BRS: Parachute Recovery Systems

FLYING Staff

Thursday, December 23, 2004 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Whole-airplane parachute systems, like Cirrus's CAPS, have proven to be life-saving in emergencies such as instrument failure or loss of control, with four documented deployments saving eight lives.
The technology is polarizing, with some pilots questioning its impact on pilot autonomy or the potential for misuse, while proponents emphasize its role as a crucial last-resort safety measure.
A study of NTSB reports suggests that if universally equipped, whole-airplane parachutes could potentially prevent approximately 42% of fatal single-engine aircraft accidents, saving an estimated 60 lives annually.
Despite proven effectiveness, widespread adoption by other major aircraft manufacturers is hindered by factors like cost, weight, and certification complexities, though their prevalence is increasing in Cirrus aircraft and Light Sport Aircraft.

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Last April, an instrument-rated private pilot took off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in his SR22 bound for Palm Beach International. It was solid IFR, 400 overcast. The pilot was experienced in Cirrus airplanes-he was a founder of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association-he regularly flew such IFR flights, and he knew his airplane well. As he rotated and began to climb, all systems looked good.

Then, just after he had entered the soup at right around the advertised 400 feet things started to go wrong. The altimeter began to fluctuate wildly, and the pilot called ATC to report the problem and to request a return to the airport. He got a vector, but things soon got worse, and he came to believe that the attitude indicator and turn coordinator were indicating differently. As he desperately tried to sort things out, he realized that he had no idea how high or where exactly he was.