This afternoon (10/03/02), near the Josey Ln/Old Denton Rd intersection in North Dallas, a private pilot crashed his aircraft in a wooded area near the intersection. The crash itself temporarily closed down the intersection, but what made this crash so unusual was an innovation used by the pilot to reduce the danger of him being killed or severely injured during the crash. The aircraft was a single engine, four seat aircraft, equipped with a parachute attached to the tail of the aircraft. The pilot, when he realized he was going to crash, deployed the chute, and basically floated down to the ground at a survivable speed, instead of crashing nose first at a high rate of speed, or landing the aircraft in the wooded area, with or without landing gear. I've heard of this installed on aircraft before, but this is the first time I've heard of it successfully used to save the lives of any passenger on a light plane. I suspect it wouldn't work on larger commercial aircraft that easily due to the shear weight of the aircraft. Regards, Richard Whitenight Arlington, Texas DFW