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Braking parachutes were standard on first-generation jetliners, but have since fallen almost entirely out of use except on military aircraft; essentially the only civilian aircraft nowadays to still carry braking parachutes are some Learjets, which have emergency parachutes to help prevent an overrun during a landing or high-speed rejected takeoff if the runway is slippery or if one of the aircraft’s primary braking systems (reversers, spoilers, wheelbrakes) malfunctions.

Given the relatively frequent occurrence of runway overruns (often resulting from slippery runways or from takeoffs rejected near or after V-1), why aren’t most civilian aircraft (especially large, heavy ones, which need lots of runway to slow down even under ideal circumstances, and need all the help they can get if circumstances are less than ideal) equipped with emergency braking parachutes to help prevent overruns?

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    $\begingroup$ Because EMAS is a lot more effective... How do you quantify that overruns are frequent? Doing an NTSB search for Part 121 operations with the word "overrun" gives 27 results dating back to 1983, only one of which had a fatality (to a child in a car the aircraft hit). I'm sure there are more with different search terms (over run, etc), but I don't think it's statistically significant. Plus by the time an aircraft reaches the end of the runway where the chute would be deployed, the speed is too low for it to be effective. $\endgroup$ – Ron Beyer Jan 11 '19 at 4:00
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    $\begingroup$ Possible duplicate of Do any commercial airline models have a parachute at rear to help in landings? Maybe not the same exact question but the answer covers it. $\endgroup$ – Dave Jan 11 '19 at 4:15
  • $\begingroup$ @Dave: That question asks if any commercial planes do, and that answer says why they don't use parachutes for routine landings. This question asks why they don't have them in case of emergency. $\endgroup$ – Sean Jan 11 '19 at 4:18
  • $\begingroup$ @Sean many of the reasons transfer over. Breaks and thrust reversers are used in both regular and emergency landings. As noted by Ron EMAS also has a lot to do with it as well. I takes more than me to get it closed so if others dont feel its a dupe it wont get closed. $\endgroup$ – Dave Jan 11 '19 at 4:22

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