How It Works: Airframe parachute

Being “the airplane with the parachute” has helped fuel the ascent of Cirrus Aircraft, which has made ballistic recovery chutes a signature feature of its single-engine airplanes. And although some criticize these parachutes as a marketing gimmick or a crutch, BRS Aviation—the maker of Cirrus Airframe Parachute Systems (CAPS) and other ballistic parachutes—claims 376 lives saved.

Airframe parachutes are activated by a handle in the cockpit. An activation cable leads to an igniter that fires a rocket motor to extract the parachute, which is usually in the rear of the aircraft. The rocket accelerates to more than 100 mph in the first 0.1 second, according to BRS. The airplane pitches up as the rocket extracts the parachute, which is housed in a softpack, fiberglass box, or aluminum canister. In seconds, the lines go taut, the canopy inflates, and the aircraft begins to decelerate. Once it stabilizes under the canopy, the airplane descends at a slightly nose-low attitude at about 15 to 28 feet per second, according to BRS.

Do airframe parachutes make airplanes safer? Only if you actually use them. A look at the early accident record—and the realization that Cirrus pilots were suffering fatal crashes without attempting to deploy the parachute—led Cirrus and the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association to focus on creating training and a culture that celebrates CAPS deployments and gets pilots to commit to chute deployment early. Cirrus accidents have since dropped to less than half the industry average, according to data from the AOPA Air Safety Institute, which honored Cirrus in 2016 with the Joseph T. Nall Safety Award.