Discussion of Transport Passenger Seat Performance Characteristics

New performance standards for transport aircraft seats have been implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the chances of passenger survival in a crash. To optimize the performance of seats and to maximize survivability in compliance with these new standards, seats must be viewed as links in the floor-seat-passenger system. In a crash, their function is to support and restrain the passengers and thus to minimize the severity of injury while providing sufficient opportunity to egress. To accomplish this function the seats must (1) carry the inertial loads of the occupant and seat and limit floor reaction loads to magnitudes not exceeding the floor strength, (2) minimize the hazard associated with secondary impact of the occupants with the seat in front, and (3) not leave the occupant in a position or orientation that significantly impedes egress. Some of the factors that must be considered in designing such a seat to limit loads and to minimize interference with egress are discussed in this paper.