Times of India

Heavy demand for skyscraper-escape parachutes

DETROIT, Michigan: The maker of a lightweight parachute designed as a last resort escape from skyscrapers is being overwhelmed with inquiries from as far away as Malaysia and Taiwan following the collapse of the World Trade Center last month.

Executivechute in Three Rivers, Michigan, sells the escape devices for $795 a piece and says they work for jumping from any building or office on the tenth floor or higher.

Since launching Executivechute last week, John Rivers, a 37-year-old producer of ultra-light planes and former race-car driver, has received hundreds of orders from individuals and companies.

Unlike the rectangular chutes steered by skydivers, the Executivechute is round, which Rivers says carries it straight down rather than along a sloping, lateral descent.

He said he wanted to help prevent deaths like those suffered by people trapped in the 110-story twin towers in New York or who knowingly jumped to their deaths to avoid a slower death by smoke inhalation or fire.

He had received a request to design such a parachute just months before the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington but refused, believing no one would want such a product.

"I'm not going to make that mistake again," he said.

"To have something that could potentially save lives and not make it available to the general public would be criminal."

The parachute opens automatically by the weight against a static line that the user clips to a desk or door knob in the office from which he is escaping.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Answers

Atten Brooks! You need one of these!

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Not!

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001