They are commonplace in many cars, but airbags might soon be making the transition from protecting motorists to safeguarding airline passengers.
US seatbelt manufacturer AmSafe is using Farnborough to promote its new airbag restraint system, which it says could dramatically reduce the number of lives lost in certain types of aircraft accidents.
The AmSafe product deploys an airbag pillow from the passenger's lap belt in the event of impact, reducing the chances of trauma to the head.
THREATENING
"Our seatbelt airbag system will eventually save the lives of passengers who would sustain life threatening head injuries in otherwise survivable crashes," says AmSafe general manager Bill Hagan.
He cites US National Transportation Safety Board figures which estimate that more than 75% of all air crashes are survivable.
The system is undergoing development and testing and Hagan adds that it will be available for retrofit onto all aircraft seats and for new-generation widebodies like the Airbus A340 and Boeing 777.
Source: Flight Daily News
