"Science" Saves Lives

I am amazed that no one thought of anything similar to this before. They now have parachutes that attach to small airplanes to aid in the case of a crash. Like those that humans wear when skydiving, these slow the planes when they start to free fall. Instead of crashing hard into the ground, airplanes drift gently to the ground, potentially saving people's lives. This article from the Associated Press says that, in 2003, there were 626 deaths reported from general avation crashes as opposed to "only" 81 resulting from crashes of commercial airplanes. It is amazing that such a simple thing as a parachute could most likely cut the number of deaths dramatically.