Lots of people find the idea of air travel totally petrifying, but did you know that traveling by airplane is roughly 625,000 times safer than traveling the same distance by car?
While first-time flyers like this gentleman may have a hard time believing it, there’s really no safer way to get yourself from A to B than by stowing your tray table in an upright position and settling in for some in-flight entertainment.
That said, while there’s virtually no risk in travelling by passenger jet, things do get a bit riskier when smaller aircrafts are involved. Just this week, there was nearly a disaster over Missouri when a small plane piloted by the former CEO of Walmart lost power mid-air.
Fortunately, the plane was equipped with a clever device, invented by Boris Popov back in 1975. After nearly dying in a hang-gliding accident, Popov was inspired to create a ballistic parachute that would serve as a last-ditch measure for small aircrafts in distress.
Forty years after its invention, these devices are now an industry standard, and have saved more than 350 lives. They are never deployed until the pilot is completely out of options, which is exactly what happened to Bill Simon, the former CEO, when he was out flying this Cirrus 4-seat plane.
After his engine failed, he deployed the parachute. You can witness the heart-stopping footage of his landing in the video below.
And if this breathtaking footage made you wonder at this lifesaving invention, please SHARE this miraculous close call on Facebook!
