2006-06-08 03:03:02 · 11 answers · asked by b_bolivar2003 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
It'd be a recipe for disaster if they did. Aside from escape for a skyjacker. Most people have only the vaguest notion of HOW to use a parachute. Gleaned from movies, many'd get tangled up in their risers or shroud lines. Then become what they refer to as a "dirt torpedo". More to the point though: an airliner travels so fast that most would be knocked out or killed the instant they went through the door. (imagine going from 0mph air, to 500 mph air) last, but not least, at 35,000 (a common altitude to cruise) you'd have to decompress the air pressure from the cabin before opening the door. Without certain preparations, and an air supply, this would either suffocate, or give someone the "bends" . (let alone the subzero temperature at that height.)
2006-06-09 10:26:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Lots of reasons, all doing with safety and practicality.
If you're at a cruising altitude, you can't even open the door to the plane. So even if you wanted to parachute out and you had a parachute, you'd be stuck inside. This is physics, not a rule, making the plane door stay shut--- the air inside has a different pressure than the air outside, making it impossible to budge.
If you somehow managed to open the door at cruising altitude, you'd probably freeze to death very quickly because the air up there is verrrrry cold. If you survived that, you'd probably die from the drop, because a plane is too high for you to safely parachute.
At lower altitudes, you still can't use a parachute until you've had some training on it, and in an emergency situation, you'd be too busy freaking out to learn how to parachute safely. Without knowing how to parachute, you'd jump out and probably get injured or killed in your landing. Plus there would be complete chaos onboard, with everyone stampeding to get out.
Even if everyone behaved, helped their elderly neighbors on the plane, and knew how to parachute, it will still take a long time cruising at low altitude to empty the plane. And if a pilot has got that kind of control over the plane, where he can keep it flying slow and low for a few hours, he's going to opt for a controlled emergency landing.
I trust a trained pilot and a good ground crew to bring down a plane with mechanical problems a LOT more than I trust myself to parachute out safely!
2006-06-08 12:59:03 · answer #2 · answered by dcgirl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The likelihood of a ditching at sea is much more likely than a situation where you would need to parachute. Parachuting is a skill that requires training. Modern Jet Liners are not configured to have anyone depart the aircraft while in flight. The doors are on the side and if you were to jump it would probably be fatal. You could be sucked into a jet engine or be sliced in half by the stabilizer fins.
2006-06-08 10:17:08 · answer #3 · answered by yes_its_me 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be pointless! It would take time to get the parachute on and as soon as the pilot tells everyone to do it they are going to panic. Also the average person probably doesn't know how to put one on (I don't). Then there's the problem of how to get XYZ amount of people out of the plane. Even if they all managed to get their chutes on they would be trampling each other to get to the doors. When planes crash they usually do it rather quickly so there wouldn't be any time for any of this anyway. Also if the plane is rolling or doing some other extreme moves the passengers wouldn't be able to move to the doors either. Totally pointless.
2006-06-08 10:16:34 · answer #4 · answered by DialM4Speed 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because parachutes would be useless in an emergency situation. You can't just slap on a parachute and jump out of an airplane with no training. A parachute must be fitted to the person using it. Also, if the plane is in trouble, the pilot's first priority is to get it on the ground, not fly slow, straight and level for several minutes while everyone jumps out.
2006-06-08 10:10:43 · answer #5 · answered by Flyboy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A parachute in the hands of someone who is unskilled in its use, and who is afraid to jump is useless. Some people will be frozen in fear, that even if the chute is deployed successfully, they would most likely die from a heart attack on the way down.Why do you think in order to be a paratrooper, you have to go to jump school, or in civilian life, go to skydiving school? In civilian life, the first jump is done in tandem with the instructor and you strapped together.
2006-06-08 10:08:50 · answer #6 · answered by WC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when a plane is spirally downward you will not be able to jump, if you do, more than likely you will get stuck on the wing, the engine or tail. Most airlines fly at very high altitudes at a high rate of speed, oxygen will be very thin and you will probably black out anyway.
2006-06-08 10:12:48 · answer #7 · answered by mailbox1024 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, a lot of the above answers I agree with. However, parachutes aren't light. They take up weight that would restrict you from bringing as many suitcases, etc on board. So add the weight of all of them into one of the many reasons why they are not on the plane.
2006-06-08 11:28:01 · answer #8 · answered by racer_chick79 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your going down can you imagine trying to get 120 people out of the plane in 2 minutes..
2006-06-08 10:11:01 · answer #9 · answered by Vulcan 1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because most crashes occur during takeoff and landing.
2006-06-09 10:25:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