Why do they not have 1000 or more parachutes near the top of skyscrapers, for emergency basejumping? Could potentially save many lives I should think.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2014 09:00PM by ragingphoenix.

Potentially ridiculous answer.

Dead people can't sue.

* the astoriod, terrorist bombing, jet engine falling off at 30,000 feet, burned a hole in the parachute. I lived, but broke both my legs and had to be amputated. I'm sueing for everything you got!*

Any or all of the following:

1) Parachutes are expensive. 1,000 'chutes would probably cost a million or so dollars.

2) People have to be trained in their use. So a safety program to use them would be an additional expense

3) They'd get stolen

4) They're an 'attractive nuisance' -- as in, people are likely to go try them out and die in the process. So you may end up contributing to more deaths than anticipated.

5) They're not very flame-retardant. so in the case of something like a burning building, they wouldn't be of much help anyway.

Yeah. Those reasons make sense. As far as the last one, I was thinking of a scenario where the fire is on floors below and traps people above.

attractive nuisance, especially with respect to children. I think kids are smarter than adults, though.

I also liked the rule that you cannot have "man-made death traps," hidden about.

Are you an invitee? A licensee? What is the duty to guests at a BBQ? What if that chair breaks and someone gets hurt, then what?

"If you didn't get someone in the fix, you don't have to get them out of the mess."

The parade of horribles indeed.

A better solution is a large water tank on the roof. The water could be released to suppress fire.

Untrained people and parachutes go together about as well as untrained people and cars or untrained people and guns.

Parachutes require a certain amount of training to be used safely when jumping from an airplane. Add in jumping from a building at a low altitude and you've got an incredibly dangerous situation.

Base jumpers die all the time and these are people who are trained in what they're doing.

I'd rather take my chances in dying basejumping than in certain death like the twin towers.

You might be willing but most people would be afraid to jump.

Without proper training, all it would take is a gust of wind to blow you into the building and collapse your parachute and you would fall to your death. Without knowing how to steer the chute you would have no way to control where you land or how to flare right before you get to the ground to soften your landing.

If you would be willing to take those risks then you should buy your own parachute, learn how to use it, and carry it with you at all times. Providing parachutes to "civilians" in tall buildings is a bad idea. There are better ways to protect the occupants of tall buildings and the Freedom Tower incorporates many of them.


http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Learn_to_Skydive/The_Skydiving_Handbook/

http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/freedom-tower

Giant water slide tubes.

some parachutes were marketed for just that purpose.

I don't know if they are still being sold.

I saw them demonstrated on TV.

Dick Cheney would know to aim the airplanes at the floor with the parachutes anyway.