Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / ParachuteInATree

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
4%%
5%%
6%%
7%% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17072423070.30079300
8%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
9%%
10[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1000007851.jpg]]
11[[caption-width-right:350:"Well [[{{Pun}} chute]], how do I get down?"\
12[-John Steele Parachute Memorial in Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy, France]]-]
13%%
14%% Caption selected per above thread. Please don't change or remove without approval from here:
15%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900
16%%
17A character ejects or leaps from a plane overhead with a parachute. Before they hit the ground, they pull their parachute and fall slowly to the ground. All is well: soon they'll be safe and sound on the ground.
18
19...If it weren't for that pesky breeze pushing them over towards that cluster of trees. Instead of landing on their feet, the character's parachute snags in the branches and he becomes stuck, dangling helplessly in the air.
20
21If the fall isn't particularly high, the character may try to cut themselves down. Otherwise, they will probably need someone else's help to get down.
22
23This trope covers any situation in which a parachute or similar object snags on something and leaves the owner dangling in the air. It doesn't have to be a tree, it can be a tower, lamppost, cables, or anything else that a parachute could snag on.
24
25This trope is very much TruthInTelevision both in military parachuting and recreational skydiving, and surviving such a situation is a mandatory part of training. Pilots are equipped with hooked knives for slicing through their parachute cords if this becomes a problem, and some military parachutes have releasable extended lines so that you can reach the ground if you are too high up to get down or risk a fall. In recreational skydiving it is usually better to hang on the harness and wait for help rather than to try to get yourself loose (and risk falling uncontrolled on the ground).
26
27See also ImprovisedParachute and PunyParachute. Rarely used in conjunction with a ParasolParachute or ParachutePetticoat.
28
29----
30!!Examples
31
32[[foldercontrol]]
33
34[[folder:Advertising]]
35* A coffee shop commercial includes an unlucky woman's parachute becoming entangled in the only tree in a large field.
36* Seen in this spot for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5dJdpS3QIc Yardley Black Label aftershave,]] featuring [[Music/TheMonkees Monkees]] Mike Nesmith and the late Davy Jones[[note]]Yardley was one main sponsor of the show along with Kellogg's[[/note]] as two parachuters. This product is what gets the less-fortunate Davy the kiss.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40* In Episode 8 of ''Anime/IzettaTheLastWitch'', Germanian Officer Rickert tries going into a foreign country at night to meet up with a spy. Unfortunately for him the wind blew him off course and he ended up crashing into a tree.
41* In the first episode of ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'', the title character paradrops into the middle of a jungle and, unsurprisingly, gets stuck on a tree. Instead of dangling there, however, she simply unstraps herself and lands [[LadyOfWar gracefully]] on the ground.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Comic Books]]
45%%* ''ComicBook/BuckDanny'': This happens a few times.
46* ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'': This happens in the comics, usually involving an evil German soldier who finds our hero in such a helpless state and is about to shoot him, until a third party pulls a BigDamnHeroes.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
50* ''Animation/{{Away|2019}}'' opens with the child protagonist stuck on a tree with his parachute open. A later flashback reveals that he parachuted out of the plane he was on before it crashed.
51* Early in ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', after Carl is launched out of Jimmy's destroyed rocket, he is sent down to Earth on a parachute, and lands in a tree. Later on, as Jimmy bounces in a transportation bubble to ensure that he's not late for school, he crashes into the same tree, where he meets up with Carl to get him down.
52* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', when Alex demands to meet the people, King Julien points to the skeleton of a parachuter on a tree.
53* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': One of the ghosts Norman sees on the way to school is in the situation.
54-->'''Norman:''' Hey! How's it hangin'?\
55'''Ghost:''' Oh, ha ha. {{Never heard that one before}}.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
59* In ''Film/ABCsOfDeath2'', the Israeli soldier starts the segment "F [[spoiler:is for Falling]]" hanging from a tree by her parachute.
60* A fatal example of this occurs in ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'', where a squad members land in a forest where he hangs himself.
61* In ''Film/{{The Crazies|2010}}'', they find the long-dead skeletal remains of a pilot who had this problem after ejecting.
