BRS
parachute saves father and daughter when engine fails over
open ocean, Light Sport Aircraft Pilot News
newsmagazine.
Light Sport Aircraft Pilot is a directory of aircraft that generally fit
into what are described as ultralight aircraft, advanced ultralight
aircraft,
light sport aircraft, experimental light sport aircraft, experimental
aircraft, amateur built aircraft, ELSA or homebuilt
aircraft in the United States and Canada. These include
weight shift aircraft, more commonly known as trikes,
powered parachutes, and powered para-gliders.
BRS
parachute saves father and daughter when engine fails over
open ocean.
It is amazing
to me that the ultralight industry is not recognized more
for the innovative ideas that come from it. Take for
instance the Rotax 912 series of engines, if it hadn't been
for the ultralight industry and Rotax's involvement with the
two stroke, would we even have a 912 series, and without the
912 what about the light sport category! At Sun N Fun 2012 Dr. Richard McGlaughlin told the
incredible story of how he and his daughter were saved, from
certain injury or possibly death by another idea that came
out of the ultralight industry.
Dr. McGlaughlin operates a
volunteer clinic in Haiti, he regularly flies back and forth
from the U.S., sometimes carrying much needed supplies,
other times with his wife or a family member.
While on one of these flights to Haiti with his daughter
Elaine, flying along at 9500 feet he had a sudden drop in oil pressure and then shortly after that his engine seized up.
He declared an emergency to Miami Air Traffic control and set the plane up for best glide at 90
knots and pointed the craft towards the nearest island. At
about 2300 feet he
calculated
that he was going to be about 2 miles short of reaching
land.
He had often thought of just what he might do if this were
to happen. His research had shown him the 90% of pilots
survive a "ditching"and that 90% of those survive the
experience. The thought of hitting the water at over 60
miles per hour, with a good possibility of the airplane
flipping over trapping him and his daughter under water was
something he did not want to face, especially if there was
another option, and he had another option!
His craft a Cirrus SR22 was equipped with an
aircraft parachute recovery system, rather than risk
ditching he decided to deploy his BRS, Ballistic Recovery
Parachute system, so at 2,000 feet he and is daughter
tightened their seat belts and he pulled the deployment
handle.
He recounted the moments immediately after the deployment,
the ominous sound of the parachute risers tearing out of
their channels along the sides of the plane, the sudden
pitching down of the plane as the parachute suddenly brought
the plane "from 90 to nothing in about 2 seconds," then the
chute fully deploys and you settle "under the parachute
coming down flat, at about 17 knots slightly turning." "You
hit the water pretty hard" "but we were okay." He and his
daughter then climbed out of the plane, deployed their raft
and waited for the coast guard to come and rescue them.
Boris Popov designer of the BRS system was on hand as well,
Boris a hang glider and ultralight pilot designed the system
after he had a wing failure on a craft and vowed that he was
going to design something to help save the lives of pilots
in the same situation. To date the BRS system has saved
nearly 300 lives. Boris noted that 1 out of every 125
systems his company has sold have been deployed!
Dr. Richard McGlaughlin
For more information on the BRS ballistic recovery system
contact:
BRS Aerospace
380 Airport Rd. South Saint Paul MN 55075-3551
651-457-7491
www.brsaerospace.com
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calculated
that he was going to be about 2 miles short of reaching
land. 