Why have not airlines provide parachutes to every passenger for emergencies like imminent plane crashes?

Question

If military planes have eject safety seats for their pilots in case of emergency, why have not commercial airlines provide parachutes for the passengers? Won't parachutes greatly reduce death casualties from plane crashes?

Answer 1

It just can't happen. It would be impossible to eject all the passengers from the plane. In the military aircrafts, those pilots eject through the enclosed glass roof. On a commerical jet liner, there are essential things on the roof of the cabin (this the part of the plane were passengers sit).

The "call button / crew call button", the lights and the air vents, the fasten seat belt sign, the no smoking sign and the intercom is located above the passengers heads on the "Passenger Service Unit" or PSU.

The "overhead bins" are also located on the ceiling of the cabin, that's were the carry on luggage is stored during flight, as well as other items such as emergency floations items.

Enclosed in the ceiling of the cabing is essential wireing and electronic equipment for the aircraft to operate. It would be impossible for passengers to eject out of the seats with all this above them.

Ejection seats are complicated and cost a lot of money and they take up a lot of space. It just cannot be done.


As for the parachutes, you need to know how to use a parachute to make it work. It's very hard to learn how to operate one. You need to consider that in the event of a mid air emergency, there may only be seconds before a plane hits the water or land. A commercial jet liner, on average travels over 300 miles an hour. If something happens, it will be down within seconds. There would be no time for passengers to eject out of the aircraft. Passengers would also have to wear a parachute for the whole flight because it takes up to 40 minutes to properly equip and put on a parachute. I doubt people would want to do that every time they get on a flight.

Flying on a plane is safer than driving a car. Your more likely to be in a car crash then in a plane crash. Before take off, every plane is inspected. From the wheels to the flight deck controlls.
If a pilot doesn't feel right about taking off, he or she will not take off, and will request a second inspection of the aircraft, or even a change of aircraft. It's always at the pilot's discretion, and they are in charge of the aircraft from departure to arrival.

Airlines spend millions every year making sure there aircrafts are safe. But parachutes are just out of the question.

The Comair/Delta crash yesterday was the first crash in the North America since November 2001. That's 5 years without a major crash. That's why we don't need to go as far as equipping passengers with parachutes. An air disaster just doesn't happen that often, and most of the time the crew can land the plane safely as an Emergency Landing if they had to.

The Comair crash was air traffic controll error, not crew or aircraft malfunction. The flight supposdly took off from a runway that was too short, and the pilot tried to get it airbourne but it clipped the tops of trees and crashed. That would have happened within 30 seconds if not less.

I hope this gives you a better insight into how aircrafts work and how safe they actually are. :-)

- Alexandra / Sonic

Answer 2

Cost effective. The FAA nor the airlines does not see this suggestion as a feasible option. Imagine what your airline ticket will cost?, let alone what the surcharge for fuel would be for carrying the extra weight of the parachutes, furthermore, the plane would have to be rigged more like a troop transport type of aircraft like the army airborne paratroopers have. Could you see yourself and members of your family lining up to jump from a disabled aircraft at 35000 ft? Think about it...

Answer 3

Mikhal don't be rude...you don't need ejection seats to parachute. What do you think paratroopers do? They jump out of the door--which a plane has. The parachute thing would never work though--maybe one person on the plane would be trained in parachuting...

Answer 4

Because if the plane crash is a mid air collision, it's really not going to matter if you have a parachute or not. Most plane "crashes" happen either at takeoff or landing, and again, a parachute is a moot point then.

Answer 5

Because there wouldn't be time to distribute them and then instruct the passengers in how to properly get into and adjust them.

Plus its not as easy as just putting a backpack on and jumping out. There are speed and altitude requirements.

Lastly in most airplane emergencies there is simply not enough time to evacuate the plane in this manner.

Answer 6

Darlin we have enough trouble with crazy people on planes. Did you see all the news the last two weeks? Guy with dynamite, Kid claiming to have a bomb, woman boarding with a gun, crazy lady forces f-16 to escort a plane to Boston??

Ejector seats require training to use & many get hurt using them. The last thing you want is some kid popping out of a plane over NYC.......

Answer 7

what a stupid question.can you imagine a crashing plane loaded with people and babies having ejection seats on a big airliner?the plane itself would explode as in the militatry they eject through the sliding hood of the plane.airlines dont have the top part of the plane with sliding hoods you dodo.from mikhal in israel.

Answer 8

I think most of the time a parachute isn't going to make any difference....most crashes happen too high or too low...

Answer 9

Loevelet,
Great idea.
However, the weight of the chutes alone
would not make it profitable for the airlines
to fly the plane.

Answer 10

Unable to use from commercial airlines