Air force one isn't just one plane.

I do watch Air Crash Investigations and I could not recall a single crash that vest had any use at all.
Even Hudson river landing ...
For parachute completely diffrent perspective ..
under one condition of course ...
captain will jump last not first

Terminal velocity of jumper flying belly first is 195 km/h
head or feet first around 300Km/h

even if you over the water your are dead for sure on landing..

but suppose there it was our holiday trip to tropical paradise and all our SeaBreeze comunity were on the plane
everybody jump with his full gear
-teabaggers with inflated kites and boards
-windsurfers with sail rigged on and small wave board
- SUP -sorry guys with your coffin board
-sailor in full ballast Yachts or hanging to the moths
and jetskiers blasting full power too

Who may have the best chance to survive the landing on the water ?

cost is nowhere near similar, lots of crucial bits to a parachute, harness + rigging + chute + pack + deployment system (ripcord/spring/static line).

Bouyancy vest is just a bladder in a pvc jacket with a 5c plastic whistle.

Plus
no oxygen
too cold
no easy way to exit safely
no easy way to trigger chute reliably for a jumbo full of people(static line but tangles etc)
Need the bouyancy vest if over sea anyway
wet parachute will drown what the sharks don't get
etc

so im not going to suffocate after 40 seconds, or snap freeze. bring it on i say! got my throw away at the ready. besides, the oxy masks will drop. yeeehaaaa!

Air force pilots do somehow, with a couple of notable cases from well above 40,000', and survive.

kiteboy dave said...
no oxygen
too cold
no easy way to exit safely
no easy way to trigger chute reliably for a jumbo full of people(static line but tangles etc)
Need the bouyancy vest if over sea anyway
wet parachute will drown what the sharks don't get
etc

1. Small emergency oxy bottle and mask as part of the parachute rig, as per ejection seats.
2. EXTREMELY cold!! -36C - dess for the occasion as air force aircrew do.
3. Necessity is the mother of invention. If parachutes were the norm, egress paths would be too.
4. Use barostatic devices, again as per ejection seats.
5. Entirely correct. Make vests part of "dressing for the occasion".
6. Wet parachutes are roughly buoyancy neutral, but dangerous if you get tangled up. Some sort of device similar to barostatic, but actuated on contact with water.

Overall, could be done with current in-use tech, but would be absolutely cost prohibitive, from several angles. Anything akin to ejection seats would kill more than they'd save. Ejection seats are a "last chance" device.

Btw, an airforce pilot only has to be conscious long enough to pull the handle - no matter what altitude, including on the ground. All the rest happens automatically, including inflating his PFD.

You would have to fight the crew and passengers to get the door open to jump, not possible IMHO.
How about a helmet and flame proof suit? More likely to crash on land during takeoff and landing. And sit in the back of the airplane.

Chris6791 said...

Arent the cabin doors effectively plugs that seal with greater force as the differential between cabin pressure and outside pressure increases. So you can't get the door oPen anyway. If you make the doors easier to open some drunk nutter that's wants to get off at 32,000 feet is going to kill everyone on the Plane anyway.

And just how was it in that little jail cell at the very back for the rest of the flight, Chris?

Macroscien said...

Suppose that you are offered that choice next time buying air ticket.

Would you prefer to have parachute instead of buoyancy vest - just in case ?

I guess both weight and cost the same ( parachute and vest). Small ()modification to air plane should be possible for fast in flight evacuation.
Maybe in next Dream-liner ?
Boenig or Airbus will be first ?

For sure I am tempted to use cheap Air China planes when availabe - and then my parachute concept will be quite handy.

I bet that Air Force One has few parachutes on hand.

mate stay away from the computer on saturday night if your
gunna get fully loaded up on gear, stick with the playstation

Prawnhead said...

totally pointless ......if you exited a plane at 900 km/h (cruising speed)

at same manner you could criticize need for life boats on the cruiser.
At 35 knots will be quite difficult to deploy.
Plane could fly slower if needed then 900 km/h,
182 knots is stalling speed for Airbus,
Flying only 900 km/h will be unable to land anyway.
Plane evacuation is a procedure. Anyway paratroopers jump of flying planes not helicopters and balloons.
Besides alternative hidden in the topic is slamming into water first at even greater speed , then using PFD

Dawn Patrol said...

If you were falling from an extreme height with no parachute, what would you aim for?

A breast implant factory. Soft yet firm.

dinsdale said...
[: It's absolutely cost prohibitive - but absolutely doable.

how much it cost one life in air crash insurance claim ?

I can't believe you've all overlooked the obvious solution.

Wingsuits!

They're compact, no long lies to get tangled.
I'm sure the airlines could find a cheap manufacturer in China to supply.
Make them standard cabin wear and should the plane be in trouble, jumping out at 900km/h you'd just glide the rest of the way to your destination.

Sailhack said...

oceanfire said...

jumping out at 900km/h you'd just glide the rest of the way to your destination.

...which would be about the same result as if you has a life-jacket, or parachute...unless you're an extreme sportsperson with vast experience in wingsuit gliding...and there was a shipment of fluffy pillows, or a giant jumping-castle somewhere in the vicinity?!

You do know what the most likely 'destination' will be don't you?

dinsdale said...

Prawnhead said...
totally pointless ......if you exited a plane at 900 km/h (cruising speed)at 37000 how many pieces would you split into ...... akin to hitting a brick wall

Not so. There have been plenty of pilots survive bangin' out at considerably higher speeds than that. Several even beyond mach2 and at least 1 RAAFfy I knew who was still flying after 3 bang outs, 2 of which were around mach1.5. It's all about being prepared. Hence what I said before: It's absolutely cost prohibitive - but absolutely doable.

quite so ,although i still maintain that if you stuck your head out the window (not in a flight suit/ejection seat restrained and shielded) at that speed you would loose it
which reminds me of that joke about "a pilots best form of contraception "















their personality!!!