I think getting the airlines to install ejection seats might be a bit of a problem.
Better bring along an inflatable raft also. About two thirds of the Earth’s surface is water and much of it so cold that you’d die of hypothermia if you are wet for too long.
I thought I read too that DB Cooper had the plane fly low and slow along the flight path, which I assume the 727 skydiving referenced above was also doing?
The Dan Cooper thing illustrates the hazards of even if you are able to put on a parachute, open a door that isn’t being buffeted by cross winds and jump over land.
It’s cold, windy, etc. Might not have even been able to deploy the chute at all, let alone safely. And then landing at night in rough, mountainous, forested terrain. Not an open field near an airfield.
It is practically a certainty that he didn’t make it.
You don’t get to choose where to bail out of a plane falling from the sky.
Among Cooper’s demands were that the plane fly at a maximum of 10,000 feet at about 120 mph (cite). They were at about 10,000 feet when they think Cooper jumped but they were actually going about 200 mph (170-180 knots), according to flight crew communication manuscripts (cite- long pdf, page 196). That’s really fast- much faster than a typical skydiving plane goes, and guaranteed to send Cooper tumbling out of control when he jumped.
The 727 I jumped from was going about 155 mph (still faster than normal for skydiving) and we were at about 13,000 feet AGL.
Suppose that a passenger could jump out of an aircraft. And suppose:
(a) The passenger has no prior experience skydiving or otherwise using a parachute.
(b) The plane is tumbling most-over-tail or otherwise.
What are the chances that such a passenger could get out of the tumbling plane, then he’s tumbling head-over-heels through the air, (remember, he has no skydiving practice), then he’s supposed to have the presence of mind to figure out how to deploy the chute, then be able to land safely.
How likely is it that someone with no experience can do all this, and get it all right on the first try, in a real emergency?
The question isn’t entirely hypothetical for me. I fly gliders regularly, and we always wear parachutes. When I first started this, I got the standard ten-minute lecture on how to bail out, how to deploy the chute, how to land, etc. We don’t get any further training or instruction or practice (unless one goes to the skydiving place across the airport to take some lessons there).
If I ever find myself falling from the sky in a broken glider, what might be the chances that I could manage all that?
(In fact, someone I know actually did that. He did some maneuver that overstressed his glider and broke a wing off. He parachuted to safety, and is an epic cross-country pilot in our region to this day. He named his new glider “FNX”, pronounced Phoenix.)
Agree completely that a parachute in a jetliner is as useful as a stuffed moose.
As to escaping gliders or other low speed airplanes: Gyration forces can get out of hand quickly. Getting the door / canopy jettisoned ASAP is key, followed by you getting out quickly too. Speed matters far more than finesse.
Getting separation from the airplane is mostly luck; push off as hard as you can and maybe you get whacked by the tail or wing or whatever and maybe you don’t. There’s not much opportunity for skill there. Odds are after a couple seconds you’ll be falling faster than it is, so if you survive that first couple seconds unwhacked you’re good.
Ideally you’d be in a stable face down spread eagle when you pull the ripcord. But if not, not. You increase the odds of tangles or a hard canopy deployment, but whaddaya gonna do? Pull the handle and hope for the best.
Landing has much more opportunity for skill over luck. At least over favorable terrain. Over the middle of a lake or steep mountainous terrain? Even a skilled sport parachutist is gonna be in a tough spot.
I suppose my personal punch line, a product of my aero upbringing, is that after a midair or structural failure you’re already dead. At that point everything you do is trying to claw your way back to life. It’s a long series of tough-odds dice rolls. Get rollin’. What else have you got to do with the rest of your life?
LSLGuy covered it pretty well; I’ll just add a few suggestions for you, Senegoid, if you ever do have to bail out of your glider.
Keeping your wits about you without panicking will help a lot. Tough to do in that situation, I know. If you go over to the skydiving center and make a jump or two you’ll be more familiar with the feeling of being in freefall. You’ll also have a lot of fun (assuming you survive). Seriously, the experience you gain would be very beneficial if you have an emergency.
LSLGuy already stated that getting out quickly is key. Let’s assume you’re free and clear of the glider and tumbling out of control through the air. Chances are your emergency will happen when you’re several thousand feet above the ground. If so, you should have enough time to get stable and deploy your parachute.
The way to get into a stable belly-to-earth position is to stick your arms and legs out and arch your back as hard as you can. Your arms and legs shouldn’t be stiff, your knees and elbows should be bent at 90 degrees and you should be loose and relaxed. Again, tough to do in that situation. But if you can do it you will almost instantly find yourself falling in a typical freefall position and have a much better chance at a clean parachute deployment without getting tangled in the lines.
Having said all that, I should mention that the three main rules in skydiving are:
- Pull.
- Pull at the right altitude.
- Pull at the right altitude while stable.
So getting stable is not your top priority, getting an open parachute over your head is. But if you can get clear of the glider and you’re still thousands of feet above the ground, arch your back as much as you can before you pull your ripcord.
If you do find yourself suspended under a functional parachute, congratulations! Now your odds of survival are very good. You might get injured in a rough landing but you’ll probably live. Keep your feet and knees together, your knees slightly bent and try to roll to one side when you hit the ground. If you’re going to land in a tree, you still want to keep your feet and knees together. You could even cross your feet so no branches go between your legs.
Overall, the best advice I can give you is to stay calm and don’t panic. You already know someone who lost a wing and survived by parachuting to safety, so it can be done. And making a jump or two so you know what it feels like would help a lot.
If he did make it, he didnt spend any significant amount of the cash. Other than the small amount found washed up*, the Treasury has not recovered any.
And if not, well, there’s this.
That’s pretty funny! I hadn’t seen that one.
It won’t do Senegoid any good, unfortunately. He’s most likely using a standard pilot’s emergency rig, which only has one parachute. If it doesn’t open he’s screwed.
Your fellow passengers might prove problematic too. Good luck with them standing quietly by while you prepare to parachute to safety. You may have to fight for your chute.
I swear I don’t know how people do it. Just watching the video made my stomach jump. I would absolutely piss my pants if I had to jump out of an airplane.
These guys did it…after a bolt of positive lightning shredded their glider in mid-air, about 2500’ AGL.
PDF warning.
I was pretty nervous when I was first starting out but I got used to it. I always figured I was wearing two parachutes, one of them was bound to open. And in all my years of jumping I never had to use my reserve parachute.
By the time I had made a few hundred jumps I could be taking a nap in the jump plane when someone would say “Okay, time to go!” and I would do a quick gear check then move to the door and jump out without a second thought. I did a couple of jumps in August* after a few years off and it was just like old times- no hesitation or nervousness whatsoever. I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people but we can get accustomed to just about anything.
*Which qualified me for the Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS) club. Got the t shirt and everything!