Why do not airplanes have parachutes for passengers?

Everyone who at least once used air transport, for sure asked himself the question of why the passengers of the aircraft do not give out parachutes. Agree, it is rather strange that before the flight starts, the stewardess necessarily conducts briefing on safety rules in flight, talks about how to use the oxygen mask, where it lies 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 there is an emergency exit. How so? Why are there no parachutes in passenger planes? Life jackets are, but there is no parachute!

Is the parachute in the plane superfluous?

First of all, it is considered that a passenger aircraft is a heavy-duty and ultra-reliable car. According to statistics, the wreck of air transport occurs in only 1 case out of 20 million flights, while car accidents have an account of 1 to 9200. This is one of the main answers to the question of why the planes do not have parachutes for passengers. In addition, there is a sufficient number of more specific and well-reasoned objections. There are several grounds for this, and they are, of course, clear to those who at least once skipped with a parachute or are just theoretically familiar with the mechanics of the process.

The first reason why airplanes do not have parachutes for passengers

According to statistics, more than 60% of air transport wrecks occur when landing, taking off or climbing - that is, at extremely low altitudes, when the parachute is generally useless - it just does not have time to open up, and you "flop" to the ground with a saving backpack. "But the rest 40% are for the accident in the air," you will say. - So why not give parachutes in airplanes? It could save at least a few lives. " Other arguments come into play here.

Reason two

Tell me honestly, how many times in your life did you put on a parachute? Most likely, most will respond - never. This is another reason - why the planes do not have parachutes. The fact is that the average passenger is simply unable from the first or even from the second time to correctly put on and fasten the parachute, especially under conditions of panic and nervousness. And if this statement is true for healthy people, strong physically and morally, then what can we say about children, pensioners, people with disabilities or just about passengers who easily panic? To master such a "trick" is beyond their power a priori.

The third argument: why the planes do not have parachutes

Even if we assume that the aircraft does not take off until each passenger learns to use the parachute correctly, for example, only those who have passed special courses would have to sell tickets, and the design of many aircraft would have to be thoroughly reworked.

The fact is that you can jump out of the plane only from its rear, tail part. Otherwise, you risk "shmyaknutsya" about the wing or get into the engines, where a person instantly twists into a small "noodles." The design of the vast majority of airplanes provides rather narrow passages and insufficient number of doors for the immediate evacuation of a large number of passengers. This is another reason why airplanes do not have parachutes. It is easy to imagine what a crush will begin in the cabin of a falling plane. In addition, the plane falls very quickly, and the vast majority of passengers just do not have time to get to the exits.

The fourth argument

Nevertheless, let's assume that you are able to put on a parachute, and the emergency exit was the first. Now you will definitely be saved, right? No, it's not so simple, and here we come to the main argument in the question of why the planes do not give out parachutes. The thing is that the "cruising" speed of the aircraft at the level, that is at the altitude where it flies in the usual mode, is 800-900 km / h, and the maximum speed that the parachutist can withstand without a special suit or chair is 400 -500 km / h. Simply put, you just "smeared" the flow of air, but that's not all ...

Fifth argument

One of the main reasons why there are no parachutes in passenger planes is the flight altitude.

The maximum height at which a person can breathe freely without using special means in the form of, for example, oxygen cylinders, is 4 thousand km, while the altitude of the flight at the level is 8-10 thousand kilometers. This means that even if you can successfully jump out of a falling plane, then there will be practically nothing to breathe, of course, if you have not carefully taken an oxygen bottle with you.

Another reason why airplanes do not have parachutes is the temperature overboard. At the altitude 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 is there without special protection means in a matter of seconds will freeze to himself everything that is possible, and Then it will freeze to death.

Reason Six

Another reason why airplanes are not given parachutes is that during the flight the salon is known to be airtight. At the altitude where passenger liners fly, due to the difference in pressure inside and outside, opening the aircraft door is almost impossible. However, suppose that as a result of the accident there was a depressurization - if it happened at an altitude of 10 thousand km, then all passengers will lose consciousness or even die for 30 seconds. It is unlikely that during this insignificant time someone will have time to put on an oxygen mask, parachute and get to the exit.

But even if you assume that you have an unrealistically strong guardian angel and all of the above reasons have not touched you, imagine what is waiting for you below: the taiga, the desert, the icy boundless ocean, or simply the headquarters of some tractor plant. Simply put, the chance that you land will not break anything, and in a place where people who can provide first aid as quickly as possible are insignificantly small. So the use of parachutes in passenger aircraft is simply not practical.

How much will this tiny chance cost

Nevertheless, especially stubborn aerophobes still do not cease to ask: "Why not give out parachutes in passenger aircraft?".

With the technical side of the process we have already sorted out a little, now let's talk about the economic component. Suppose that the whole world was filled with the habit of hoping for "maybe", and all the planes began to equip with parachutes. We consider:

• Each parachute weighs about 5 to 15 kg, it all depends on the model and the weight that it can lift. This means that the aircraft will be able to take on board 15-20% less passengers - parachutes will fly instead. The money equivalent of these same percentages will be redistributed into the price of the remaining tickets, the company can not yield its profits.
• In addition, the tickets will also include the cost of the parachutes themselves, more precisely, their rent. This is due to the fact that they must first of all be purchased and periodically changed (parachutes also have a shelf life).
• The next line of expenditure 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 re-laying even if they were not used (once a month or six months). To this end, airlines will have to maintain a whole staff of maintenance personnel, whose wages will also be included in the price of tickets.

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

And what about the bailout system?

So, why do not we issue parachutes in passenger planes, we seem to have figured out, but you can equip each seat with a bailout system, like in fighters. Or not? Let's understand.

Rescue systems installed in fighters are a whole rescue complex consisting of an armchair, an oxygen and parachute system and a special mechanism for protecting the pilot from the incoming air flow. The whole complex in aggregate weighs approximately 500 kg. Thus, if the TU-154 can usually take on board 180 passengers, using the bailout system, their number will be reduced to about 15. Imagine how much the ticket will cost, because the amount of kerosene that "eats" the aircraft. Does not depend on the quality of the cargo - in other words, the aircraft does not care, catapults it carries or people.

In addition, to use the system of bailouts, passengers would have to fly all the time in special suits, helmets, tightly fastened to the chair - an unpleasant prospect. And then, each seat should be a separate hermetic capsule, otherwise when "shooting" one chair, all the others would be damaged by the explosion of the pyro cartridge. In short, we would have to design an absolutely new vehicle capable of providing all of the above conditions.