62* ''Film/Deadpool2'': In the scene of X-Force parachuting in the city, Deadpool is the first to reach the ground, his chute gets caught in a billboard. He easily frees himself, however, while the rest of the team is nowhere as lucky (except for Domino).
63* In ''Film/TheDirtyDozen'', Jiminez breaks his neck this way during a drop in France.
64* ''Film/{{Firestorm|1998}}'': When Jesse jumps out of Andy's chopper to rescue Jennifer and the (fake) firefighters, his chute gets caught up between two trees. He has to cut it loose in order to drop to the ground.
65* Played very straight in the UsefulNotes/WorldWar2 film ''Flying Leathernecks'': an American pilot has to bail out of his fighter over Guadalcanal because he ran out of fuel. His parachute snags in a tree just as a Japanese patrol is passing by on the ground below, and they promptly shoot him dead.
66* In ''Film/ForceTenFromNavarone'', this happens to Corporal Miller during a parachute drop over Yugoslavia. A German soldier nearly shoots him before he is saved by Sergeant Weaver.
67* An unlucky wind change in ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' results in a skydiver getting his parachute entangled in the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Lucky for him, George is there to swing to the rescue.
68* Happens to Topper Harley early in ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux''. He proceeds to cut himself free... ''with a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw knife]]''.
69* ''Film/JamesBond'': This happens to an unlucky 00 agent in the opening sequence of ''Film/TheLivingDaylights''.
70* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'':
71** ''Film/JurassicParkIII'':
72*** In the prologue, Ben and Eric are parasailing[[note]]a parasail looks like a rectangular parachute, but the canopy is wider and gives more lift, allowing it to be steered better and stay aloft longer[[/note]] near Isla Sorna when they lose their towboat and have to land on the island. Later when the main group arrives on the island, they find the parasail dangling from a tree with Ben's half-eaten body still attached to it.
73*** The parasail is more or less intact, so Billy packs it up and [[ChekhovsGun takes it with him]]. Billy later uses it to rescue Eric from a flock of ''Pteranodons,'' and gets caught on a cliffside for his trouble. He manages to cut himself down and fall into the river, but can't make it to shore before being [[spoiler:[[DisneyDeath nearly]]]] eaten.
74** ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'': Claire Dearing gets stuck up a tree in her EjectionSeat, which is a good thing seeing as there are carnivorous dinosaurs roaming below... until a huge Therizinosaurus appears [[OhCrap whose head is right at the height she is now]].
75* ''Film/TheLongestDay'':
76** The movie includes a scene where a paratrooper becomes snagged on a French church spire. This incident is based on one from the real world.
77** Also, when another US paratrooper gets stuck in an ''actual'' tree and, unable to free himself in time, ends up getting separated from the rest of his unit.
78* On his first parachute jump into German-occupied Norway, Film/MaxManus ends up hanging upside down from a tree. Fortunately his friend Gregers lands nearby and helps him down.
79* Ashford from ''Film/OperationDumboDrop'' gets caught in a tree after everyone else lands safely. This, however, helps set up his BigDamnHeroes moment.
80* This is how the other characters encounter Edwin, the doctor, in ''Film/{{Predators}}''.
81* In ''Film/{{Scarecrows}}'', Bert doublecrosses the rest of the gang and bails out of the plane with $3.5 million in stolen loot. However, he misjudges his landing and winds up hanging from a tree with the cash on the ground in the creepy old farm. And that's where his problems really start.
82* Blair Williams from ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' is introduced dangling from a derelict pylon by her parachute. She tries to cut herself free, despite the large drop, but Marcus Wright grabs her before she can fall from her harness.
83* In ''Film/ThatManFromRio'', the hero has to ditch a plane over the Amazon jungle and parachute down -- getting stuck in a tree and dangling just above a hungry crocodile in the swamp.
84* In ''Film/WakeMeWhenItsOver'', [[spoiler:during the court martial against Gus Brubaker, Captain Stark, having been reassigned to another base to prevent him from testifying, goes AWOL and parachutes down to Shima in order to intervene. His parachute gets caught on a flagpole, leaving him dangling about three feet off the ground. This works in his favor, as Colonel Hollingsworth was geared up to arrest him for going AWOL but technically can't because [[LoopholeAbuse he's not considered AWOL until he touches the ground]].]]
