https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...153f4ff919.jpg
been done already !

Anybody else noticed the Pan Am 707 parked at the gate in the background...? :p

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...eb48558e2d.jpg

Fairchild XC-120 Packplane
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...10e59780cb.jpg

Sikorsky Skycrane with Mission Pod

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...d2b2c4540d.jpg

The one case in which a passenger pod might make some sense would be on helicopters used for offshore work. In the event of ditching, by having passengers are already contained within something similar to a freefall lifeboat, they would not have to try and leave an inverted, submerged cabin and then try to inflate and board a life raft.

What an inspired idea.
We will need some steep banking, actually, very steep banking, and an upward spiral to absorb the kinetic energy. Clearly a job for the proposed new 3rd runway at LHR.

There will be some Luddite pax resistance, of course, and some from the airport management, NATS, CAA, AAIB and a few other Luddites. But then, a prophet is never recognised in his own time.