FAA Proposes More Protective Airliner Seats

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration proposed Thursday that existing airline seats be modified to better protect passengers during hard or crash landings and that seats on new aircraft offer similar protection.

The upgraded seats would increase passengers’ chances of escaping survivable accidents without serious injury and would be less likely to break loose and block aisles, allowing easier emergency evacuation, the FAA said.

FAA Administrator T. Allan McArtor said the seats would “meet new dynamic test standards that simulate actual crash loads and are consistent with current floor strength levels. The new seats would also be required to absorb some of the impact of a crash landing without passing it on to the passengers.”

Under the FAA’s proposed rules, airlines would have seven years to retrofit their fleets with better seats, starting from the time that new aircraft were required to carry upgraded seats.

The proposal is based on a five-year research and development program by the FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The program used dummies to monitor human tolerance for crash impact forces.