Why don't airlines give parachutes?

[che]

I am going on a trip to the east coast on Saturday, until next Saturday. I've got a layover there, and then back. And thinking about it makes me feel weird. Why aren't we given control at all? I feel so out of control while I'm on a plane.

Why? Because we don't have parachutes. If we're going down into a mountain, water, or hard into land I don't give a shit how amazing the seats are, I'm probably going to die. I'd rather parachute out of the back.

Anyone agree?

[Furore]

I agree.
Trouble is they'd probably cost more then the airlines would want to spend.
You could always bring your own as the one bag of luggage though, right?

[Pete]

They cost a lot, and you'd also have your fair share of retarded thrill seekers who would take cheap flights just to skydive, instead of going to a skydiving place and dropping 200-250, they'd pay like 60 for a JetBlue flight.

[Unknown Entity]

I think the price is too a big a price to pay for something so unlikely to happen. It's like me spending a few thousand pounds on a flame-thrower for a zombie apocalypse, and one never happening.

Besides, planes are relatively safe.

[Meier Link]

There are a few reasons that airlines don't provide each and every passenger a parachute.

For one, costs. The cost to put a shute on every plane for every passenger would be tremendous. Not including the total cost for yearly upkeep and checks for the given parachutes.

2: In the time it would take for a person to put one on, open the door and jump the aircraft would already be on the ground or in the water. Let alone putting everyone in one.

3: The mad panic of everyone rushing to get a shute alone would cause the pilot more trouble on trying to correct the current problem. Shift weight in an aircraft can seriously affect the balance and control systems.

4: Most doors on modern aircraft are on the side of the plane, not the rear. Even if everyone in the plane is not sucked out by the sudden loss of cabin pressure by opening the door you would still have to pass the wings, engines, and inevitably the jet blast.

5: Only certified people are suppose to use a shute. People who don't know what they are doing would probably end up dead anyways.

6: If they installed a rear door to the plane there are a few obstacles that would have to over come, mainly the diversion of airflow and the ability for the pilot to re obtain control of the aircraft after such door is opened. Lets face it these planes just are not made to accommodate such things. Military and prop planes are more able to maintain and not be as affected.

7: Storage; space on a aircraft is already limited, in turn to put shutes onto the plane would further reduce the already limited amount of space on the plane. Meaning they would have to cut seat to put them in.

There are just a few reasons, I can add more and probably will later tonight.

[winterborn86]

Just a few Meier?? lol

I've not been on a plane before, but I would feel safer knowing that parachutes were there, even tho they probably wont be any good as Meier just mentioned, it's just the thought of knowing that there is something there.

They do say the safest way to travel is flying, but if there should happen to be an accident you can kiss life goodbye, chances of survival are very small.

[Dynamo]

ermmm welll you couldn't use them at the height the commerical planes go, would have to wait for the plane to drop (quite a bit) before it was even safe to do so.

also cost the amount this would cost would be very high.

[che]

They already provide you with an oxygen mask and a life jacket. Replace the life jacket with parachute, make the oxygen mask detachable and able to retain some of the oxygen, and when I'm about to fall to my death I guarantee I will figure out how to use a fuc king parachute.

[Meier Link]

LMAO. Ok that is just about as funny as it gets right there.

Here's a did you know question. Did you know that every seat on 99% of all commercial aircraft actually floats? Some better then the provided life vests.

And to get back on topic, as dynamo stated altitude is also a killer not only with the lack of oxygen but also the temperature.

Still with the parachute how do you plan on making it passed the wings and engines? Oh and the horizontal stabilizer?

Here is some basic information if you actually care to check it out:
http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar03-32.pdf

Even jumping out the rear of an airplane, unless it is a prop / turbo-prop, you will still be affected by the extreme temperatures of jet blast.

Also what about the panic inside the plane as everyone races to get their parachute, put it on, get the doors open and leap. That would be some insane madness right there. Chad I suggest some roids (not really) to bulk up to mow some suckas down.

[Clint]

Airplanes have something better than parachutes. They have seat cushions that double as flotation devices. So if the airplane is crashing, which is statistically unlikely, all you do is grab the seat cushion and jump out of an emergency exit, and you'll float safely to the ground.

[Polk]

What's the deal with airlines? Why don't they give parachutes so that you can just jump out when you're about to crash? I mean, hey, it's better than the food that they serve on the plane. Don't even get me started on how bad airline food is!

(pause for laughter)

[Xithor]

I would rather be sitting on a parachute instead of a floatable seat cushion lol I mean I wonder if they are hiding parachutes for the first class passengers up front or something. Btw where on the East coast you headed chad?

[Sasquatch]

Why don't they give parachutes? Because by the time the plane was travelling slow enough to use them, it'd be on the ground already, one way or another.

