I've been asking myself that question for years. So many lives would have been saved if parachutes we on board of a plane. At least you would have a chance of survival. At the very least there should be a fireproof parachute on the plane. One in the front one on each of the wings and one on the back.
Parachutes attached to an aircraft would not be effective in slowing down its descent because of the weight and the speed. The wings themselves are practically the most “brittle” part of an aircraft, for lack of a better word. The weight and bulk of the fuselage is tenfold that of the wings, and the points at which the wings are connected to the fuselage aren’t strong enough to keep the wings from snapping off if parachutes were deployed. Even attaching parachute technology to the fuselage instead of the wings wouldn’t work, once again because it wouldn’t sustain the weight. The size and type of parachute needed for that would add thousands of pounds to the average aircraft, and keeping the weight as low as possible is a top priority for flying safely.
Commercial airliners traverse countless routes over various types of terrain, various developed areas, against various wind currents, at rapid speeds, and carry dozens or hundreds of people. What is depicted in the graphic you’ve posted is a controlled drop of a cargo platform (most likely unmanned) over a pre-planned zone in ideal or close-to-ideal weather conditions. To equip a commercial airliner in that manner is not impossible nor implausible, however, to use it in a real-life emergency situation fully loaded with passengers and crew at a few seconds or a few minutes notice is completely whack.
I like the look of this. However, I would always worry that there would be a malfunction and the passenger cabin would separate and crash while the pilots cruise on into Paris.
It would be fair to say the FAA considered this many years ago. But here’s the problem: Modern commercial aircraft are not compatible with parachuting. Opening any of the sealed passenger doors (they are all on the sides, which alone presents a deadly wind shear) in flight would cause the cabin to depressurize, compromise stability of the aircraft and sweep passengers and contents into the blue yonder, at (typically) hundreds of mph, and possibly striking the plane or being drawn into the spinning engines.
Considering most people have no jump training, have never strapped on a parachute, and compounded by what would be certain panic of the situation, evacuating in the air presents at least as much peril as it may solve, and bring additional danger to people and places below.
This post was edited by Don Barzini at October 6, 2019 5:50 PM MDT
Parachuting is not an easy task for anyone, but it’s not even easy for those who train at it extensively. It’s extremely dangerous, and the smallest error or unplanned or unintended mishap can lead to serious injury or death. Aside from the mechanics of putting on the chute properly and know when or how to jump, there is also the factor of landing properly. If a parachute is used over a body of water, in a built-up area, busy roads/highways, at night, during bad weather, all of these instances multiply the danger. Aircraft carry numerous people, so in an emergency, a dozen or dozens of them might be deploying at once or for several staggered minutes. If they don’t know what they’re doing, there’s a potential for crashing into each other midair. Lastly, the person using the parachute is not the only one in danger; people on the ground stand the chance of injury or death.
To make you feel a little better when your flight is going over the ocean. I once sat next to a guy who, like me, hated to fly. He said he would prefer seats that bounce off of cornfields to those that would float. I never forgot him. He kept me laughing from Alabama to London.
Hey, wait just one second, Missy. Have your "flotation devices" been approved by the FAA? I think I'd better inspect them to be sure they meet specifications . . .
Don Barzini listed a number of practical and scientific issues that would essentially make the use of parachutes on commercial flights essentially infeasible.
If the flight crew knowingly make a controlled emergency landing on water. having an individual flotation device would potentially be of some use to passengers.
The FAA implemented rules under which circumstances (kind of operator, number of passengers, weight, route) an aircraft has to carry emergency equipment including floating devices such as life jackets and life rafts.
Ditching button on the overhead panel of an Airbus A330---Some aircraft are designed with the possibility of a water landing in mind. Airbus aircraft, for example, feature a "ditching button" which, if pressed, closes valves and openings underneath the aircraft, including the outflow valve, the air inlet for the emergency RAT, the avionics inlet, the extract valve, and the flow control valve. It is meant to slow flooding in a water landing.
Given that the engines are under the wings, that's about as effective as emptying the ashtrays to improve the payload. The "Miracle on the Hudson" was precisely that - by rights, the engines should have acted as "scoops" and torn the wings off when they hit the water.
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