Plain English Meaning

A parachute built into the airplane itself. If something goes badly wrong in flight, the pilot pulls a handle, a small rocket shoots a large parachute out of the aircraft, and the whole airplane floats down to the ground instead of crashing.

Full Definition

A whole-airplane emergency recovery system in which a rocket-deployed parachute is fired from the airframe to lower the entire aircraft, with occupants inside, to the ground at a survivable descent rate. It is activated by pulling a handle in the cockpit, which ignites a small solid-fuel rocket that pulls the parachute clear of the airplane and inflates it rapidly.

Context Anchor

You may see this term in an airplane’s operating , , , or description of installed .