Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?

Question

im scared of hights think im gonna have to be pushed.

Answer 1

Take it from someone that jumps out of planes for fun. There is not enough room to put on a parachute in a commercial plane. Everyone would have to wear the rigs before getting on the aircraft. Even if everyone had a parachute there is no safe way to exit the aircraft. You would need special equipment and training to survive the 560 + mph winds and 30,000 foot plus altitudes. Without extra oxygen and protective gear you would die in that environment. The fastest skydiving jumps are at 150 knots, not 500 + knots and are made from 18,000 feet MSL or lower. Just getting out of the airplane could kill you as you'd be slammed into the door on exit. The next issue would be landing a parachute. Most likely this case would use rounds and you'd just have to do a parachute landing fall. That is easy enough to learn. The steering of the canopy would require training. I'd say that about 25% of the people on any flight are not healthy enough to survive a normal skydive. The very young, old, and anyone not in good health would have no chance at surviving the exit, parachute flight or landing.

if every seat was an ejection seat then maybe you could save a handful of lives, but the extra training and complete redesign of the aircrafts would not be cost effective.

In the big picture. commercial airline flights are very safe and not something to worry about. I travel for a living. Taking two or more flights a week across the US. I hate landing in planes because I’d rather be jumping out and landing my parachute, but it is impossible to do that safely from a commercial aircraft; never mind the less than legal part of it.

As for flotation devises, I don’t know about you, but when I get into water all I do is prolong my drowning. I’m very glad there is something there to help me float if needed. The parachutes are pointless, the flotation device, might of might not be useful, but I like having the piece of mind. Perhaps having a parachute on the plane would give piece of mind, even if it couldn’t be used.

Answer 2

You think decapitations are funny, do ya? (BTW: I'm not being serious) Imagine 100 to 300 people jumping from an airplane at once. All those parachutes and lines whipping people around like a tether ball in the sky, people crashing into on another at 100-200 mph, falling on top of one another at high speeds, parachutes collapsing, etc. Then there’s the problem of training everybody to use a parachute, the lack of oxygen at those altitudes, and the frigid temperatures. It’s much better to have a flotation device as in your seat – even if it means floating in the ocean for 3 hours on a cushion that smells like somebody else’s beer farts.

Answer 3

So that you can float on the sea of flame as the plane dives into the see of clouds...lol

Answer 4

pass hun, never been on a plane, and don't intend too in the near future

star time

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Answer 5

dont know why they do that, but God help you if you jump and your not over water.