Ask a pilot
February 27, 2018 5:09 AM   Subscribe

 
The many reasons why we don't hand out parachutes

A very popular question when I take new people out. I tell people they're more likely than not to break their back on the tail on the way out and it's safer to stay inside. There are versions of the planes my club has that are modified for skydiving, but you still need to climb way out on the wing spar before jumping to avoid hitting the plane.

One of the planes I worked on at my last job was an airliner-sized ISR craft and at some point in the past decades it was decided to add a bail-out system for the 30-odd crew members in the back of the plane. The way it worked - there was a grate in the deck of the cabin (imagine getting on any commercial flight and seeing something that looked like a ventilation grate, maybe 2.5x2.5 feet). There's a large handle on the wall with a barberpole design on it. In an emergency, the idea was that the pilots would descend to about 10,000 feet so the cabin pressure could equalize with the outside; meanwhile, the mission crew was supposed to get out of their seats (again, in the middle of an emergency descent), go to the lockers, and get in to survival suits and parachutes. Once the air pressure was equalized, someone would pull the handle and a large door in the fuselage would blow out, revealing a slide (no joke) from this hole in the cabin deck to the outside. I believe there was a hook in the cabin for a static line, but I don't remember for certain.

Oh, did I mention that this hole was placed well forward of the wings? Anyway, if memory serves this escape method was tried exactly once with a dummy which exited the plane and promptly crashed in to an engine or the leading edge the wing. The escape systems were all disabled after that.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:44 AM on February 27, 2018 [9 favorites]


"commercial airlines are not designed as parachuting aircraft..."

Well, mostly because the jump tickets are too expensive. Note how fast the the exits are at 3:20.
posted by Dean358 at 5:56 AM on February 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


The ones that Bruce Dickerson flies have horns
posted by thelonius at 6:12 AM on February 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


The many reasons why we don't hand out parachutes

Well one guy jumped from a 727. Living like a king in the Oregon outback I hear.
posted by sammyo at 8:11 AM on February 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Oh, did I mention that this hole was placed well forward of the wings? Anyway, if memory serves this escape method was tried exactly once with a dummy which exited the plane and promptly crashed in to an engine or the leading edge the wing. The escape systems were all disabled after that.

Ouch.
posted by zarq at 8:21 AM on February 27, 2018


Erm, Dickinson

\m/
posted by humboldt32 at 10:17 AM on February 27, 2018


YouTube has a mountain of fantastic flying videos. FlightChops, steveo1kinevo, MrAviation101, JesseFlies, Baron Pilot, Premier1Driver, JesseFlies, Matt Guthmiller, and a whole bunch of others put out what amounts to a flood of great content if you're at all into aviation.

There are even some passenger airline pilots who manage to post some in flight videos on occasion. I particularly enjoyed this one AA pilot's farewell to the MD-80 he filmed just prior to transitioning to the 767/777. (Sadly, I can't remember his name at the moment) That said, most of the in-cockpit videos of the big iron are from pilots flying for cargo airlines. Ever wanted to see what's involved in taking a 747-400 from Miami to Amsterdam? You can do that on YouTube these days.

As much as I enjoy that stuff, though, I have to say the CIA's mid-80s era briefing videos win the most awesome content on YouTube award, even over the archives of older government films. Yes, the Central Intelligence Agency has a YouTube channel. Called "Central Intelligence Agency," no less. Not very secretive, those folks.
posted by wierdo at 1:32 PM on March 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older Teen Survivors Lead Gun Control Activism   |   Is Anyone Here a Marine Biologist? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments