The Straight Dope

Go Back   Straight Dope Message Board > Main > General Questions

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-27-2004, 04:53 PM
Stanislav Stanislav is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Parachutes on Air Force One?

OK, the movie "Air Force One" was a great flick, but it's been pretty well established that the "escape pod" depicted therein is fictional. Not that it wouldn't be a bad idea......

But, thinking about that led me to wonder......are there parachutes aboard Air Force One that could be used in an emergency? And, if so, do Secret Service agents who accompany POTUS on AF1 get any parachute training?

Scenario: AF1 develops massive problems in flight and is going down. The pilots are helpless to stop the impending disaster -- within minutes, everyone aboard will be scattered in little pieces over the countryside upon impact. If everyone is doomed to begin with, wouldn't it make sense to strap chutes on the Prez and a couple of agents and at least attempt a jump? Sure, conditions may not be ideal, or may even be prohibitive for a jump (velocity too high, plane spinning, etc.) But there might be some limited situations in which it could be attempted as a last-ditch effort.

I would think in any such situation, the odds of survival might be pretty low. So I wonder if the Powers That Be have even considered such a thing, or whether they would just rest on the notion that there is a VP, we have a constitutional succession, and the Republic will survive anyway.
Reply With Quote
Advertisements  
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:39 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Send questions for Cecil Adams to: cecil@chicagoreader.com

Send comments about this website to: webmaster@straightdope.com

Terms of Use / Privacy Policy

Advertise on the Straight Dope!
(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)

Publishers - interested in subscribing to the Straight Dope?
Write to: sdsubscriptions@chicagoreader.com.

Copyright © 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC.