Aerospace engineering is constantly in search of new innovations , but not every idea makes it . For example , back in 2016 , a new idea was proposed by an aviation engineer from Ukraine , Vladimir Tatarenko . He was convinced that designing an aircraft with a detachable cabin would improve the safety of people on board . His idea was that in case of an emergency , the cabin could detach , and with the help of a few large parachutes and some giant rubber “ tubes ,” ( similar to a giant life raft ) the cabin could safely deliver those on board to the ground .
There are a few problems with this idea . The first one that came to my mind was :
16 LET ’ S GO AEROSPACE
“ Well , what about the pilots and other crew ?”
After further investigation , it turns out that if 80 percent of the plane were to detach , the pilots and remaining crew members would be stuck on an incomplete plane thousands of feet in the air , which would be impossible to fly . Aside from the unbearable cold that would be introduced due to the extreme elevation , the lack of balance and aerodynamics would cause the plane to crash , killing the pilots and other crew left after the main cabin detached .
On a less personal note , the financial aspects of this idea are also not very realistic .
The cost to create aircraft with detachable cabins complete with safety equipment would be extremely high in contrast to the problem .
The chances of a plane going down are about one in eleven million . Let ’ s say that theoretically , this was a “ one in eleven million ” situation . Even still , pilots undergo extensive training to make sure that they are fit to fly the plane safely in any sort of situation and in the rare case of an emergency , they would be prepared to safely execute a landing . This means that even if something went wrong , which is already very unlikely , there is an exceedingly small chance that it would result in fatalities .