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Literature]]
88* ''Literature/BretKingMysteries'': In ''The Mystery of Blizzard Mesa'', Bret and Ace parachute out of a plane above the villains' hideout and Bret gets his chute caught in some tree branches twenty feet above the ground. He narrowly avoids being shot by the villains once they see him stuck there.
89* ''Literature/FlightOfTheIntruder'': [[spoiler:Jake Grafton]] not only ends up hanging from a tree after ejecting but has the further indignity of somehow ending up hanging from his parachute upside down. Fortunately, he was hanging only a foot or so off the ground.
90* The "monster" in ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' is actually a dead parachuter hanging from the trees.
91* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'': One of [[spoiler:Colonel Christina Eliopolis's]] crew mates after the crash. Found, being eaten.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
95* In ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS1E11OneMoreTime One More Time]]", Amy's parachute is caught in a tree, leaving her dangling in her harness.
96* In ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', the men of Easy Company find a dead paratrooper caught in a tree.
97* ''Series/BeyondParadise2023'': DI Goodman (the main character) is introduced, during the first episode of the series, hanging from a tree by a parachute, after he caused the instructor, who performed the jump with him, to veer off course through sheer clumsiness.
98* ''Series/CHiPs'' had Ponch and Jon on patrol when they see someone skydiving. Jon comments that the skydiver is too close to the freeway. They later encounter the skydiver hanging by her parachute from a light pole on an overpass. Being the first officers on the scene, it's up to them to rescue her.
99* ''Series/CSIMiami'': In "Terminal Velocity", a skydiver is killed when his [[ChuteSabotage parachute is tampered with]]. His diving partner ends up dangling from a tree after he tries to save him. Horatio and Tripp interview him while he is still hanging from the tree.
100* The ''Series/DadsArmy'' episode "Time On My Hands" centres on the characters' efforts to pull down a German pilot whose parachute is caught on the town clock.
101* In ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' Tim Allen (AsHimself) gets stuck in the tree in Drew's backyard after a failed parachute publicity stunt. Drew doesn't cut him down since the idea of having a celebrity stuck in your tree is funnier than letting him leave.
102* Happens once in ''Series/{{Emergency}}'', and the parachuter doesn't want the firemen to damage it getting her out. Someone pops her reserve chute, and she complains about the repacking fee.
103* In an episode of ''Series/FatherTed'', during a flight emergency, Jack takes the plane's two parachutes and attaches the second one to [[TheAlcoholic the drinks trolley.]] As the credits roll, we see Jack and the trolley both stuck in the tree, with Jack vainly trying to reach it.
104* In an episode of ''Series/FoylesWar'', a German WWII flier who is found hanging in a tree from his parachute after a plane crash is involved in a murder taking place at the same time. Played with in the sense that [[spoiler:the soldier did not in fact land with the parachute. He was transported in by a submarine and then hung himself up in the tree to make it look like he had been in the plane.]]
105* This happens to Will and the father of Will's girlfriend of the week in an episode of ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. They manage to knock each other down.
106* ''Series/FullHouse'': When Jesse goes skydiving, his parachute gets stuck in a tree, causing him to be late to his own wedding.
107* ''Series/GeneralHospital'': Lois jumps out of a moving plane and ends up in such a situation. Fortunately, she has a cellular. Bonus points for making a "hanging around" reference and whistling away waiting to be unhooked.
108* ''Series/{{LOST}}'':
109** Naomi is introduced this way after her helicopter got into trouble flying over the island through a storm, forcing her to jump out. Her parachute gets caught on a tree and she is injured by one of the branches, requiring a rescue from some of the main cast.
110** The following season Charlotte Lewis is introduced having also jumped out of a helicopter under similar circumstances to Naomi. In an extra stroke of bad luck Charlotte is left hanging upside-down and over a river which at least gives her a [[SoftWater slightly softer]] landing than hitting the ground.
111* The central point of an immunity challenge in ''Characters/SurvivorBorneo''.
