In addition to Vesna Vulovic's 33,330-foot free fall, there are many other instances where airplane pilots or crew have plunged thousands of feet without a functioning parachute and survived.
Russian Lieutenant I. M. Chisov, piloting an Ilyushin-4 bomber, was attacked by 12 German Messerschmitts in January 1942. He bailed out at an altitude of about 22,000 feet. He chose not to open his parachute to avoid being killed by the fighter pilots, planning to open his chute at 1000 feet. However, he lost consciousness during free fall and landed on a steep ravine with 3 feet of snow.
Chisov awoke 20 minutes later. He only had a concussion of his spine and a fractured pelvis, returning to duty as a flight instructor three and a half months later.
Nick Alkemade of the RAF, tail gunner in an AVRO Lancaster bomber, was trapped in his burning gun turret after the bomber was attacked by a German Ju-88 bomber. His parachute was in the cabin area, but he couldn't get it, so he jumped out of the plane, preferring a quick death to being burned alive.
Alkemade fell from 18,000 feet, all the while thinking of his impending death, falling in a position with his head down.
Suddenly, he was on the ground, looking up at the stars through some pine trees. He couldn't believe he was okay, but moving both arms and legs he soon realized he was not even hurt badly and smoked a cigarette before getting up.
Pine trees had slowed his descent and he fell to soft snow. His most serious injury was a sprained leg.
Alkemade was captured by the Germans. The Gestapo did not believe his story until they inspected the parachute harness and found his burned parachute at the crash site.