Search Results

Aircraft used for business (executive corporate transportation or personal business) and utility purposes now represent about one-third of the total United States aircraft inventory. Data from accident investigation of business aircraft involved in survivable accidents indicate serious injuries and fatality to the occupants occur most frequently as a result of the unprotected head and neck or chest flailing in contact with aircraft controls, instrument panel, or structure. Improvement of current aircraft to provide increased occupant safety and survival during crash impacts is both necessary and feasible. Design considerations include folding seat back locks to prevent collapse, increased seat tie-down to structure, instrument panels and glare shields designed to absorb energy through structural design and padding, stronger seat structure, lateral protection, design and packaging of knobs and projections to minimize injury in contact, and installation of upper torso restraint.

Both the inverted-Y yoke torso harness with inertia reel and the air bag restraint system have had extensive independent development for some time by several engineering and research organizations for both aviation and ground vehicle occupant protection. The research reported in this paper consists of the first biomechanical primate evaluation of these concepts as experimentally adapted for possible automotive use. These tests are a continuation of a study involving the relative impact protection and effectiveness of major restraint systems utilized in general aviation aircraft and in limited automotive use. The objective of this test series was to determine how much protection those advanced restraint concepts provided; to obtain preliminary biomechanical and physiological data; to identify problems of technique and applications in occupant protection; and to provide an initial basis for direction of future test requirements.