As long as you start having problems as high as 35,000 feet there are surprisingly many (although vomit-inducing) ways to deal with your problems by pure physics – i.e. as long as you can use some of your control surfaces, you have a reasonable chance of surviving.<p>The most important variables are velocity and lift vector. At 35,000 feet you have room to gain speed, and even just some of your control surfaces let you manipulate your lift vector in &quot;unconventional&quot; ways.