The Massa accident is drawing attention to his head gear including the use of the HANS.
Anyone have details of the types of head or neck injuries in heli accidents?
Perhaps some form of HANS device would reduce neck injuries in heli accidents? We go to the trouble of donning a helmet but there is considerable risk of neck damage or a basal skull fracture in an accident.
The heli-HANS would need to allow more rotational movement of the head than the HANS designed for racing divers who have the benefit of rear view mirrors
The HANS simply rests over the shoulders and the helmet has two tethers attached to it thus limiting the degree of forward movement of the head in relation to the neck.
As far as I know, part of the design problem is that the hans can't be attached to the seat so it must be wedged between driver and his seat back to be effective. Given that pilots are not strapped into seats as rigidly as racing car drivers are, a new design is needed to prevent the hans from moving off the pilots shoulders..
Apparently a common aspect of Basal fracture is that it severs arteries and one bleeds to death in less than a minute.
Mickjoebill