Resurrecting an old thread...Just FYI: NTSB recommends requiring GA aircraft to have shoulder harnesses/airbags--two years after you folks discussed their benefit here, on this board!
Links for more info:
http://www.basinc-aeromod.com
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/harness_kits/
NTSB News Release below (Jan 11, 2011):
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NTSB PRESS RELEASE
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2011
SB-11-03
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NTSB STUDY SHOWS THAT AIRBAGS CAN PROVIDE OCCUPANT
PROTECTION IN GENERAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS
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Today the National Transportation Safety Board adopted a
study that concluded that general aviation (GA) airplanes
equipped with airbags provide additional protection to
occupants in accidents involving survivable forward impacts.
Airbags are designed to mitigate head and upper body
injuries and are installed in the lap belt or shoulder
harness portions of the restraint system. They were first
approved for use in the pilot and co-pilot seats in GA
aircraft in 2003. Currently, there are nearly 18,000 airbag-
equipped seats in over 7,000 of the 224,000 GA aircraft in
the United States.
"Although airbags have been mandated in automobiles for over
a decade, the aviation industry has no such requirement for
small aircraft," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman.
"The good news is that over 30 manufacturers have stepped up
to the plate and offer airbags as standard or optional
equipment."
The study, which examined 88 accidents involving airbag-
equipped airplanes that occurred between 2006 and 2009,
found no instances where the airbag caused harm in properly
restrained occupants. In addition, the study found 10
survivable accidents in which the crash forces were severe
enough to cause injury and/or to deploy the airbag.
Within the group of 10 accidents, 12 occupants experienced
airbag deployments, and the study found that the airbag
likely mitigated injuries for two of the occupants.
The study also noted that there were no negative
consequences as a result of airbag deployments. For
instance, there were no cases in which the airbags were
expected to deploy but did not. Nor were there any cases
that involved airbags deploying under unexpected
circumstances, hindering egress, fueling post-crash fires or
interfering with rescue attempts. Yet investigators did
uncover some safety issues with restraint systems.
One such issue involved the incorrect usage or adjustment of
seat belts. In certain aircraft types, the seat belts in the
left and right seats can become reversed, which could result
in the wrong airbag being activated if only one of the seats
is occupied.
There were also concerns with optimal airbag protection for
occupants whose body mass indexes (BMI) classified them as
either overweight or obese (BMIs of 25 or higher). The NTSB
questions whether the airbag-equipped restraints were
designed and tested with the high-BMI population in mind.
An additional finding of this study was the strong
affirmation that correctly installed shoulder harness/lap
belt combinations provide significantly greater protection
in GA accidents than that offered by a lap belt alone. Based
on an analysis of over 37,000 GA accidents, the Board
concluded that the risk of fatal or serious injury was 50
percent higher when an occupant was only restrained by a lap
belt as compared to the combination lap belt and shoulder
harness.
"The simplest and cheapest improvement to the safety of
general aviation aircraft occupants is the mandatory
installation of shoulder harnesses," said Hersman.
The five-Member Board voted to adopt six safety
recommendations, all directed to the Federal Aviation
Administration:
1. Require manufacturers to modify restraint systems
vulnerable to being used incorrectly in newly built GA
airplanes and to modify restraints in existing airplanes.
2. Revise the guidance and certification standards for
restraint systems to reduce the likelihood of misuse.
3. Modify the guidance to GA airbag manufacturers as to how
they should demonstrate that an airbag design provides
adequate protection for a greater range of body sizes,
including very small and very large individuals.
4. Require the retrofitting of shoulder harnesses on all
general aviation airplanes that are not currently equipped
with such restraints.
5. Evaluate the feasibility of requiring airbag-equipped
aircraft to capture and record crash dynamics data to
determine whether the system performed as designed.
6. Develop a system to track safety equipment, such as
restraint systems, airbags, and aircraft parachutes,
designed to improve crash outcomes.
The complete safety study will be available at
www.ntsb.gov
in several weeks.
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Fly safe!