112* In one episode of ''Series/TheYoungOnes'', after moving into a new house, Mike discovers Music/BuddyHolly, still alive and guitar in hand, hanging from a parachute in one of the rooms. He has apparently been there since 1959 (23 years at that point). Mike tries to capitalise on the songs Buddy has thought up since then only for the parachute to give way and Holly fall screaming through the floor.
113[[/folder]]
114
115[[folder:Music]]
116* Music/BrianEno's song "Mother Whale Eyeless" includes the line "Parachutes caught on steeples."
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
120* ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'': In "Brink of Disaster", Grafton is trying to persuade Jeff to invest in his completely automatic monorail, which is patrolled by heli-jets. One of these is struck by lightning, causing it to crash into the railway. The pilot of this jet ends up dangling from the railway by his parachute. When somebody turns up to rescue him, he tells his rescuer to contact the train first, because the automatic signals have been damaged. Without these, the train cannot stop, and is heading towards the damaged track.
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Video Games]]
124* At the beginning ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkTheNewNightmare'', Carnby gets snagged in a tree while landing on Shadow Island.
125* Happens several times during the D-Day drop in the first two ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'' titles, ranging from getting killed by German fire upon getting their chutes snagged, or dying from injuries related to the jump. Both Hartsock and Baker witness several of these happening, with the latter ending up in this situation himself, only surviving thanks to [[BigDamnHeroes Doyle's arrival]].
126* This happens to one of the first-dropped troopers accompanying you in the first ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''. He's shot and killed by Germans before you actually reach him.
127* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'': While he isn't quite completely stuck, a Russian paratrooper at the beginning of the level Wolverines! has an [[https://youtu.be/BdcNOLmvgwg?t=106 awkward landing on a slanted roof]], preventing him from quickly getting away before he is gunned down by an allied Humvee gunner.
128* In ''VideoGame/{{Emergency}} 3'', you have to rescue a radioactively contaminated military pilot after he parachuted out of a crashing experimental nuclear fighter jet and his chute got impaled on a nearby church spire.
129* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': Early on in the Operation: Anchorage DLC, you see a snagged paratrooper get gunned down by Chinese troops. In ''Point Lookout'', you find a parachute in a tree above the skeleton of the pilot, adjacent to his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5hd5DSNsU crashed plane]] that contains an ApocalypticLog in the black box.
130* ''VideoGame/GameAndWatch'': ''Parachute'''s Game B has the right string of skydivers possibly meeting this fate.
131* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': In the old Atari 2600 ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' game, the well of souls was found behind a cave under a cliff-side tree branch. Getting into the cave involved snagging your parachute on the branch (which would cause you to slide in).
132* Corpses of paratroopers hanging from trees are frequently found in the "Swamp Fever" campaign of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. Upgraded weapons, medical supplies and grenades can be found on their bodies.
133* Happens to Larry in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry2LookingForLoveInSeveralWrongPlaces'', when parachuting down to Nontoonyt Island. Your only way out is if you thought to bring along a knife. If you didn't, the game becomes {{Unwinnable}} as you're stuck hanging there.
134* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor:''
135** In Level 3-1 of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorFrontline'', an Allied paratrooper is hung up on a windmill and killed by machine gun fire.
136** In the mission 'Scavengers' in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard'', the Bazooka Operator is found caught in a tree, the player also gets to cut him down.
137** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAlliedAssault'''s ''Spearhead'' ExpansionPack has Parachute In A House, as Barnes ends up breaking through the roof of a barn and gets trapped several feet over the floor, all the while German troops are patrolling the area outside the barn. In ''Breakthrough'', a similar scenario happens, with Baker's glider crash landing into a tree and Baker himself having to cut himself free from his seat, with Italian troops patrolling near the crash site.
138* A parachute on a fence, sans passenger, is how Solid Snake can learn that Liquid is alive after his helicopter was blown up in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. Snake believes it was left there intentionally as a coded threat by Liquid.
139* ''VideoGame/MetalSlugCodeJ'' have you meeting Fio in the game for the first time, as she's stuck in a tall tree after a botched paradrop. You're interrupted by a helicopter boss before you can free her, and once the boss is defeated it then crashes into the base of said tree, the resulting explosion causing poor Fio to literally fly out of her chute and landing a few hundred meters away (it's an AmusingInjuries moment however, she looks more embarrassed than actually hurt).
