This sounds like a Cirrus SR20 or SR22, which, afaik, are all equipped with the Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) parachute system. I know this was recently approved for the Cessna 172, but it's unlikely it was a 172 because of the very recent approval. They also have systems for the 150/152 but you said it was a 4-place aircraft involved yesterday. Take a look at http://www.airplaneparachutes.com for more info. The site claims approximately 130+ lives saved to date with their systems, installed primarily on ultralights. ~Greg On Thu, 3 Oct 2002 17:45:50 -0500 Richard A Whitenight <rum.runner@juno.com> wrote: > 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 >