Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) In Action
Why Hacker News recommends it
Linked in aviation threads as a concrete example of the Cirrus parachute in action, including its rough touchdown.
What it is
Coast Guard footage of a Cirrus SR-22 pilot who ran out of fuel over the Pacific and deployed the airframe parachute, then escaped into a life raft. It shows the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System working in a real emergency.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2017 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Cites unchocked · 2017-05 · on “Cirrus Vision – Single-engine personal jet aircraft”
Here's a video of the company's piston-engined model landing under parachute in the middle of the Pacific ocean, taken by a Coast Guard rescue aircraft. [this video]
Cites markab21 · 2018-08 · on “Pilots who risk their lives flying tiny planes over the Atlantic”
There was another incident like that too, a guy tried to make it to Hawaii and calculated he'd not make it because of headwinds and had to ditch. He deployed his airframe parachute in the plane and was picked up by a life boat from a cruise ship. Here is the coastguard video of the event: [this video]
Cites dmix · 2022-09 · on “Cirrus Vision Jet Pilot Pulls Chute in Florida”
I you watch the video of a previous CAPS landing over water, the landings can still be a bit rough: [this video] But obviously 10x better than the alternative.
Cites maxbond · 2023-08 · on “Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin listed as passenger on plane which crashed”
Perhaps some private planes (Cirrus) are better equipped to survive losing a wing, since they have rocket-deployed parachutes. Somewhat boring video of the parachute in action ("boring" being a synonym for "an amazing triumph of safety engineering"): [this video] 14m video essay about the system: [LINK] (Reporting says this was an Embraer, this is strictly a tangent.)