[–] [deleted] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
[–] luckyguy 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
It's way more likely. Your terminal velocity should be proporational to 1/sqrt(area) ish. That's like one third the falling speed. Then you land on a nice slopped mountain (which they were in the mountains) and then you are good from there. The real shock is what was a torrenting river doing in the mountains and how did they not manage to stop themselves on a tree or simply stop themselves by hopping out of the raft while they were on the snow.
[–] ultimatemuffin 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Mythbusters actually tested the raft out of the airplane, and discovered it was plausible. To the point that, if you were able to keep it flat, you could get out virtually unharmed.