How many of the people demanding the parachute equipment in airliners...?

Question

actually scored at least one paradrop in their life? estimate percentage :)

bonus question for people who are answering this question, and asking about parachutes in the airliners:

would you paradrop your granny or would you rather leave her behind in the falling airliner?

Answer 1

Let's see, correct me if I'm wrong, but I see three questions here?

One is how many airline passengers out there are demanding parachute equipment be available in airliners?

The answer is, probably a lot although I bet most of those making such demands have never actually been on a plane.

The truth is that airplanes are actually a lot safer to be in compared to let's say, automobile transport. Many people regard it as unsafe because of the risk involved but actually, airplanes of the airline today are subjected to highest standards of maintenance there is for any type of commercial transport and hires the best people they can find to do it. Following the demands about parachutes, which were never addressed for airline standards today is because of several considerations:

One is how practical is it. In the event that it is actually needed, would there be enough time for all the passengers to put on their parachutes on and jump from the airplane?

highly unlikely especially for ones with high passenger capacity.

two is that airline widebody aircrafts are just not designed to be parachuted from. Im sure everyone noticed that.

three is that airline pilots are trained and have protocols to maximize survivability as much as possible in the event that emergency landings are unavoidable.

Im not saying that airline travel is completely safe, there have been tragedies and each one can be considered catastrophic. those above are just my perceptions on why parachutes are not of standard use for airlines today.

On to your 2nd question:

Hmmmm... I can't be accurate, but I'd say about 10 percent. And in that 10 percent 4% are thrill seekers, the other 4 are just brave and took a dare they thought they shouldn't have and the remaining two has a death wish.. just kidding.. =)

Now to the 3rd question... which i find quite interesting.. =)

personally, I'd rather paradrop her if the option in itself is available. besides, leaving your granny and jumping for safety is kinda selfish don't you think, anyone who does that better hope their conscience doesn't keep their chute from deploying.. =)

Answer 2

First off, the vast majority of accidents happen at take off or landing, where a parachute is useless. there is not enough altitude or time to use a parachute.

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.

As a skydiver we know that at some point we will have to exit our aircraft during an aircraft emergency, it doesn’t happen very often, almost never, but it does.  But here is the catch, you need time and altitude to open up the parachute.  We wear seat belts in the plane for taxi, take off, and if needed landing.  If there is a problem with the aircraft under 1000 feet above the ground you go down with the plane.  In a commercial flight you will climb past 1000 feet very quickly but there will not be enough time to put on a parachute system, nor enough time to get everyone out of the plane.  The vast majority of the very rare commercial accidents happen right after take off or on landing…. A parachute would be useless.

For more information about traveling with a parachute you can check out www.uspa.org and there is a link to the TSA rules about traveling with rigs.

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.

If on the extremely off chance that I could parachute from an airliner and my grandmother was with me, both with parachutes I would taker her out in a side body hold so that I could get her stable in free fall and deploy the parachute for her.  I am currently not rated to do this in skydiving, but in this extremely remote chance I would do this.  

Note: there are a few jets that are okayed for skydiving operations.  One is a DC-9 in Perris Valley California.  It has a jump run speed of 150 knots and you must slow down in free fall before you can safely open a parachute.