why dont they have parachutes on airliners?

Answer 1

Good question! I would be guessing, but I would say:
extra expense for parachutes = less profit
extra weight = extra fuel = less profit
extra space = less room for passengers = less profit

Answer 2

Putting parachutes on airliners would not save a single life, and probably would CLAIM many lives if any attempt was made to parachute from an airliner.

1. At altitude, you'd freeze to death instantly upon exiting the aircraft. The temp is typically -40F to -70F. At normal cruise of 500 - 650 MPH, every bone in your body would be shattered when you hit the slipstream; most people's arms and legs would be ripped off by flailing injuries. Think of all of the crushed and frozen arms, legs, and bodies with unopened parachutes attached hitting the ground at terminal velocity -- about 125 MPH.

2. Most accidents happen during the transition period of takeoff and landing. You're too close to the ground for parachutes to be effective and there isn't enough time to get everyone out anyway.

3. There are no doors on an airliner that can be opened in flight, so there is no way to get out anyway.

4. Parachutes need to be donned before getting on the airplane. You'd need to show up 5 hours before departure to get everyone suited up. Connections would be 5 - 7 hours.

5. The bulk of the parachutes would require the airlines to remove half of the seats to make room. Add the cost of parachute riggers and staff to help passengers put them on, and airfares would quadruple at least.

6. The typical airline passenger isn't trained in the use of a parachute; it would be akin to handing a 5-year-old a loaded AK-47.

You're 10,000 times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver on your way to the airport than to be killed in an airline crash -- even in today's terror-paranoid transport system.

Answer 3

Excellent question..... Although you might be abe to compare my answer to not having lifeboats on cruise ships, here goes.

I agree that space is a factor, both for a lack of storage, and for a lack of room to put on the 'chutes. I highly doubt that this was purely financial decision, but more of a practicality issue. I don't think that its possible to get a commercial jet liner filled with passengers to evacuate in mid air this way. Another possibility is the actual design of the planes themselves may make parachuts impractical due to engine placement..... nothing worse than to think you're going to glide to the ground only to get sucked into a jet engine. Finally, liability might be a factor. A lot of people are terrified of heights, I do ok with them, but working on top of an office building isn't even close to 30,000 feet. People find stupid reasons to sue, so it might be better to not offer the option.

Answer 4

an additional comment to add to "bostonians" i think you should also know how to parachute before you try and do it. same reason you must attend an amount of classroom instruction before you parachute. unless you just want the rush and decide to go tandem.....now i can also add that there are parachutes for the plane itself that can be utilized but again im not sure if this is applicable to a commercial jetliner or restricted to prop planes or just for smaller planes.