The Perceived Benefits of Airbag Systems in General Aviation Aircraft

A i i h a v e b e ~ u s e d mcarsfbryearsandarejustscartingtobe develapedlbruse inGenerat Aviation (GA) aircmft but there exisis a perception that aircraft airbeg systienrs may be more harmful than beneficial. GAacc~iwoIvehigb~onal~taldogplaceduringthe~takeoffandlandingphaPesoffligbt This study will use descriptive methodology to survey members of three l d flying clubs to obtain their pmeption regankg airbags in general d o n aircraft. It was hypothesized that a majurity of the swvey respondents would ~tfieuseof~in~eralanriation~Thereaultsindicatedthatgenerallypilots~theuseof airbag systems in General Aviation aircFaR Introduction Airbags have long been used m autamobies but haveanlyrecedyeamaedintousemavietloaapplkaths. , In %p&&er of 1997, Federal Mator Vehicle Safety Staudard 208 mandated vehicles be equipped with airbags ( h t t p : l ~ . ~ g o v l ~ i v s s J ~ part208,2010).Whenai1bag5were~farusem automobiles, Ib systems were initially met with some r e s i s t a u c e h t h e p u b l i c ~ h , 1990).Repartsof66 people being killed by airbag explosions were used to tarnish ahbag 9afiety (a*, 1997, p. 1). The pnpoae of this study is to examine public pempth of active inflatable restraint systems (AIRS), or airbags, a d their use m aviation. A hge disparity exists between axkht retes m conrmacial aud General Aviation (GA). There is a aeed ~incregsedsafetyingeuedaviaticm,withuxichtrates being over 30 times those of cammercial aviaticm (Bertb, nd). A large pem&ge~ of GA accidents take place during the~~climbandlendinpphlWGRoftlighLDada f h m t h e N a t i d ~ S a f e t y B o a r d ~ t h e y e a r 2001, the last year available, teaects that 66.78% of GA accidents took place during fhe taxi, takeme climb and l a n d i n g p h a s e s o f f l i g h t (http://www~b.govlaviation/stats.htm, 2010, p. 1). The researcher is a private pilot and has flown mrmgnun single engine aircratt and has limited eqerhce in multiengine aircraft The -also has a Bachelor of S C i e n c e i n F l i g b t T e c J m o l o g y ~ C e n t r a l W ~ Univasity,and~thiSlaoposelwhilecancmffnSly warking on a Master of AemnautM Science degree h m Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. , the reseadm spent one year warking at a flight school at Boeing Field (KBFJ) as a Cbtmex Senrice Repmmmh and Chtomer Savice Supervisar. ' I l i s experkme has allowed the researcher to gain significant gq>ertise in the &Id. The remmk initially leaned of airbags in airplaues ~ S e e i a g t h e ~ A i r b e g s y s t e P n m h i s ~ ~audbackgmdmtheaviat ionhdusby.Upon ~ve lyo f thesys tem, theresearcherwas~thrd this systemdidnotreceivetheexpomuemthemediawhich s y C h g p l ~ s e f e t y d e v i c e ~ r e c e i v e . Thepllrposeofthisrcstarchwasto~and present data regarding public pemption of airbag systems and their use in general aviatim aircraft. The pzcedved 13 Mulkey: The Perceived Benefits of Airbag Systems in General Aviation Airc Published by ERAU Scholarly Commons, 2013 benefits of having an airbag system m general aviatiun aircraft were also h d g a t d It was anticipated that p e r c e i v e d ~ ~ ~ ~ r e c o g p i z e d b y m aviation pilots. General Avietioa (GA) idden& adden& aud fsEalaccidents~tooccurevelyyear.Mauyofthese event s~dmingthecmise ,Caod ,audtakeOf f~~ f the fligbS. Advances of safety equ@ent that am better protectpassengersduringthesephasesofflightshould cmtinuetobededaudimplementdtohpmvethe sa&ty r e d of these phases of flight. Accarding to Barth (2005) sa&ty regulations htduced in the late 1980's have enhanced oanpmt sa€ety inside lhe aimdl cabin @. 1). Despite this improvement, GA has a much higher rate of accidentswhenc~mpadtocammercialaviation(32times and 18% higher mspectively) @. 1). Table 1 shows the accidensratesand~esmUnitedSlatesgeneralaviatian bmtheyeers 1990to2009.Table2 showstheaccident rates fix the year 2009 aud also shows a s igdhut dBkmm between GA aud cummercial accident rates. Table 1 Acciden@FataMes,andRates 1990lhugh2W9,U.S.GmaalA~ ACCFatalities Ac&ents per 100,000 Plight Hours