ASTM International’s General Aviation Aircraft Committee (F44) has approved a new standard that will provide a means of compliance for certification of inflatable restraints, popularly known as airbags.
The soon-to-be-published standard will be useful to aircraft original equipment manufacturers, as well as those applying for type certificates (TC) and supplemental type certificates (STC) from the FAA, according to ASTM officials.
According to ASTM member Jay Yeakle, up until now FAA special conditions have been employed as existing regulations did not envision airbag technology in aircraft.
According to Yeakle, TC and STC applicants currently must work with certification agencies to receive a special condition to install inflatable restraints in general aviation aircraft. The new standard will capture much of the same information that can be found in the special conditions and will present it in a way that can be accepted by authorities, he explained.
“Manufacturers will be able to use the proposed standard in their certification plans rather than engaging the regulatory bodies for FAA special conditions,” says Yeakle. “This provides a more efficient path to certification, reduces regulatory workload, and should speed the certification process.”
“By approving this standard through the ASTM F44 committee, it can be adopted internationally as an industry standard developed in coordination with several certification agencies,” Yeakle said.
“This new standard is one of several being considered by the structures subcommittee (F44.30) to address cabin safety,” he added. “Anyone interested in cabin safety for general aviation is encouraged to participate in the standards developing activities of F44.30.”
For more information: ASTM.org
The rollout of this will be interesting. I have dealt with airbag restraints for installation onto commercial aircraft. They are sometimes used on front row seats to prevent the occupant from striking what is in front of them, like a bulkhead or door bustle. They inflate into a wedge that arrests the motion of the torso, like a shoulder harness would. That is what strikes me as odd, G.A. aircraft typically already employ shoulder harnesses, so I am not sure where this technology will provide a benefit. Will it solely be marketing, offering an aircraft with an airbag as a premium with little or no actual increase in safety, or will the airbag protect the occupant from contact with the yolk in a way the harness does not? Lastly this may be more for interesting seating arrangements in business aircraft, where couches/divans and other seats may benefit from lap belts that provide the protection of full restraints.