"You probably would not damage your bumper if you hit a car at this speed, " said landing-system engineer Devin Kipp at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who helped design the parachute.

WSJ: Mars Mission Seeks a Happy Landing

Typically they follow a pattern of excess speed, losing control and a bad landing from a jump.

BBC: Just how dangerous is skiing?

Eighteen seconds later, you have slowed that aircraft to hover speed and can sit down in the landing zone to quickly on- or off-load the maximum things on the aircraft.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: V-22: A discussion on the way ahead

Of this most recent spate of accidents, where many aboard have been able to walk away from the wreckage, it is worth noting that they occurred mostly in the landing phase, at relatively low altitude and speed and with the aircraft in question carrying only limited amounts of fuel.

BBC: Making plane crashes less deadly

"Together, we proved that a human in freefall can break the speed of sound returning from near space, going through a transonic phase and landing safely on the ground, " said Dr Jonathan Clark, a former space shuttle flight surgeon and the Red Bull Stratos medical director.

BBC: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner fell faster than first thought

Much more than a cosmetic enhancement for visual appeal, they increase lift, reduce drag and lower stall speed, which translates to a considerable performance boost on takeoff, climb, cruise and landing.

FORBES: The Most Successful Aircraft Design Gets Even Better

Sudden changes in wind speed or direction, known as wind shear, can lift or smash aircraft into the ground during landing.

NPR: Investigators Probe Lion Air Crash In Bali

If the second foot has more speed than the first, the dancer looks like he is buoyantly moving up even as he is landing like a jet with its nose in the air as it is landing.

WSJ: Master Ballet Teacher Wilhelm Burmann | Creating

This involves pitching the machine's nose up to reduce its forward velocity and increase the speed of rotation of the blades (and thus the amount of lift they provide) to soften the landing.

ECONOMIST: Monitor