Aircraft wreckage falls differently from a human body. A section of fuselage — with its irregular shape, its aerodynamic properties, its mass and surface area — will fall at a different velocity and will tumble in ways that depend on its specific geometry. The tail section of a DC-9-32, coming down through forested terrain into snow, was not falling at the same velocity or in the same manner as a human in free fall.
The snow factor has been studied in multiple documented survival cases. A meter of consolidated snow can absorb an impact that a hard surface cannot; forested terrain can further reduce impact forces through the progressive resistance of branches and tree cover. These factors are real and measurable in principle, though the specific conditions at Srbská Kamenice on January 26, 1972 — the depth of the snow, the density of the tree cover, the angle of the slope, the specific trajectory of the fuselage section — are not parameters that have been precisely reconstructed.
The low blood pressure hypothesis remains scientifically plausible without being established as a proven causal factor. The relevant physiology involves the relationship between cardiovascular state at the moment of decompression-induced hypoxia, speed of unconsciousness, and the body’s response to traumatic impact while in a state of unconsciousness versus while conscious. The precise mechanisms are complex; the medical literature on survivors of extreme trauma consistently finds that factors which appear to reduce physiological responsiveness to the trauma — including unconsciousness — can sometimes be protective. Whether this is what happened in Vulović’s case cannot be determined from retrospective analysis.