Two Pilots Deploy Systems This Week

Ballistic Recovery Systems tells ANN a pilot flying a Cirrus SR22 made history earlier this week, when he became the 200th documented life saved by a BRS whole-airplane parachute recovery system. The company also learned that, within the last 48 hours, a German ultralight pilot also used a BRS system, which now brings the total lives saved to 201.

As Aero-News reported, save 200 occurred when a US pilot departed Tucson for an IFR flight to Colorado. During the flight he encountered an inflight emergency. While still in the clouds and not able to see just how close the terrain was, he opted to deploy the Cirrus CAPS/BRS parachute.

This was the 10th deployment of the system in a certified airplane accounting for 22 saves. The BRS system worked flawlessly and the pilot walked away from the crash in western New Mexico.

The 201st save came when a German pilot deployed his BRS in an ultralight aircraft in Germany. Remarkably, this was this was his second time using a BRS system during an inflight emergency. He had previously successfully deployed a BRS system in separate ultralight inflight emergency making him a two-time user of the system. This was the 155th use of the BRS system in a non certified plane.

“When I first got the news that we’d just saved our 200th life, I just closed my eyes and took a deep breath,” said BRS CEO Larry Williams. “Then I heard other people in the building shouting about save 200 and celebrating as the information worked its way through the company! We all feel like we’re so fortunate to produce a product that has saved so many lives.”

BRS began making whole-airplane parachutes in 1980, with its first documented ‘save’ occurring thee years later. In 1998 the company’s emergency parachute system was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly in the new Cirrus Design SR20, and later in the higher-performing Cirrus SR22. More than 3000 BRS parachutes are now flying in Cirrus aircraft around the world.

“It’s really remarkable if you think about,” Larry Williams said. “Now more than two hundred one people are still walking around in the world because they used a BRS parachute. This is a milestone we have long awaited.”

More than 25,000 BRS systems have been installed worldwide.

FMI: www.brsparachutes.com