Why are there life preservers in planes and not parachutes?

Question

I didn't even think of speed. Rushed into this question. lol

Answer 1

In addition to the first answer, anyone can use a life preserver - just hold on and you keep your head above water.  You need to be trained to use a parachute: how to strap it on properly, how and when to pull the cord, etc.

Answer 2

A jetliner flies at a high enough speed that bailing out would most likely be fatal.  Also, at a typical jetliner cruising altitude, unconsciousness comes very quickly due to the very thin air and lack of oxygen.

Answer 3

You're fast to catch yourself- indeed it is as you say.

Also, simple egress from an aircraft is a challenge to ensure, when designing it.

And today, there's no need for egress with the new ballistic recovery systems.

Answer 4

Maybe you are too young, or have forgotten D.B. Cooper.

His parachute obviously didn't work well at all.

Answer 5

How many aircraft accidents could have had passengers saved by jumping with a parachute?

Most accidents occur on take-off or landing, altitudes where parachute jumping is out of the question as it would never even have time to deploy (and besides, the time between realizing "perhaps we should jump" and the big *ouch* is usually in the order of seconds, not enough to even unbuckle seatbelt, let alone find a door, open it, don a parachute).

Accidents at altitudes (explosion, rapid decompression, structural dammage) occur at altitude where temperature is several 10's degrees below zero, with an oxygen pressure that usually does not allow survival. Again, when a plane goes "kaboom", there is little time to put on a parachute.

Since airplane spend a great deal of their time overflying oceans (which after all cover 3/4 of the planet), even assuming someone could jump, open the parachute (you could check how skydivers get their certification for jumping without a trainer being around--someone who skydives without prior training is essentially just as good as dead) may find themselves in the middle of the ocean anyway; where you have frigid water, not food, drinkable water, and hungry sharks. Good luck swimming ashore.

Even flying over land is not that great a parachute landing place; aircraft do not always overfly populated area.

In case of an accident, those who have best chance of survival stay with the airplane, which usually does not fall like a rock (and if it falls like a rock, whatever caused it to go that way has probably incapacitated everyone on board already).

But there are instances where a airplane had to ditch and where a floatation device was handy.  Parachute are for military pilots, which are expected to be fired on, and who have a nifty way of jumping out: an ejection seat. That means their own private door right above their head. Can't have that in an airliner; even military cargo aircraft do not have that.

Answer 6

You could not jump out of a plane flying that fast.

Answer 7

If parachutes were provided, some fools would try to use them even if there was no emergency.

Answer 8

there is also cost,  weight and storage size.

Parachutes are packed by license parachute packers, life preservers on the other hand can be the bottom seat cushin or the inflatable under the seat , needing very little inspection.