Needs 50 Deposits To Begin The Process

Aircraft seatbelt and airbag company AmSafe has launched a program which it hopes will lead to an STC for a seatbelt airbag system for Bonanza 33/35 and Baron 55 series aircraft.

The launch program will run for 90 days, ending December 15th, in which the company will seek 50 confirmed requests with deposits. Once the 50 requests are reached, AmSafe will move into program development. Shipment of Airbag kits should start July 2013. 
 
Orders can be placed online. All AmSafe systems must be installed at an Authorized Service Center, locations for which can be found on the company website. The service center information should be filled in on the form prior to sending it in. AmSafe cautions that incomplete forms cannot be accepted. All deposits will be processed after the December 15th close date only if the 50 requests are received. If 50 requests are not received the development will not be started.

The company's seatbelt airbag is the only airbag system certified for use on commercial aircraft. It was developed as a cost-effective method of 16g compliance for difficult-to-certify seat placements. AmSafe has worked to improve on this state-of-the-art technology, and developed a version of the airbag system that is sleeker in design, substantially lighter in weight, contains built-in diagnostics and is optimized to support fleet-wide retrofits.
 
Just like the original design, the Seatbelt Airbag looks and operates like a standard AmSafe restraint. In the unlikely event of a survivable accident, an inflatable bag stored in the lap belt portion of the seatbelt protects passengers of all sizes from traumatic head and neck injury.
 
The AmSafe Seatbelt Airbag meets the 16g requirement for commercial passenger seats, is a complete solution for FAR/CS/25.562, Head Injury Criteria (HIC), FAR/CS/25.785 and side-facing protection requirements. The company says it has proven to be the most cost-effective solution for compliance to the 2009 16g ruling. meets commercial g-force requirements: 16g/part 121 crash worthiness standards, and has logged over 500 million hours of service

FMI: www.amsafe.com