Airline begins installation of Airbags
 

Looks comfy enough to be activated for the entire flight.
Seriously, hopefully this also signals that the days of babies and infants being carried on parents lap are numbered.

Mickjoebill


Airlines begin fitting airbags

Need more info, like what sort of impact and how will they be deployed? Its not like in a car where you have the sensors behind the bumper.

number 34, link added

Mickjoebill

They've been around in some aircraft and seats for at least a few years.... probably not a bad thing to have them on all seats if they work reasonably well.

Seem to recall sitting at an exit row with a large space ahead of the seat on an AC A321 a few years ago, that had one of these. Same company makes models for GA aircraft as well... 2 recent build Diamond DA40's at a flight school I flew at had these in the front seat as well.

Aviation Child Restraint - Aviation Seatbelts - Aviation Child Seat

What is the reasoning behind this?

So what kinds of accident are these designed to protect the pax from? Under what conditions do airbags deploy - heavy landing, heavy braking, collision (mid air or ground)?

Is there an issue with pax either not understanidng the brace position or not being sufficiently prepared, or even, not bothering?

I can understand if they're in positions where the brace position might be difficult - given the seat pitch on some airlines then it might be warranted...

fc101
E145 Driver

The brace position isn't going to save you in a major accident, all it does is lower the broken bone count a bit.

It's pretty simple, they should activate when there is a high G loading along the longitudinal axis. Any other axis renders them essentially pointless.

It seems that several people walked unaided from the recent Air India Express accident. Those that didn't almost certainly died from the fire that engulfed the aircraft rather than the apparently not too violent impact. How an airbag might improve such a situation seems to me to be extremely unlikely. If anything the inflated bag would impede rapid exit from the seats not next to the aisles. Better and cheaper would be a shoulder strap as fitted in your car.

Car air bags.
 

HowStuffWorks "How Airbags Work"

Note on page 2--

It didn't take long to learn that the force of an airbag can hurt those who are too close to it. Researchers have determined that the risk zone for driver airbags is the first 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of inflation. So, placing yourself 10 inches (25 cm) from your driver airbag gives you a clear margin of safety. Measure this distance from the center of the steering wheel to your breastbone. If you currently sit less than 10 inches away, you can adjust your position.:hmm:

Quicker to install the seats the right way round ie facing aft.

that's gonna be loud in the cabin if they all go off at the same time... Whoever had an airbag flying around their ears in a car knows...

But then, better deaf than dead, I assume...

If they work anything like car airbags, deflation will follow inflation nearly instantly. Not as you see in movies. It all happens so fast the human eye has trouble catching it.

LCC
 

Ryan Airs will be probably coin operated...

Either that or you'll have to bring along a Tesco bag and inflate it yourself before takeoff and landing! :}

:D:eek::D:eek::D Another good laugh thanks to PPRuNe!

-GY

In the May 2010 edition of Flying" magazine there is an article about airbags onboard aircraft
Quote:"AmSafe" supplies 95% of seatbelts for the worlds commercial aircraft.
The first seat belt air bag flew on a commercial airliner in february 2001, and others are now installed on 40,000 seats on 50 different airlines.
The airbag is armed when the seatbelt is latched. The airbag is deployed by a module that is attached under the seat in commercial aircraft, or attached to the airframe on GA aircraft.
The G-switch is set to deploy at 8 to 9 G´s with the rate of decceleration factored in to avoid accidental deployement during a hard landing.

At this point almost 90% of new single engine aircraft are delivered with airbag seatbelts.

Been flying on USAF transport´s a handful of times facing aft, and while this may be more safe, i couldn´t help looking at the huge cargoloads facing me in the cabin just waiting to crush me after i´ve been saved by the rear facing seat.:O

I don't profess to be an expert on safety but how many lives might this save?

I know the argument is that however few it saves it will be worth it, but how is this going to be significantly better than properly used seatbelts? Most accidents involve total hull destruction and I can't see airbags being very effective. I am sure that someone will cite the Afriquiyah accident, amongst others, and say there might have been more survivors than just the one young boy, with airbags, but it's highly speculative.

From my perspective I cannot say I would feel safer on a 'plane with airbags than with seat belts, it's down to the folk in the pointed end to keep me safe.

Perhaps if I had airbags like this to look at I would not bwe over-concerned about the safety aspect.

Goodness me old technology....AmSafe have had this available for a number of years...at least 10-12 to my knowledge.

All for compliance with Part 25.562 Emergency Landing under Dynamic Conditions. The B777 was first certified to this and I believe Airbus opted to comply on the A345/6?

I have to agree with 4Greens. Rearward facing seats would be a much cheaper and easier option. There's another thread somewhere discussing this in great detail, and I know the RAF went into it very thoroughly back in the fifties.

Is there a risk of ear damage if all those bags go off at once in a sealed hull?

On a more serious note, airbags will affect certified evacuation times.