Project Areas

Occupant Safety

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Child Restraint In Aircraft

CIC was the Chief UK research contributor to the UK CAA for investigating and making recommendations on the restraint of infants and young children in passenger aircraft.

Tests with anthropomorphic test dummies were conducted to investigate the safety implications of allowing the carrying of children under 2 years of age on the lap of an adult, when secured by a supplementary belt to the adult lap belt. In addition, the use adult lap belts was also addressed. The results of the research were published in a CAA paper (CAA 92020) and included the conclusion :

"... there is no age at which a young child can be given the same protection by a supplementary belt, whilst being carried on the lap of an adult sitting on a forward facing seat, as that obtained by an adult passenger secured by a lap belt whilst sitting on a forward facing seat."

Further tests evaluated use of automotive child restraints in passenger aircraft. These showed that forward facing restraints could provide similar levels of protection to those provided in cars. Rearward facing restraints were unable to demonstrate this capability when restrained solely by an aircraft lap belt - also reported in CAA paper 92020.

Subsequently, the use of European approved forward facing automotive child restraints on UK aircraft was approved by the CAA, but this left infants with no improvement in levels of protection. Dynamic testing to the 16g seat standard, of the occupancy of an aircraft seat by two or more children revealed the hazards of this practise.

CIC was a member of a recent EC Consortium that reviewed infant and child safety in passenger aircraft, and recommended a strategy and test procedure for the formal approval of child restraints in an avaiation environment.