Why, in the event of an airplane crash, do airlines prefer to pay out all their assets rather than allowing passengers to parachute to safety?

Thread Content

Introduction: On March 10, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board, including 8 Chinese passengers. At 8:38 a.m. on March 10 local time, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on its way to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. But 6 minutes later, the aircraft went missing. * V% w! Q& F y# B4 r( _ It has been confirmed that it crashed near Bishoftu, 62 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa. None of the 149 passengers and 8 crew members on the flight survived. According to official reports, the victims were from 33 countries, including 8 Chinese passengers. 8 o8 A4 Q) m" m http://5b0988e595225.cdn.sohucs.com/images/20190315/1a4e279eae644a2290f1c6be37f16fa5.jpeg3 O3 z$ K3 Y' O9 W9 M According to a statement on EgyptAir’s official website, the aircraft involved in the crash, ET302, was a 737 MAX 8. At the same time, the crashed aircraft was brand new, having been delivered to EgyptAir in November 2018, with only 4 months of service. This is not the first major accident to occur with this model recently. ; C# T% z0 F) {4 C5 f" On October 29, 2018, an Indonesian Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft carrying 189 passengers and crew members lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff; it was later confirmed to have crashed in waters near West Java, with all on board dying. http://5b0988e595225.cdn.sohucs.com/images/20190315/60f71703a2c2422cbfc1e7ca76b50bce.jpeg Why, in the event of an airplane crash, do airlines prefer to pay out all their assets rather than allowing passengers to parachute to safety? Although many people are aware that the probability of an accident occurring while flying is extremely low, there are still quite a few who dare not fly, mainly due to concerns that in the event of an accident at such great heights, there is virtually no chance of rescue – the plane and its passengers will almost certainly perish. This is different from other modes of transportation that operate on land, where rescue is possible in the event of an accident. 2 q6 X* F, B/ S4 \: }- {$ F# L1 e And that led some people to think of this idea: suggesting that airlines provide each passenger with a parachute, so that in case of an emergency, they can use it to escape. But airlines won’t do this; maybe many people don’t understand why 6 p3 ~% d- u- @2 K | Next, let’s discuss the reason: airlines do not provide parachutes to passengers not because they disregard their safety, but rather for the passengers’ safety. 3 N" O; R& D6 W$ n+ S j' l First of all, the psychological resilience of passengers cannot be compared to that of those who have received professional training. In the event of an airplane accident, people become panicked and lose their heads. Moreover, with so many passengers on board, if parachutes are available, everyone tries to jump as quickly as possible, leading to crowding and trampling, which can result in more casualties. What might have been a minor accident that could have been resolved safely can turn into a serious disaster due to people’s irrational behavior and chaos. Moreover, parachuting is not an easy task at all; it’s nothing like what is shown in movies, where one can simply jump out of an airplane, open the parachute, and succeed. It is precisely because of these portrayals in movies that show success as easy that many people think parachuting is a simple activity. 3 I0 c2 |# t6 a7 j In fact, successful paragliding requires professional training; without it, it’s very likely that if you jump from an airplane, you will end up crashing upon landing. http://5b0988e595225.cdn.sohucs.com/images/20190315/a685c0aabec5431aaf2ef53ef9f03bdd.jpeg’ P/ N2 h8 u- B0 w! \' |. u Additionally, the pressure inside and outside the airplane we are on is different; once the cabin doors are opened, the pressure inside the plane drops rapidly, and if not careful, the people inside could be sucked out! If a person jumps out of the aircraft without any safety measures, relying only on a parachute, there is essentially one outcome: death! $ Z5 A+ v5 w( ] And at altitudes of 10,000 meters, even professionals don’t dare to jump out of a parachute casually. 4 D9 ~; t! g3 e N4 h" e; ? d In many movies and TV shows, some passengers ask flight attendants for parachutes, but this is not realistic! Without protective measures at 10,000 meters in altitude, a person will lose consciousness from the cold within just a few seconds! In such conditions, the air is also extremely thin, and a person will quickly fall into a coma; it’s absolutely impossible to manage to open the parachute on one’s own at that point! The temperature at 10,000 meters altitude is extremely low; without strong protective measures, one will freeze and lose consciousness very quickly once outside the cabin. In such a situation, there’s no way to consciously open the parachute, making the chances of survival virtually zero. Furthermore, during parachute jumping, a person is in a state of near-weightlessness, which causes severe discomfort to the brain and heart; as a result, consciousness often becomes blurred or even lost, leaving no ability to open the parachute voluntarily once the desired altitude is reached. But unless one jumps out of a plane at 10,000 meters altitude, accidents are most likely to occur during the takeoff and landing phases of the plane; these two phases are also the least suitable for parachuting. H. M: K: T; D6 T; y1 F. Finally, we need to understand that airplanes are actually the safest mode of transportation among all existing ones. With so many flights taking off and landing around the world every day, accidents occur very rarely. It can be said that the probability of an airplane accident is much lower than that of a car accident, and even lower than the probability of winning the top prize in a lottery. One thing that everyone is certainly well aware of is that the insurance cost for airplanes is the highest. This is also a form of protection provided by airlines to their passengers, after all, no one wants any problems to arise. / l# v# S/ ^9 r" J* X% r3 y l Although the death rate per accident is high when flying, among all modes of transportation, the number of deaths per billion kilometers is lowest for airplanes (0.05), compared to cars; see the image at: http://5b0988e595225.cdn.sohucs.com/images/20190315/fcddb7504d494fa2813552077bdb60a1.jpeg. Statistics on death rates for various modes of transportation from 1990 to 2000 – w! i% Z; j3 t& \9 g, v. k From this analysis, it is clear that it is normal for airlines not to provide parachutes to passengers; even if a parachute were given, it would be impossible to escape the plane safely in the event of an accident.