Gentlemen:

A data point on the issue of parachutes and decision-making:

In the APS class, we present a scenario whereby the student is placed over
the mountains, at night, single engine.  He is watching an engine monitor
display and is faced with an engine problem.  There is a very simple and
easy solution to the apparently complex problem which allows the fight to
continue safely.  In the last class, there were two Cirrus pilots in the
class.  Their first response was not to solve the problem but to "Pull the
chute."  Oh, one of them said, "Call ATC... and pull the chute."

I find this to be a serious issue.  No problem solving thought process to
easily solve a problem which allows the flight to continue safely vs. pull
the chute into the rocky mountains at night.  These pilots were willing to
float into the darkness with no control into a survivability crisis rather
than think through the process and solve the problem.

So far, of the chute pulls, there has been ONE in which there remains even
an argument as to whether or not it was the appropriate choice.  In the
others, it was clearly pre-mature.  A term has been coined for these:
Righteous Pulls.  So far, maybe one.

This is a major concern... the loss of problem solving/decision making being
replaced with a PULL THE CHUTE mentality.  It's not a back-up.  It has
become a primary system in some pilot's minds.  Now, let's consider what
this is going to do to the insurance issues.

Walter