Seriously. Do y'all not realize how fast a commercial airliner goes in comparison to a C130? You'd be torn apart as soon as you got out of the door. Not to mention, you'd probably freeze to death or suffocate before you got a chance to open your chute.

Plus, as has been mentioned, it takes a little training to use a parachute -- especially mass-produced ones, like they'd have tens of thousands of bought by airline companies. At least 90% of the people using them wouldn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, anyway.

[Merlin]

If you've watched any plane crashes or re-enactments of them (not movies), you'd realize that parachutes would do you no good. It is very hard to crash a plane, and anything severe enough to result in a plane crash would make exiting the plane impossible. Mass engine failures, loss of cabin pressure from external damage(you are blown out of a plane not sucked), wing falling off, etc... none of these bode well for parachuting out. Typically, by the time they realize there is a problem that will lead to a crash, it is too late anyway. That bird is coming down and all you have time for is to stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.

But let's say they did put parachutes on planes and somehow they were actually used. Do you realize how much of a stink that would cause for an airline? Now people are dying from parachute failures, putting on parachutes wrong, not enough parachutes(ala Titanic), etc. Hell now you have to FIND all these people who parachuted out and will probably sue you from injury due to the landing.

This might sound cruel and might even be offensive, but as far as a business is concerned, it is a lot cheaper to lose every passenger on a plane than it is to put parachutes on every plane, train the staff to use them, train people to use them, equip planes with means to allow proper exiting, and deal with a disaster on two fronts rather than one. That and statistically speaking, you do things every day that are far more likely to get you killed than a plane... like your car.

[che]

All this is great for the average idiot, but theyre not the ones I'm concerned about. I can find a way for myself to survive given a slower velocity and altitude, and a new plane model with a legit escape exit. I just don't feel good putting my own life in the hands of others. Same thing with roller coasters. At least while driving my own car I can feel like I'm in control and can avoid other idiots. Maybe I'll just have to get rich so I can fly my own private jet around so I feel like I'm not relying on others. I hate that feeling.

[Merlin]

Flying nowadays is too much of a hassle anyway. By the time you get through all the security BS, the flight delays, etc... I can drive the same distance and get there faster. Not in all cases of course, but a colleague of mine had such an experience recently. By the time she got back home, she had wasted 9 hours to go from Florida to South Carolina in airports. She could have drove that distance in 8 hours and it would have been cheaper.

I do somehow feel "safer" in my car than I do with other means of transportation, but then I watch one of those police video shows and remember just how untrue that feeling is. No matter how safe you are, all it takes is some guy running from the cops blazing through a stop light at 100 mph and you're ejected from your car/smashed/etc before you even realize he ran the light. It is far more likely than a plane crash. That actually struck home just two weeks ago. A new employee at my job was starting his first day. He pulled out of the badge office and was struck and killed by another employee who fell asleep behind the wheel on his way home (we have multiple shifts). This place drives safety up your ass all day every day and it happened here of all places. I'll take that airplane any day (if it wasn't for the damned delays and bogus security checks).

[Meier Link]

(you are blown out of a plane not sucked)

Merlin I almost fully agree with you with the exception of this.

When a fuselage is ruptured and cabin pressure is lost it is due to the air moving outside of the plane pulling the cabin pressure out and kinetics of pressure trying to equalize on both sides of a barrier. Kind of like if you are smoking in your car with the window up hot boxing it and then you roll the window down a little. Given the hole size would be bigger but the airflow moving outside the fuselage would be realistically be moving over 3X times minimum the amount that a standard car would move at minimum flying speed.

The air on the outside of the plane will cause a suction that pulls the air and pressure inside the aircraft out, hence a suction and being sucked out.

Initially this suction / pulling motion would be what would remove unrestrained passengers from the aircraft.

The after affects of a breach in the haul of the aircraft could swing one of two ways and it is dependent on location of damages(s), size, location, and direction of the damage in direct relation to the airflow. All these factors can come into play when determining weather the end result is a suction / vacuum / pulling or a blowing / pushing.

:Edit:

Yeah I was a little rushed and drunk when I typed up my initial response. So I reiterated the up top. This one should clarify things a little better.

:edit 2:

Also I would like to add this isn't applicable in all circumstances. Variables on what caused the rupture and how the failure happened and how fast the breach opened up and how it actually came apart all play into factors.

So I am not saying you are entirely wrong nor entirely right, I guess what I am getting at is that it depends on the situation. Either way, parachutes are poop in either situation.

To give some type of backing to this I present some information:
http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/B..._1988_%28AW%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_811
http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-k...-Pressure.html

Some interesting articles based on the overall conversation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...cabin-pressure



These two planes surprisingly landed.