140* There's a FunnyBackgroundEvent in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' involving this trope. During the mission "Wolverines!", you and your buddies come across a Russian paratrooper that has befallen this fate on a streetlight.
141* This is how the Lost Pilot Zombies in ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' attack your lawn. They drop down hanging from a parachute caught onto a tree, and start eating the plant on that space before they're eventually "freed". Using a Blover when they're hanging causes them to free themselves immediately, instead of instantly killing them unlike most {{Airborne Mook}}s.
142* Nathan Drake lands like this in ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune''. In front of a statue with a sword in his face.
143* This is how one first arrives in Sholazar Basin in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. That is, the ''pilot'' of the aircraft you're in ends up like this. Somehow, ''you'' miss the trees and land safely on the ground.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:Web Animation]]
147* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': In "Wingin' It", when Mime falls out of a plane, the skin on his face comes lose and functions as a parachute. He gets caught in a tree and has to cut off his skin to get free.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Webcomics]]
151* A few of the ''Webcomic/CampWeedonwantcha'' campers stumble across a skeleton stuck like this, [[http://campcomic.com/comic/62 here.]] [[CreepyChild They decide to play with the parachute]].
152* Narrowly averted in [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-10-18 this]] ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' strip. Carol the reporter's camera man lands on a roof near her but only because he had to choose between that or the trees.
153* The webcomic ''[[http://just-chute-me.com/ Just 'Chute Me]]'' is based on this trope, featuring two guys hanging from parachutes on a desert island.
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Western Animation]]
157* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': NonActionGuy Dr. Canus ends up dangling from a tree when he bails out of the Batplane in "Last Bat on Earth!"
158* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "The Old and the Restless", Pop-Pop ends up in a tree after a parachute jump. Lincoln helps him down.
159* Happens a couple of times in the ''WesternAnimation/StreetFighter'' cartoon to provide a moment of humor. First Guile gets caught and Blanka teases him, and then the situation is reversed a few episodes later.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Real Life]]
163* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII provided several examples:
164** During D-Day, a paratrooper named John Steele became snagged on the church spire at Sainte-Mère-Église and played dead for two hours before being cut down and taken prisoner by the Germans; but he managed to escape from their captivity just four hours after capture and rejoined his division later that day. Steele's entrapment was depicted in the movie ''Film/TheLongestDay'' as listed above. The church still has a monument to him and the other paratroopers, in the form of a statue of a paratrooper dangling from the spire, as well as stained glass windows depicting Virgin Mary and the paratroopers.[[note]][[AGoodNameForARockBand Which also sounds like a great name for a band.]][[/note]]
165** One history of the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships SAS Regiment]] related an anecdote from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, about a trooper who got scattered away from the drop zone due to bad weather and landed in an orchard. Unable to see anything in the dark, and unwilling to risk injuring himself in a fall by cutting himself loose, he patiently waited for dawn, [[{{Irony}} only for first light to reveal his feet were half a foot above the ground]].
166** When the British Airborne Division was new and still trying to hash out their methods, the top brass were not impressed when half the troops had to be rescued from trees by the local fire brigade after a parachuting demonstration.
167** Another example occurred during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with famed French resistance spy Nancy Wake, whose parachute got tangled in a tree when she landed in the Auvergne province of France. When the resistance leader found her, he remarked, "I hope that all the trees in France bear such beautiful fruit this year." Her response? [[DeadpanSnarker "Don't give me that French shit."]]
168* Postwar, smoke jumpers (paratroop firemen) would carry ropes to let themselves down out of trees (which they would often aim for; getting snagged in a pine isn't bad if you have a face mask and probably softer than whatever open ground is available).
169* During the "Malayan Emergency" campaign in TheFifties Special Air Service actually practiced "tree jumping" ''deliberately'' -- which was often inevitable, as four fifths of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Malaysia}} Malay Peninsula]] is covered by jungle and helicopters of the era were limited in numbers and carrying capacity. Each trooper was issued with an extra length of rope to climb down the tree after his landing. Injuries still happened quite often, and with increased number of helicopters tree jumping was gradually discontinued.
170[[/folder]]

Top