Safety First: Progress Made In Testing of Seat-Embedded IFE
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Aviation makes safety the priority through investigation, regulation, and testing.
“The accident fatality rate for jet airplanes has fallen dramatically during the last 50 years..in part [due] to..use [of] information gained from accidents to develop safer, more survivable airplanes.”€” Boeing
Derrick Pruitt, of the Boeing Seats Tech Centre and Leader in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), updated APEX TECH attendees on progress in the development of test methodologies for IFE which adapt to FAA Advisory Circular (AC) No. 21-49 7.b. This AC calls for a reevaluation of Head Impact Criterion (HIC), specific to seats with integrated screens, including possible injury from shards and sharp edges.
“Of major concern are secondary head impacts which can inflict debilitating injuries and result in concussion and unconsciousness.” €” FAA, Lessons Learned.
To address the lack of specific test standards in the AC, a dedicated industry working group has drafted a baseline document, SAE ARP 6448, as a recommended framework.
The safety objectives of existing 16 g seat test criteria set-out in FAA 14 CFR Part 121 protect occupants from debilitating leg and spine injuries, and improve seats’ structural stability to avoid trapping occupants€”a danger during evacuation and rescue.
The SAE team has developed a specialized test fixture for HIC relevant to AC No. 21-49 7.b, and worked on standards for bench tests specific to IFE approvals.
“The IFE supplier can run an IFE component qualification for head impact. That would be..a head component tester, or some form of static compression test. It would be a bench test and not an integrated full-scale dynamic sled test.” €” Derrick Pruitt
“Surrogate targets” consisting of dummy monitors made of plastic, aluminum or other materials “replicate what the IFE monitor would do in an impact scenario,” without requiring the destruction of a fully functional IFE production unit.
For more on safety, read the feature “Blunt Force Drama” in The Architecture Issue.