Helimut
Erm, aren't the shoulder belt inertia systems supposed to do that? If you locked them in place, how would you reach forward if necessary?
My rather elementary understanding on how inertia reels work is that they only work in response to acclerations in one or maybe two of the possible six degrees of freedom. I gather that there are many cases where inertia reels have not prevented the cyclic and/or the instrument panel causing injury. That coupled with the regulators requiring a locking mechanism would to me indicate that your confidence in the inertia reel is misplaced. As for reaching stuff when locked, I take the view that allowing yourself to be distracted in a critical phase of flight by something out of reach is more dangerous than not wearing a helmet.
Horror Box,
Yes they can............
Would you care to expand on that, perhaps with a link or reference? I have to say I am anti helmet at the moment. I have found helmets to provide less noise attenuation than a headset and I gather that is confirmed by measurements. Moreover, I do wonder why if helmets are so good at reducing noise, why the American military provide their helicopter pilots with supplementary hearing protection. However if there is compelling evidence that a particular helmet provides better noise attenuation than any other means of hearing protection I am willing to be persuaded.