Anyone who has taken the plane knows that before take-off there is the important phase of explaining the safety measures– emergency exits, seat belts, an oxygen mask for each passenger, a lifesaver for each passenger. However, this long list seems to lack the most obvious means of air transport- the parachute.
Why has no one thought of equipping the Boeing with this life saving device? While are life jackets present?
Although the possibility of ditching is extremely remote for commercial flights, a lifesaver for this event is obviously useful. Not infrequently commercial airplanes are also equipped with life rafts, despite the possibility of ditching is very remote.
Why are there no parachutes on Boeing?
But then, if there are life jackets, why aren’t there parachutes on Boeing? The answer is simple- for passenger safety.
Having the necessary knowledge to use a parachute requires years and years of practice and experience. Beyond the stereotypes, it is not enough to wear a backpack and pull a string.
We also admit that the passengers have the necessary knowledge, the physical space would be lacking to safely launch, increasing the risk of vehicle instability. Furthermore, wearing the parachute and preparing for the launch takes a few minutes.
In addition, Boeing is not designed to perform parachute jumps. It would require a rear hatch, obviously absent. Rushing from normal passenger safety outputs it would end up against the wing or against the tail.
To this must be added the conditions of a failure of a Boeing with hundreds of people on board: sudden accelerations, jolts, air pockets, high speed. No, the presence of a parachute for each passenger would not make a scheduled flight safer, indeed.
Lack of knowledge, space, time and safety. In an emergency situation, all these variables would lead to a situation of total chaos! However crude, the truth is that in an emergency situation, a passenger on a commercial flight has a much better chance of staying alive by sitting in his seat. Thanks to the devices and safety provisions, the passenger seat is undoubtedly the option that provides greater guarantees.
Furthermore, parachutes have a weight not just of around 14Kg. Equipping the Boeing with personal parachutes, or one for each passenger would weigh down the aircraft by over 14 tons! There is one last factor to consider, less important, but by no means secondary. Parachutes require constant and costly maintenance. Adding this safety device, as seen of dubious utility, would greatly increase the costs of flights!
We therefore have an answer to the initial question. Why isn’t there a parachute for every passenger? For the safety of passengers. Equipping the Boeing with a personal parachute would be dangerous and expensive. In short, strange as it may sound, a parachute would be useless on a Boeing.
