Commercial airliner fuselage ejector mechanism concept

My girlfriend was leaving the Czech republic on July 19th 2007, the same day that the terrible Sao Paulo commercial airliner accident happened that killed 200 people. I thought it was a pretty crazy coincidence since commercial airplane crashes are so rare.

Though this probably would not pertain to that particular accident, I've always had an idea for a commercial airline fuselage ejector.

It seems that the majority of passengers seem to parish due to the flammable jet fuel that runs through the aircraft upon impact and current research seems to focus on making the fuel less flammable.

My idea focuses on ejecting the passengers and cargo/baggage away from the dangerous part of the aircraft based on the single engine plane on parachute concept, pictured below.



The above picture also shows a diagram of how/where fuel is stored in a commercial airliner.

Below is my concept "animated" in Flash.


1. A routine flight
2. An engine fire erupts! (This could be any malfunction or perhaps even an act of terrorism).
3. The passenger/cargo part of the airplane ejects...
4. Separating itself from the compromised part of the aircraft.
5. Parachutes open and the fuselage lands safely on the ground or in water. There could maybe be inflatables lining the bottom of the ejected portion of the fuselage to act as an impact cushion and/or a flotation device.

Has anyone ever seen this idea or concept before? Please leave a link to any related articles in the comments section. Thanks!

Keywords: fuselage ejection concept for commercial airliners travel safety boeing airbus frontier american southwest united airlines