Yeah, it is that sudden stop at the end that gets ya! Hence the plane-with-parachute I mentioned earlier in this thread... though it only does you good if you have sufficient altitude. And if you have enough altitude, you can do a lot with that -- find an airport or safe spot to land being chief among them. That said, the chutes have brought down planes safely into bodies of water, which without a parachute are, well, not very fun to land in (unless you are a seaplane, I guess...)

We need a revival of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines!

"UP, Max!"

 

I'm not sure. Would the option for these guys normally be a commercial flight or a private jet/corporate jet? I have actually been on a flight out of Denver with Cheryl Miller (courtside reporter) the morning after a Nuggets game broadcast by TNT. She was in first class and I was back in coach. However, Al Michaels and John Madden are the two biggest names in sports commentators.

I've had two chances to fly on a Leer Jet, but I turned down both of the trips. I guess I could have improved their people miles per gallon.

 

Actually I think that tragic accident a couple of weeks ago with the Yankees pitcher was in one of those planes.

 

Yes, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the aircraft (or I'll eat my words; it's extremely unlikely, let's just say that... most air crashes are due to pilot error or fuel starvation, which is pilot error all over again, not mechanical failure.)

A parachute wouldn't have saved them... they were flying extremely low even before they hit the high rise. The parachute is really for the very, very rare instance of an engine out or other catastrophic failure that the pilot cannot recover from using all his/her skills and training. Like airbags and ABS, some crashes are going to occur no matter what safety devices are onboard... the most important safety device, in an aircraft or on land, is located between the pilot's/driver's ears.

Unrelated P.S.: It's a GIRL. Had our ultrasound today. Another Geek Gal will soon be among us!