Previous ideas in this category involving long rubber tubes seem extremely dangerous-- small people go through the tube slower than big people, so the small people get squashed at the bottom.

My idea is this: Have a big rope with a bunch of giant clips, harnesses or glueable patches. The evacuees glue/hoop/clip themselves onto the rope. The rope is then lowered out of the building at high speed. Near the bottom it goes through a drag device to slow the rope, which is on the end of a steel arm that moves so the evacuees land in an area clear of people.

the drag device could just be two rollers that squeeze the main cable. evacuees' clamps/gluings/harnesses would be on 1-meter-long leads coming off of the main rope, so evacuees would miss the rollers.
-- sninctown, May 07 2006

200 evacuees get on rope, rope breaks.

I think there are a number of engineering issues you will need to solve before you can implement this one. That drag device, for example - sounds dodgy to me.

Personally,I think the solution is building buildings that can dodge aircraft.
-- DrCurry, May 07 2006



random, halfbakery