Why don't planes have parachutes for passengers?

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Everyone who has used air transport at least once must have wondered why the passengers of the plane are not given parachutes. Agree, it is rather strange that before the start of the flight, the flight attendant necessarily conducts a briefing on the safety rules in flight, talks about how to use the oxygen mask, where it is and how to get it. In addition, you will be told where the life jacket is and how to put it on. But no one will mention how to properly put on a parachute and where the emergency exit is located. How so? Why don't passenger planes have parachutes? There are life jackets, but no parachute!

Is there an extra parachute on the plane?

First of all, it is generally accepted that a passenger aircraft is a heavy-duty and ultra-reliable machine. According to statistics, air transport crashes occur in only 1 case out of 20 million flights, while car accidents account for1 to 9200. This is one of the main answers to the question of why there are no parachutes for passengers on airplanes. In addition, there are a sufficient number of more specific and well-reasoned objections. There are several reasons for this, and they are certainly clear to those who have ever skydived or are purely theoretically familiar with the mechanics of the process.

The first reason why planes don't have parachutes for passengers

According to statistics, more than 60% of air transport crashes occur during landing, takeoff or climb - that is, at extremely low altitudes, when the parachute is generally useless - it simply does not have time to open, and you will "flop" on the ground along with a saving backpack. “But the other 40% are in air accidents,” you say. - So why don't they give parachutes on planes? It could have saved at least a few lives." This is where other arguments come into play.

Reason two

Tell me honestly, how many times in your life have you put on a parachute? Most likely, the majority will answer - never. This is another reason - why there are no parachutes in airplanes. The fact is that the average passenger is simply unable to put on and secure a parachute correctly the first or even the second time, especially in conditions of panic and nervousness. Moreover, if this statement is true for he althy people, strong physically and morally, then what can we say about children, pensioners, the disabled, or just about passengers who easily give in to panic? They can't master such a "trick"a priori.

Third argument: why there are no parachutes on planes

Even if we assume that the plane will not take off until every passenger learns how to use a parachute correctly, for example, only those who have completed special courses will sell tickets, many aircraft would have to be fundamentally redesigned.

The fact is that you can jump out of the plane only from its rear, tail section. Otherwise, you run the risk of "slamming" on the wing or getting into the engines, where a person will instantly be twisted into small "noodles". The design of the vast majority of aircraft provides for rather narrow passages and an insufficient number of doors for the instant evacuation of a large number of passengers. This is another reason why airplanes do not have parachutes. It is easy to imagine what kind of crush will begin in the cabin of a falling aircraft. In addition, the plane falls very quickly, and the vast majority of passengers simply will not have time to get to the gates.

Fourth argument

Still, let's assume that you know how to put on a parachute, and you were the first at the emergency exit. Now you will definitely be saved, right? No, not everything is so simple, and here we come to the main argument on the question of why parachutes are not issued on airplanes. The fact is that the “cruising” speed of an aircraft at flight level, that is, at such an altitude where it flies in normal mode, is 800-900 km / h, and the maximum speed that a parachutist can withstand without a special suitor chairs, is equal to 400-500 km / h. Simply put, you will simply be "smeared" with a stream of air, but that's not all …

Fifth argument

One of the main reasons why passenger planes don't have parachutes is the flight altitude.

The maximum height at which a person can breathe calmly without the use of special equipment in the form of, for example, oxygen cylinders, is 4 thousand km, while the flight altitude at the echelon is 8-10 thousand kilometers. This means that even if you manage to safely jump out of a falling plane, there will be practically nothing to breathe, of course, if you prudently did not take an oxygen tank with you.

Another reason planes don't have parachutes is the temperature outside. At the height where passenger planes usually fly, the air temperature at any time of the year is minus 50-60 ° C, and this suggests that a person who finds himself there without special protective equipment will freeze everything that is possible in a matter of seconds, and it will freeze to death.

Sixth reason

Another reason why airplanes don't issue parachutes is that the cabin is notoriously airtight during flight. At the altitude where passenger liners fly, due to the difference in pressure inside and outside, it is almost impossible to open the aircraft door. However, suppose that a depressurization occurred as a result of an accident - if this happened at an altitude10 thousand km, then all passengers will lose consciousness or even die within 30 seconds. It is unlikely that during this negligible time someone will have time to put on an oxygen mask, a parachute and get to the exit.

But even assuming that you have an unrealistically strong guardian angel and all of the above reasons have not affected you, imagine what awaits you below: taiga, desert, icy boundless ocean or just a backyard of some tractor factory. Simply put, the chance that you will land without breaking anything, and in the place where people capable of providing first aid will find you as quickly as possible, is negligible. So the use of parachutes in passenger aircraft is simply impractical.

How much will this tiny chance cost

Nevertheless, especially stubborn aerophobes still do not stop asking: "Why don't they give out parachutes in passenger planes?".

We have already sorted out the technical side of the process a bit, now let's talk about the economic component. Suppose that the whole world got into the habit of relying on "maybe", and all aircraft began to be equipped with parachutes. Counting:

• Each parachute weighs approximately 5 to 15 kg, depending on the model and the weight it can lift. This means that the aircraft will be able to take on board 15–20% fewer passengers - instead of them, parachutes will fly. The cash equivalent of these same percentages will be redistributed to the price of the remaining tickets, because the company cannot concedeyour profits.
• In addition, the tickets will include the cost of the parachutes themselves, or rather, their rental. This is due to the fact that they first of all need to be purchased and periodically changed (parachutes also have an expiration date).
• The next line of expenses is inspection and styling. Before each flight, it would be necessary to check the suitability and serviceability of each parachute, in addition, many models require repacking even when they were not used (once a month or six months). To do this, airlines will have to maintain a whole staff of attendants, whose salaries will also be included in the price of tickets.

Thus, the price of a ticket for a regular flight skyrockets so much that, most likely, there are few people who want to buy it. Well, you see, who wants to fly from Moscow, for example, to Simferopol for 100-150 thousand rubles?

What about the ejection system?

So, why they don't issue parachutes in passenger planes, we seem to have figured it out, but you can also equip each seat with an ejection system, like in fighters. Or not? Let's figure it out.

Rescue systems installed in fighters represent a whole rescue complex, consisting of a seat, oxygen and parachute systems and a special mechanism to protect the pilot from the oncoming air flow. The whole complex together weighs approximately 500 kg. Thus, if the TU-154 can usually take on board 180 passengers, with the use of the ejection system, their number will be reducedup to about 15. Imagine how much a ticket will cost, because the amount of kerosene that the plane “eats up”. does not depend on the quality of the cargo - in other words, the plane does not care whether it is carrying catapults or people.

In addition to using the ejection system, passengers would have to be in special suits all the time of the flight, helmets tightly fastened to the seat - an unpleasant prospect. And then, each chair should be a separate sealed capsule, otherwise, when one chair was "shooted", all the others would be damaged by the explosion of the squib. In short, it would be necessary to design a completely new vehicle capable of providing all of the above conditions.