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Comment by kylehotchkiss | Hacker News Reader

genuinely curious (not trying to pick at your point at all), how many USA plane crashes could have been prevented if a parachute was present and working? (The amount of instant drag that parachute deploying would product at a jet's stall speed (> 150mph) is probably more than a fuselage would handle well, given the lightweight engineering.)

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Depends; are we talking about small engine planes or big jet liners? Some Cirrus aircraft have them, but that's only one particular brand. As for larger aircraft, I'll refer to this link below [0]:

"taking into consideration the added complexity of design, installing and maintaining an emergency parachute system for a typical passenger jet, the amount of revenue lost by carrying at least 40-45 fewer passengers to compensate for installing such a heavy system, and the extremely unlikelihood such a recovery ever would be required, I can't see trying to scale up a parachute recovery capability for airliner use."

https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-airplanes-have-giant-parachut...

Parachutes actually increase the number of crashes, since instead of attempting a landing, the plane hits the ground.

Parachutes increase the cost of ownership, as they have to be replaced every 10 years or so.

A lot of the people buying Cirrus airplanes are taking off into marginal weather and just assume the parachute will save them when their luck runs out.

>how many USA plane crashes could have been prevented if a parachute was present and working?

None! But it could potentially have prevented a lot of the fatalities.

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