I know that an increasing number of small planes have parachutes for the whole plane!!! Why not commercial jets? I’m sure that there is material strong enough to do this. It wouldn’t cost too much and infact would save lives, not too mention a lot of money if the parachutes helped the jet land in relatively good shape.
The problem is, most commercial jet crashes occur shortly after takeoff or during landing, when a parachute would do no good whatsoever. Plus, commercial jets travel at MUCH higher speeds than small planes. I doubt if there’s any material strong enough to do any good for a plane travelling at 600 MPH, and even of there were, those planes are so large, the stresses would be huge, and would likely tear them apart.
What about a series of breakaway parachutes? And to deal with the takeoff/landing, what about rubber bladders (like stock cars) for the fuel tanks?
Have you ever flown on a large commercial jet?
Once everyone boards something as simple as taking off your coat can become an exercise in gymnastics. I can’t imagine 200 people all trying to put parachutes on at the same time would be like.
Once everyone gets the chute on, then you’ve got to deal with all the sheep getting off the plane. It takes forever to do that when all they’re doing is stepping from the plane to the jetway - imagine how long it would take when they’re stepping from the plane into thin air.
You don’t have a large chance of survival if you’re belted in and ready for the crash, but it’s a much better chance than if you’re standing on one leg trying to strap your chute on surrounded by 100+ people trying to do the same thing.
The number of crashes that occur each year on average is so low that the extra weight added to the planes wouldn’t justify the cost of adding such safety measures. Basically what it comes down to is, commercial jets are as safe as they can be while keeping the operating costs within reason.
I think if it can down to paying more money to fly in order to be safer, I would pay more money.
Isn’t it illegal to even bring a parachute on a commercial airliner, thanks to D.B. Cooper?
The average person’s odds of being killed in a commercial air crash are approximately a million to one. I’m not really a gambling man, but with odds like that, I’ll take my chances and save a few bucks.
I don’t think the OP is talking about a parachute for the passengers, but for the whole aircraft. I’ve seen such critters on small aircraft and the idea is sound.
For a large jet, like say a 737+, I don’t know how plausible that would be. The chute would have to be massive and, as mentioned earlier, would have a good chance at ripping the aircraft apart if its deployed at .8Mach.
I don’t think its an insane idea, though.
Not insane, just impractical. Airplanes have to be light enough to fly for starters. They also have to be light enough to fly profitably. I know you’re thinking, “sod the profit, what about the children?” Unless airlines can fly profitably they don’t fly anywhere. Crash proof fuel tanks are a terrific idea but they would make a plane so heavy it couldn’t fly at all.
I am sitting here looking at a bunch of 737’s. I could not imagine there would be anyplace in the airplane to put a parachute big enough to help one float to the ground. It has also been asked of engineers at Boeing and they all dismiss the idea as virtually impossible. But then, I have spent my whole morning preparing inflatable life vests to be installed under the passenger seats. I really do not see these as being much of a help either but they are required on all airplanes.
Yes, I think the OP is the whole plane chute, which is pretty darn impractical for large fast jets. In a small plane, at low altitude and low speed, the parachute can work. It is usually used in the event of engine failure. Large commercial jets rarely crash due to simple engine failure, so the failure modes are much different.
In order to work, the plane would have to be slowed down at sufficient altitude, an unlikely event.
Sure, not in a crash but the things do have some uses.
Really? Are you sure about that. Are you aware that there were NO large airline fatalities in the year 2002? They crash very rarely.
On top of that, when was the last time you recall a plane crashing where the pilot knew about it while the plane was still in the air, and had literally 30 minutes before the plane was going down? Becuase that it would require a lot of time to get all passengers to get thier chutes on. I think the last crash where they had that type of warning that somethign was gonna happen was the Sioux City Iowa crash, in like the late 80’s, early 90’s.
So, you’d pay extra for a chute an enviroment that is experiences a applicable crash once every 10 to 15 years? Statistically, it’s probably orders of magnatide more prudent to install a roll cage in your Toyota Camry. And I have a feeling you havn’t done that.
There were fatalaties from passenger jets, such as the 737. I don’t know how large the airlines were, though.
Do a google search of 737 crash 2002, you’ll get hits. I didn’t even try with other jets.
I think what he meant was that there were no Air Carrier fatalities in the US in 2002, no matter what size the aircraft/airline. You can check this if you like by going to the www.ntsb.gov website and search the year 2002, and filter the search by fatalities.
The “no crashes in 2002” is for US airlines. The crashes listed on your Google search are mostly Asian.
What about a parachute at the rear of the plane so that if the plane has to make an emergency landing it can land on a shorter runway?