed to try and contain it. Flight attendants 129 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: fought through the smoke to open the emergency exits and 130 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: deploy the slides, but one deflated after a fragment from 131 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: the plane had punctured it. The two rear exits wouldn't 132 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: open because of the fire. It was too late. Despite 133 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: the efforts by first responders, Air France three fifty eight 134 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: had burned beyond repair, leaving behind only a smoking husk 135 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: waiting to be carded off for investigation, and the poor passengers, 136 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: all two ninety seven of them, as well as the 137 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: flight crew. They survived every last one stepped off the 138 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: plane thanks to the flight attendants quick thinking. While a 139 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: few suffered serious injuries, there were no reported fatalities and 140 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: most victims came away with only minor scratches and bruises. 141 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: Experts describe it as a textbook evacuation, though the crash 142 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: had been anything but textbook. It's only fitting that an 143 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: incident of such magnitude, one that could have taken the 144 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: lives of hundreds of travelers, has come to be known 145 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:33,079 Speaker 1: by a new name, the Toronto Miracle. I hope you've 146 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 147 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 148 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 149 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 150 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 151 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,559 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 152 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 153 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.