Everyone who has used air transport at least once must have asked themselves the question of why parachutes are not given out to aircraft passengers. You must admit that it’s rather strange that before the flight starts, the stewardess necessarily instructs on the safety rules in flight, talks about how to use the oxygen mask, where it lies and how to get it. In addition, they will tell you where the life vest is and how to wear it. But no one will mention how to wear a parachute and where the emergency exit is located. How so? Why are there no parachutes in passenger planes? 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 plane is a heavy-duty and ultra-reliable machine. According to statistics, air transport crashes in only 1 case out of 20 million flights, while car accidents have a score of 1 in 9,200. This is one of the main answers to the question of why there are no parachutes for passengers in airplanes. In addition, there are a sufficient number of more specific and reasoned objections. There are several reasons for this, and they are, of course, clear to those who have ever jumped with a parachute or who are purely theoretically familiar with the mechanics of the process.
The first reason why there are no parachutes for passengers on airplanes
According to statistics, more than 60% of air transport crashes occur during landing, take-off or climb - that is, at extremely low altitudes, when the parachute is completely useless - it just does not have time to open, and you “plop” on the ground with a life-saving backpack. “But the remaining 40% are in accidents in the air,” you say. “So why don't they give parachutes on airplanes?” After all, this could save at least a few lives. " Here other arguments come into play.
Second reason
Tell me honestly, how many times in your life did you put on a parachute? Most likely, most will answer - not once. This is another reason - why there are no parachutes in airplanes. The fact is that the average passenger is simply unable from the first or even the second time to correctly put on and fasten the parachute, especially in conditions of panic and nervousness. Moreover, if this statement is true for healthy people who are physically and mentally strong, what can we say about children, pensioners, people with disabilities, or just about passengers who are easily amenable to panic? To master such a "trick" they can not do a priori.
The third argument: why there are no parachutes in airplanes
Even if we assume that the plane does not take off until every passenger learns to use the parachute correctly, well, for example, only those who have completed special courses will sell tickets, they would have to thoroughly redo the design of many aircraft.
The fact is that you can jump out of the plane only from its rear, tail. Otherwise, you run the risk of "snooping" on the wing or getting into the engines, where a person will instantly twist into small "noodles". The design of the vast majority of aircraft provides for rather narrow passages and an insufficient number of doors for 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 crashes very quickly, and the vast majority of passengers simply do not have time to get to the exits.
Fourth argument
Nevertheless, suppose that you know how to put on a parachute, and turned out to be the first at the emergency exit. Now you’ll definitely be saved, right? No, not everything is so simple, and here we come to the main argument in the question of why parachutes are not issued in airplanes. The fact is that the “cruising” speed of the aircraft at the echelon, that is, at such an altitude where it flies in the normal mode, is 800–900 km / h, and the maximum speed that the paratrooper can withstand without a special suit or chair is 400 –500 km / h Simply put, you will simply be "smeared" by a stream 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 altitude at which a person can breathe calmly without the use of special equipment in the form of, for example, oxygen cylinders, is 4 thousand kilometers, 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, then there will be practically nothing to breathe, of course, if you prudently did not take an oxygen cylinder with you.
Another reason why there are no parachutes in airplanes 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, which implies that a person who is there without special protective equipment will freeze everything that is possible in a matter of seconds, and then it completely freezes to death.
Reason six
Another reason why parachutes are not given out on airplanes is that the cabin is known to be airtight during flight. At the altitude where the passenger liners fly, due to the pressure difference inside and outside, it is almost impossible to open the airplane door. However, suppose that as a result of the accident, depressurization occurred - if this happened at an altitude of 10 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 if you assume that you have an unrealistically strong guardian angel and all of the above reasons have not touched you, imagine what awaits you below: the taiga, desert, icy boundless ocean or just the backyard of some tractor factory. Simply put, the chance that you land without breaking anything for yourself, and in the place where people who can provide 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 do not they give out parachutes in passenger aircraft?"
We have already figured out the technical side of the process, now let's talk about the economic component. Suppose that the whole world was imbued with the habit of hoping for a chance, and all planes began to be equipped with parachutes. We consider:
- Each parachute weighs from 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% fewer passengers - parachutes will fly instead. The cash equivalent of these same percentages will be redistributed to the price of the remaining tickets, because the company cannot yield its profit.
- In addition, the tickets will include the cost of the parachutes themselves, more precisely, their rental. This is due to the fact that they must first be purchased and periodically changed (parachutes also have an expiration date).
- The next line of expenses is inspection and installation. Before each departure, it would be necessary to check the validity and serviceability of each parachute, in addition, many models require re-laying even when they were not used (once a month or six months). For this, airlines will have to maintain a whole staff of attendants, whose salary will also be included in the price of tickets.
Thus, the price of a ticket for a regular flight takes off so much that, most likely, there are few who want to buy it. Well, you see, who wants to fly from Moscow, for example, to Simferopol for 100-150 thousand rubles?
But what about the bailout system?
So, why parachutes are not being issued in passenger aircraft, we seem to have figured it out, but you can also equip every seat with a bailout system, like in fighter jets. Or not? Let's get it right.
The rescue systems installed in the fighters represent a whole rescue complex, consisting of a seat, an oxygen and parachute system and a special mechanism to protect the pilot from the incoming air flow. The whole complex weighs approximately 500 kg. Thus, if the TU-154 can usually take 180 passengers on board, using the ejection system, their number will be reduced to about 15. Imagine how much the ticket will cost, because the amount of kerosene that the plane “eats”. It doesn’t depend on the quality of the cargo - in other words, the plane doesn’t care whether it carries catapults or people.
In addition, to take advantage of the bailout system, passengers would have to be in special suits, helmets tightly fastened to the seat all the time during the flight - an unpleasant prospect. And then, each chair should be a separate sealed capsule, otherwise if one chair was "shot", all the rest would be damaged by the explosion of the squib. In short, it would have been necessary to construct a completely new vehicle capable of providing all of the above conditions.