The airlines will always let you carry a parachute inside the plane. The only problem is that it is useless

There was a time when Mounting by plane was a luxury. Today, experience is more similar to that of tin. In addition, the organization It is not the most optimal And, although it is very safe, the anxiety to fly It can cause some passengers to consider measures as extreme as that of carrying their own parachutes.

The short answer is: you can. The long one: you can, but with enough restrictions and reasons why it will never be part of the usual safety equipment on board.

It is not realistic. Looking for information on the matter, it is curious that the first responses allude to commercial airplanes do not need parachutes because they are very safe and it is not necessary that the passage jump from the vehicle running. Inquiring a little more, we can find perfectly logical reasons why neither the crew carries parachute (no matter how much they have seen in some films).

The first thing is that the height at which a commercial plane flies is very, very high. Jumping from about 10 kilometers high is not only risky, although the user has an oxygen mask: the temperature is so low that the remedy can be worse than the disease. In addition to the height, he plays against speed, also being high and turning the jump into something very dangerous. Well, and the pressure that can cause a loss of consciousness. AND Not to mention sparkling the cabin To throw us …

Bad idea. To get an idea, a commercial flight is going to between 10,000 and 12,000 meters of altitude, already speeds between 800 and 950 km/h. On a flight prepared to jump in parachute, normal It is that the altitude is between 3,000 and 4,000 meters, with exceptions to a couple of more meters. And the speed is about 200 km/h.

Jumping from a commercial plane on if it has a problem would cause, surely, the engines swallow us. And if we jumped from the tail door, the easiest thing is that we end up spoiled against the rear rotor or so unbalanced by aerodynamics that we do not know where we have to throw to act the parachute.

It is still a backpack

To bill. Those are the reasons why commercial airplanes do not carry parachute, but, as we said, we can carry a parachute in a plane of this type. And the airlines treat it as one more lump. Thus, a parachute (which is folded is camping backpack) has as a piece of luggage. In some airlines, we could not enter with the parachute and with a normal backpack, for example. But it could always be billed.

And with restrictions. Now, it is not as easy as saying “ok, because I have only the parachute because I don’t need more luggage.” It is not so simple because they must be packed very precisely, the bag must be special for this type of elements and there can be no more clothes or any type of personal article.

If the parachute has some safety element such as a smoke boat, it will not be allowed either. And if they have gas cylinders, pyrotechnic elements or any other type of prohibited article, more of the same. The airlines themselves They contemplate The possibility of carrying this type of luggage whenever what we have commented is met:

“The bags and cases of sports teams should not contain clothes or other personal items. They should only be used to transport sports equipment. The entire team must be safely packed in a special container for paratrooper equipment or in a resistant bag, or canvas, for sports articles. ”

Go with the lesson learned. Now, although the airlines allow and transportation administrations also They contemplateit is possible that we have to explain what we carry. Therefore, a couple of recommendations are:

• Pack the article separately to facilitate your inspection if necessary.
• Keep a copy of the authorities regulation so that the airport/airline staff not familiar with the issue has more information about it.
• And, as the team is very likely to attract attention, the recommendation It is that you arrive with a few minutes – more – in advance in case it is time to pass a control.

If many times I have had to explain in the control that what I carry to take photos with my analog camera are reels that can be damaged in the scanner … as if to explain why I go with a parachute. And be careful, as many times in these cases, it is always better to go caught. Such as the TSA (the security body in the transport of the United States) Comment In this regard:

“The final decision on whether an article is allowed through the control post corresponds to the TSA officer.”

Images | Adam Reeder, Hunini,

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