Expert: Paul Soderman - 3/14/2002

Question
Why can't manufacturers put a large parachute on each wing tip and one on the tail section that could eject and let a plane float down instead of crashing? I used to throw rocks up with a handkerchief tied on it.

Answer
Well, Rodney, that is not a terribly bad idea, just impractical.  Before I explain why, in fact some aircraft are fitted with tail chutes during flight testing in case they get into an uncontrolled stall.  The emergency chute would be used to pull the tail up and nose down during stall and then ejected.  This is only used on brand new aircraft that have unknown stall characteristics and with flight crews that have been trained for dangerous conditions.  I believe the space shuttle can deploy a chute on landing for braking purposes.

But for normal passenger flight, parachutes pose several problems.  First, they could be deployed by accident and severely damage the aircraft.  Even if deployed in an emergency, the load on the wings would likely be catastrophic.  A tail chute might work but it would shock the passengers and have to be ejected.  Airplanes are really heavy. An aircraft could not land softly enough with parachutes alone.  After all, the drag of a chute depends on the speed of descent.  And a heavy object needs lots of drag and lots of speed.  Without doing the calculations, I assume the landing shock would be very hazardous to people and equipment.  On the other hand, maybe it is better than crashing.  I wonder who would try it out.

Paul