CRASH-PROTECTIVE PERFORMANCE OF A HELICOPTER COCKPIT AIR BAG SYSTEM (CABS)

Recent technical efforts sponsored by the U.S. Army have demonstrated the potential for helicopter cockpit air bag systems (CABS) to alleviate injuries in potentially survivable helicopter mishaps. These efforts have included the design, fabrication, and demonstration testing of specialized air bag system concepts developed for representative Army attack helicopter cockpits. The helicopter air bag systems borrow from automotive technology. However, the helicopter cockpit and its crash environment are remarkably different from automobiles. Thus, innovative approaches are required to field a helicopter CABS that is effective. This paper discusses the development of a prototype CABS and 18 dynamic drop tests that were conducted to evaluate its capabilities as a supplement to the MIL-S-58095 five-point belted restraint. The testing demonstrated that adding the prototype CABS as a supplemental restraint resulted in substantial reductions in occupant flailing within the cockpit and the elimination of potentially lethal contacts with cockpit interior structure. U.S. Army Safety Center data show that, in potentially survivable helicopter crashes, contact injuries are now exceeding accelerative injuries by a ratio of approximately 5 to 1. Therefore, the now-demonstrated capability of CABS to limit flailing and reduce the incidence of contact injuries offers a realistic potential to attain a significant incremental reduction in the injuries sustained in helicopter crashes.