In the final rescue, they knew time was critical, must have known there was a possibility there wouldn't be time to get everyone back. So surely the first guys over could have taken a few parachutes with them?
shareI thought the same thing. I doubt that rope relay thing would have worked.
sharehaven't thought about it before (maybe because landing on water sounds scaring), but it makes a lot fo sense! It's much more logical than the rope rescue.
I always assumed it was because they were so close to the ground
shareThey were over the Black Sea. By the time a rescue boat showed up they would have drowned or died from exposure (like what happened to the Titanic passengers).