Performance Standards for Oblique Facing Passenger Seats in Transport Aircraft
ARP6316
This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) documents a common understanding of terms, compliance issues, and occupant injury criteria to facilitate the design and certification of oblique facing passenger seat installations specific to Part 25 aircraft.
The applicability of the criteria listed in this current release is limited to seats with an occupant facing direction greater than 18 and no greater than 30 degrees relative to the aircraft longitudinal axis. Later revisions are intended to provide criteria for other facing directions. Performance criteria for side facing seats installed with the occupant facing direction at 90 degrees relative to the aircraft longitudinal axis are provided in AS8049/1.
Seats installed at angles greater than 30 degrees relative to the aircraft longitudinal axis must have an energy absorbing rest or shoulder harness. However, this document does not provide the criteria for oblique facing seats incorporating such rests. Satisfying the criteria listed in Table 2 may satisfy the requirement for a rest.
Although the issues and criteria presented in this document are common with oblique facing seats installed in Part 23 aircraft and Parts 27 and 29 rotorcraft, these recommendations have not been validated for these types of aircraft.
Rationale:
The use of oblique facing passenger seats has become prevalent for business and first class seating arrangements on many airlines. The FAA continues to perform research to determine acceptable occupant injury criteria. Until these criteria are published an interim approach is needed to standardize the performance requirements and the methodology used to meet them. This recommended practice offers such an approach. It is intended that this ARP will be revised once the FAA releases criteria and will then be published as an Aerospace Standard.
