Accidents and Safetly Equiptment

[Jim Hardin]

I fail to understand the anal mentality of some of the responses...

The Topic is 'safety equipment' not what caused their use/miss-use.

If the bailout was caused by a bird strike, what possible difference does it make if the offending bird was a buzzard or a goldfinch?

Stick to the subject and stop sniping at the poster

[CDS]

A recent lift accident jogged my memory of two aircraft accidents. Chairlifts often have a safety bar, and the best also have a foot rest. Its easy to use, just reach overhead and swing it down in front. Falling is rare so people dont always use the bar, some areas and instructors dont emphasize use, every time.Clothes can be slippery on the seat or the chair lurch when stopping. Unfortunately a lady and daughters fell, with hers being fatal, likely the bar was not used, sadly.
What does this have to do with flying and EAA in particular? Its really the same type of thing, a rare accident which may have been avoided using safety equipment...

Thanks for bringing this up, Bill. It's right at the heart of something I've been wondering about as just a few months ago, a young couple lost their lives in a simple car accident; neither were wearing seat belts. Their 2 year old daughter was properly strapped into a car seat and survived with very minor injuries. Today, the deceased mother's parents are raising their grand daughter.

When the late mother was a just an infant, I'd held her for much of one evening - it made an impression on me that I'll always remember.

And in even more recent weeks, I've seen reports of auto accidents with more fatalities in which the drivers or riders weren't wearing their seat belts. How does such a thing happen in this day and age?

So, I'm compelled to ask, how many readers of this blog do NOT wear seat belts in their cars? Is there anyone who doesn't wear a seat belt in an aircraft?

[Frank Giger]

I always wear a seat belt in an automobile, and when I designed my restraint system for my Nieuport, I spent a long while thinking it through.

It's overbuilt, which is okay IMHO. When I inverted the aircraft the restraints did their job very well. Indeed, when I came to rest I was hanging from the shoulder straps in the seat thinking "now what?" And yes, I did bonk my head on the grass when I hit the quick release!

[martymayes]

I would venture most pilots wear a seatbelt when they drive but what is sad is the number of airplanes that still do not have a shoulder harness. We could certainly do better......

[DaleB]

I started wearing a seat belt in cars when the seatbelt warnings got too annoying to ignore and took too m work to bypass (late 1990s). After a few years it just became automatic; I wear it every time I get in the vehicle now unless I'm just moving the vehicle a few feet or something. I've been on a bike without a helmet twice in 10 years, briefly... although once i get the Vespa running again that may change.

When I was young and invincible and could not be killed, I ignored safety equipment often. Now that I'm old and feeble and every stupid moron on the road with a cell phone and tablet seems like they are actively TRYING to kill me, it's different. And I always wear whatever restraints are available in an airplane, I've seen me fly.

[Floatsflyer]

I would venture most pilots wear a seatbelt when they drive but what is sad is the number of airplanes that still do not have a shoulder harness. We could certainly do better......

That's a big +1.

A lap belt without the shoulder harness is as useless as you know what in a bowl. All kinds of avionics have been mandated and made mandatory by the regulator within certain conditions and circumstances so why not do the same with shoulder harnesses. Seems a cheap and necessary requirement for safety and life and limb saving. I'm all for it.

It took way too long for the legacy aircraft makers to adopt car technology in the cockpit. It's only been in the last 15-20 years or so that they began to integrate combination lap/shoulder inertia reel systems in new aircraft. I also have an Amsafe airbag built into the lap belt in my C182. Nice to know it's there, hope I never see it discharged.

[WLIU]

Only recently has the FAA made it easier to install safety equipment like shoulder harnesses in older airplanes. Most Cessna's have provisions for shoulder harnesses but that is not true of other brands. So the 337 process has to be followed. Take a look at AC43-13.2A Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices - Aircraft Alterations, Chapter 9 Shoulder Harness Installations. Not simple and easy in some aircraft. A shoulder harness anchored in tissue paper does you no good.

Of course, the best rule is "don't crash".

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS - which came from the factory with shoulder harnesses

[martymayes]

Only recently has the FAA made it easier to install safety equipment like shoulder harnesses in older airplanes.

Recently has been 20 yrs now. In 1997 the FAA published a policy letter that allows shoulder harness installation - in aircraft that typically would not have a shoulder harness - with acceptable vs approved data. Can be done as a minor alteration which is a logbook entry only. Be rare to have a plane where a suitable installation solution is not readily available. It just boggles my mind when someone hops in a plane, clicks the seatbelt - no shoulder harness installed - dons his $1000 Bose headset and flies off into the blue.

[1600vw]

Just a shoulder belt is not enough IMHO. I had a friend fly in and we went for a trip in his Zenith. It has one shoulder belt like a car. I myself like a 4 or 5 point harness myself. But what most miss is the angle at which they sit. I saw one set up were the operator was kinda laid back. In the right conditions one could slide out under the belt. Why I like a 4 or 5 point harness. It's harder to slide out under one of those.

Speaking of seat belts. When I built my Pro Street hot rod, the seat belts had to be replaced every other year. How many replace the seat belts in their airplane after a few years? The ones in my airplane are going on 13 years old. I myself believe these should be replaced every so many years. Like the NHRA requires. The NHRA would never allow a car on the track with outdated safety harness.

[DaleB]

Speaking of seat belts. When I built my Pro Street hot rod, the seat belts had to be replaced every other year. How many replace the seat belts in their airplane after a few years? The ones in my airplane are going on 13 years old. I myself believe these should be replaced every so many years. Like the NHRA requires. The NHRA would never allow a car on the track with outdated safety harness.

So why have you not replaced the seat belts in your plane for 13 years?