Opinion 02/2016

Seat crashworthiness improvement on large aeroplanes - Dynamic testing 16 g

This Opinion addresses a safety issue related to the crashworthiness of passenger and cabin crew seats in order to mitigate the risk of post-crash injuries or deaths.

Certification Specifications for large aeroplanes (CS-25) provides specifications to protect large aeroplane occupants from serious injuries in case of emergency landing. These specifications are: CS 25.785, CS 25.561, and CS 25.562, and they only apply to new large aeroplane types being certified and to some significant changes to the existing types.

The specific objective of this Opinion is to improve the protection of occupants on board large aeroplanes operated in commercial air transportation (CAT), when they are involved in a survivable accident.

This Opinion proposes, within the new framework introduced by Regulation (EU) 2015/640 (Part-26) and the related CS-26, to introduce additional airworthiness requirements and specifications for operations in order to make CS 25.562 specifications applicable also to newly produced large aeroplanes of already approved types.

The proposed changes are expected to increase safety and improve harmonisation with the corresponding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements.