This sure would have made some of Ernest Gann’s novels shorter, if it worked.

Is there any record of this actually working?

So instead of survivable gliding landing you can release a ribbon to snag a tree and drop abruptly to ground….. Sounds like an Acme product

As seen in the ‘Indiana Jones’ movies.

Ohh, even if you’d release the ribbon before you crash it’ll still point into the direction you were going. So I’d say it’s a good idea.

It actually speaks well for the advances made in general aviation that pilots no longer need to plan for the likelihood of a crash. Okay, accidents still happen, but they’re few and far between now.

The idea is actually a pretty good one. I’ve done air search and rescue with the CAP, and it’s a lot harder to spot airplane wreckage from the air than one might think — especially in a wooded area.