Rear Facing Seat
I am intrigued by this theory that the sole surviving occupant of the S-92 accident may have been in a rear facing seat. It is well known that seats facing the rear of the aircraft can give better crash protection, a system that is adopted on many military fixed wing aircraft.
The clients certainly like forward facing seats, and that is how a majority of seats on UK offshore aircraft are configured. I assume that this improves passenger comfort, reduces travel sickness and improves general spatial awareness when traveling in the back of a landing aircraft.
As to this new Airworthiness Directive - Can someone in the know give any idea as to how operators have reacted to the issue regarding the Titanium Bolts.
i) Which incident first alerted the authorities to this problem
ii) Are Steel Bolts routinely available
iii) Have any operators actually installed / ordered these parts yet given that the directive was fairly open to 'getting round to it' on the next major service.