Technology from the motor vehicle industry is increasingly being used to keep airline passengers out of harm’s way, an intriguing report in The New York Times has revealed.
Air safety will always be a nerve-jangling subject, but the reality is that strong seats and car-style air bags can go a long way towards saving lives. By minimising the trauma caused in hard landings, they boost every passenger’s chance of walking away unharmed.
And with that in mind, regulators are rolling out tough new guidelines in America which will require aircraft seats to withstand no less than 16 times the force of gravity.
The majority of plane crashes occur while pilots retain partial control over the aircraft, meaning that while highly distressing, they need not be fatal. Between 1983 and 2000, more than 95 per cent of passengers involved in US plane crashes survived their ordeal.
This potential for preserving human life was illustrated in heroic fashion by US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger last January. He managed to ditch his Airbus A320 in New York’s Hudson River without any fatalities, despite losing control of both engines.
In less surgical crashes, however, survival rates depend on passengers’ ability to maintain consciousness and minimise physical injury during impact.
