“On my Dreamliner, a parachute under every seat”
I came across an article from “The Globe and Mail” and I thought I would pass it along.
An excerpt:
What brought all this to mind was a story about the newest plane from Boeing – the Dreamliner.
Some say it may be the best plane ever produced. The program to develop it cost an estimated $32-billion. For that much money, I was hoping Boeing had developed the plane we all want to see – the one that never crashes. Alas, the best the company can do is assure us it will be extremely safe and comfortable.
…………..
Yes, planes are built better today. And they’re unquestionably safer. But if there’s a problem and the plane goes down, the result is merciless. It’s a terrible way to go.
So for $32-billion, I was looking for something more. Like maybe the first parachute-equipped jetliner. I’ve been thinking about this for years and here’s how it works: The plane gets in trouble at 30,000 feet. It’s going down. Everyone aboard is sure to die. Except, at 10,000 feet, a gigantic parachute is activated and the plane floats to safety.
Terrible way to go? I think not. Try suffering from a horrible disease…
Incredibly stupid, written by a journalist who doesn’t understand airplane aerodynamics. The benefit of a plane is that it can glide and land without engine power. No one is “sure to die.” Adding a parachute would ruin that, essentially making it fall straight down, and landing would end up nose-first instead of on landing gear.
I was thinking about that last week, its a great idea to keep a plane from crashing.
Look at Cirrus aircraft- they have a parachute. I don’t think it would be feasible on an aircraft of this size though.
Hahaha, love it! 🙂