>>985027As many other people have stated, parachuting to the ground isn't as simple as it sounds. Sure you could sacrifice total capacity for a rear jump door, and auto cord rails so they don't have to worry about pulling the cord. But landing is dangerous if you don't know what youre doing. A lot of people would end up with their legs up their ass.
>>985029I worked at an airport for DHL several years back. Ice should never be a fucking issue, they actually go out and spray the planes down with a de icing chemical that forms an insulative film over them. Internals freezing up should also never happen if they're properly maintained, which a plane is fully inspected everyday prior to flight. If one of those planes has a dent in the fuselage larger than a quarter and more than 1/8" deep, it's grounded. This was on a dc-9, the dent could likely be much larger on bigger planes.
We all know shit doesn't always go according to plan, and human error can never be fully eliminated. But any plane, hell any piece of equipment should be given a full inspection prior to use.
>>985030We already have the technology for fully automated flight, this includes take off and landing. The pilots are pretty much just there in case the computer malfunctions. They still taxi, take off, and land for now. But eventually they'll just be trained meat sacks put in place because of people's mistrust of machines.
I can't blame them though, where I currently work they have 15mil$ automated forklifts that have an incredibly rudimentary guidance system, yet they still fuck up on a semi regular basis.
>>985033>>985039If it's a side cargo door, I'm pretty sure they still achieve full flight altitude. The upper cab is pressurized so the pilots can periodically check the cargo. The belly of the planes however receive no pressure or temperature control. Commercial cargo planes are literally just passenger planes with all the cabinets and chairs ripped out.
