Taking a parachute on a plane

[Carlhobson]

Im a bad flyer and am terrified of the plane crashing so would like to take a parachute onboard as my hand luggage or as part of my luggage allowance, Would this cause a problem getting through security, would this be allowed onto the flight? Would this even be viable idea as I heard there are pressure and locks which are there to stop someone opening the plane but would these be relaxed or opened if the plane was going down?

[gadgetgeek]

No such thing as superior knowledge, just shared. Like u been in the game a long time both military n civil. You can never stop learning rgdg safety. Seen the fun stuff n the disastrous. The name of the game is to keep people and aircraft safe. If it makes people feel happier and safer by taking wacky, but legal, trinkets and gizmos onboard then fine. At the end of the day they won't work if there is a massive loss of control of the hull. On a train travelling at 60mph over bumpy lines it's hard enough to stand let alone do other tasks. On an aircraft travelling at 500mph with minimal control other than down then it's all but impossible bar banging out with an ejector seat. My job, possibly like yours is tom understand safety issues and fix them before the worst case scenario. The times that does happen to tomsort throughout the pieces, facts and data to understand the root cause of why it happened and to stop it ever happening again to the best of our ability.

[DTCwordfan]

I agree 237SJ but an uncontrolled one must take far longer than 5 mins as well?

[237SJ]

I suppose it depends what the situation is and what the emergency is. One of the aircraft that I fly on is the B777 which flies at 40000ft (sometimes higher) so it would take a bit longer to get one of those onto the ground than something that is at 35000ft. There is no black and white when it comes to nasty situations. Sometimes, some situations are a "first" as in Kegworth, British Airtours and you learn from that.

[sandyRoe]

You'd need to be tough enough to fight off anyone who decided they needed it more than you.

[gadgetgeek]

Agree 237SJ. The British Airtours was my first incident I was involved with and was a sobering wake up call with many lessons learnt that changed the industry standard.

[237SJ]

That wouldn`t have been an emgergency descent though. Just a direct approach. An emergency descent would have involved a Mayday or a Pan call. I remember when I used to go to Moscow before the "wall" came down. If some official was flying in or out, we used to have about 10 mins to get out of there or we would have been stuck there for hours!

[Ann]

Biggest laugh I've had on AB since I joined!

[237SJ]

gadgetgeek. better not go into too many details but I stood in the burned out tailcone of that Airtours aircraft. Makes you think... I stood where the two crew members at the back tried to get the doors opened and failed, and they died there.

[Ann]

Hey its all getting a bit maudlin now - I have a flight to catch in a fortnight - gulp!

[237SJ]

Yes, Ann, it`s hilarious isn`t it?

[237SJ]

Maybe it depends on the aircraft. I work on the big ones. You won`t get one of those on the ground very quickly.

[hc4361]

Getting in to the brace position is impossible for anyone over 5'2 on a budget plane. The seats are too close together.

[237SJ]

Eddie, a colleague of mine decided to sit in the fligtht deck for landing into Antigua. It was about 10 to 15 years ago and it was a B747. It wasn`t a 747 400 series. It was the old 200 series. There was a little bit of a problem and he had to listen to the captain calling a Mayday. They lost two engines and they landed with just two. He wasn`t entirely sure they would be able to stop. He said he never thought he would be in a situation where he needed a such a stiff drink!

[237SJ]

That`s still the same these days. i haven`t been to Russia but that used to be the case when we left their airspace. That was the indication for all the ex pats to hit the booze

[237SJ]

Yes I agree. Qantas (not any more) used to have the reputation of being the biggest, wildest, party animals in the whole of the aviation world. I can testify to that. I went to a Qantas party in Athens which lasted three days. Once visited, never forgotten!