Pax Airbags

[TogaLock]

I recently flew on one of Cathay Pacific's A340-600's. The bulk-head pax seats had lap belts with a bulky leather casing, that upon inspection turned out to be an airbag.

This is the first I'd heard of such a device. I'm curious about how it works. Is it safe to have in infant on one's lap when sitting in such a seat? Does anyone have a pictue of what the inflated system looks like?

Thanks

[sprocket]

A quick search came up with this result.

http://www.achorizons.ca/en/issues/2003/february/images/SEATBELT.gif

I wonder if it is safety or the fact that you can cram in another row of seats because of a closer allowable bulkhead distance that caused this invention. ;)

Link (http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews/02asia1/airfrm15.htm)

Link (http://www.achorizons.ca/en/issues/2003/february/airbags.htm)

[allthatglitters]

Demonstration of the belt/bag from the manufacturer:-
http://www.amsafe.com/tca.htm

[Perrin]

Another con, as I have always said travelers in first class hit the mountain first thats why they get free drink.

[allthatglitters]

I sit here wondering how fiddle proof this is, thinking about the small and sometimes not so small children who like to fiddle with things??

[SnapOff]

I believe they came about because of an FAA directive, any seat within a certain distance of a bulkhead must have them fitted on new type certificated aircraft or equipment such as new design seats, hence A346. They work from a box in the seat with a inertia switch which activates under high decelerations (ie crash !!), joining the buckle ends arms the system. I'm not entirely convinced by them to say the least, just waiting for the day when one goes off "accidentaly" in the face of a pax, watch the lawyers come running and the FAA running away.

[maninblack]

The driving force behind this goes back about 15 years when the automotive industry were getting really safety conscious and introduced the HIC Test (Head Impact Criteria) which, if I remember correctly, required the deceleration of the head from 30mph to 0mph over 5.5 inches to avoid (crudely put) the brain coming loose in the skull.

Bulkheads such as galley and toilet units still perform very poorly in thse tests as anyone who have ever dropped a sheet of honeycomb on their head will testify.

The solutions are;

Remove the bulkhead row.

Move all the seat rows back half a metre so the passenger cannot strike the bulkhead.

Fit a seat belt airbag.

I have had a good play with them and they seem pretty idiot proof.

Anyone still up to speed on the latest in this area please feel free to correct my figures as I have been out of the detailed side of this loop of development for around 12 years.

[nilnotedtks]

Also fitted to the A345. Once inflated, they will automatically deflate after 2 seconds. This will not of course minimise the trauma and subsequent passenger bowel movement after an inadvertant inflation. As correctly stated, they are only armed after the belt is buckled.