stabilizing before pulling the rip cord,
Sergei Boriak said. That’s for sky divers.
Sergei knows the difference. He’s a sport
parachutist with more than 300 jumps, and
in April 2000 he bailed out of a Velox aerobatic airplane after a structural control
failure while practicing for the Sun ’n Fun
air show in Lakeland, Florida. His emergency occurred at 3,000 feet. “My reaction
was spontaneous,” he said. “I had no elevator control, but I rolled the airplane
inverted, released the canopy, and dropped
out.” Sergei said he didn’t wait to stabilize,
but pulled the rip cord right away.
Almost all emergency chutes are old-
school round ones, and they will snap you
upright and open safely no matter what
position you’re in. Larry Krueger, president
of manufacturer
National Parachute
Industries, said,
“The saying goes,
‘Round is sound.’
Since the 1970s, riggers have
incorporated spring-loaded pilot
chutes (the small parachute that
deploys first to pull out the main
canopy). So don’t get cute. This
isn’t the time to experiment. Just
pull the rip cord right away.
A few emergency parachute
wearers have their rip cords con-
nected to the aircraft with a
static line to ensure the cord will
be pulled even if they cannot do
it themselves. Jim said Para-
To be certified, an emergency chute has
to open within three seconds. Most open in
two seconds or less. Of course, the altitude
you lose in that time depends on your
downward velocity, which could
TO BE CERTIFIED, AN
EMERGENCY CHUTE
HAS TO OPEN WITHIN
THREE SECONDS.
MOST OPEN IN TWO
SECONDS OR LESS.
A square ram-air chute may be fine for sky
divers or BASE jumpers, but most emergency chutes are round.” Jim Culler,
production and design manager at para-chute-maker Para-Phernalia Inc.,
manufacturer of SOFTIE parachutes, said,
“Square chutes take longer to open, and you
should be stable in free fall. A round one
will snap you up pretty quick.” And emergency chutes are packed to open quickly.
