Why don't planes come with a large parachute, that would detach wth the press of a button in case of emergency

Answer 1

believe it or not they are testing that system, I saw it a year or so ago on the science channel, but right now they are testing it on small planes like piper cubs.

Answer 2

1. A parachute that big would be too heavy

2. Deploying a parachute at 500+ MPH would tare the plane in two.

3. Disasters usually happen at takeoff or landing. There is not enough time to deploy the parachute.

4. Where would you attach it? How would the plane remain level?

5. If there was enough time to deploy the parachute, you would be too high to deploy the parachute, because the air is too thin. By the time you got lower, you would be completely out of control.


Planes really are pretty safe. The best way to save lives on a plane is through proper training of the flight crew and proper maintenance of the aircraft.... it not being taken over by terrorists and flown into buildings is a really big plus as well. Planes have double and tripple backups. It takes either pilot error, which a parachute will not help against, or a really catastrophoic failure, like an engine falling off throwing off ballance, to crash a plane.

I can not think of a single plane crash that could have been prevented with a parachute for the whole plane... when they are cruising at 30,000+ feet, the air is thin, the throttle is down, and everything is really quite safe.

Answer 3

Are you talking about a parachute for the plane or parachutes for the passangers? Either way, it won't work because the plane is going too fast (400+mph) for a parachute to slow it down and a person would die from lack of oxgen at the altitude the plane is flying at. Either that or they'll get seriously injured from the difference in pressure outside the airplane, which would suck them out like action movies. Plus, there is no room on the airplane to store any parachutes.

Answer 4

Large... is the operative word here. Consider a 747 weighs 300 odd tons and then try to work out how large the chute would have to be. Not only how large but what to make it out of?. The average cruising speed of most passenger jets is around 800kmh (500mph). if you released a parachute at anywhere near those speeds it would be torn to shreds. I am not sure if the technology is even available to make a chute which could arrest the speed and fall of 300 tons at 800kmh.

Answer 5

Some small planes like Cessna do have parachutes but for a large plane like a commercial jet the chute would be of astronomical size. It's just not feasible.

Answer 6

actually, they do.

this is a feature on some small Cessna sized planes, and should be modified for larger aircraft, but the conditions of most crashes make the 'chute irrelevant.

also, with private small planes, pilots hesitate to pull the parachute even at the worst of times.


not sure of the manufacturer, but they exist.

also, realize that the size of a paracute intended to SLOW a 150 lb human is a pretty large swatch of fabric, so in order to slow a jet liner in the weight limit of TONS, the chutes would have to be gigantic, not to mention totally re-designed.

Answer 7

Because it would be absolutely huge - consider how big the parachute is for one person. You could end up with a parachute the size of, well, er something really really big. And if it was that big it would weigh too much and and take too much space on the plane and nobody would fit in!

Answer 8

Try to imagine how huge the chute would have to be for a modern wide-body jet. It would cut the seating capacity by 30% or more.

Truth is, most accidents happen during the transition at takeoff and landing. The aircraft does not have anywhere near enough altitude to deploy a chute in those situations.

Answer 9

Actually those are available for some small planes. The problem is getting a chute large enough for a heavier plane. They are working on it though.

Answer 10

I dont know but it seems like if they did that they might have the risk of the plane breaking in half. Because that would be a lot of force on the plane.