Scott,

I used to be part of the flight crew on some of the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Command Post aircraft. We flew EC-135's which were similar to the Boeing 707. I say this to establish that I am speaking with at least a little knowledge.

I believe the only time you want to exit the airplane before it has come to a complete halt (either at the gate or in a cornfield) is if you know it is going to nose dive into the ground and you have the option of using a parachute. Otherwise you're better off strapping yourself into your seat, cinching your seatbelt and riding it down to the best landing the flight crew can manage.

Think of the airplane as a car. You wouln't jump out of a car if you thought you were about to have a wreck would you? No, you'd depend on the crumpling sheet metal to absorb the crash energies and slow you down as gently as possible. The plane will do the same thing.

We had parachutes on our aircraft, and the consensus opinion was that riding the aiplane down was safer than bailing out in almost every circumstance. I know of one incident where the aircraft made a poor landing (or perhaps a great landing in poor conditions) and skidded off the runway and broke in two pieces. The break was in the rear of the aircraft by the aft escape hatch. Everyone walked away from the incident. By definition it was a 'good landing', because any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.

Dennis