Airbag as a Supplement to Standard Restraint Systems in the AH-1 and AH-64 Attack Helicopters and Its Role in Reducing Head Strikes of the Copilot/Gunner. Volume 2.

摘要

Accident investigation records of U.S. Army helicopter crashes show injuries of pilots due to striking a structure inside the cockpit outnumber those due to excessive accelerations by a five-to-one ratio. This two-volume report presents the results of a study of the effectiveness of airbags in reducing the severity of contact injury to the gunner when striking the gunsight. Airbag systems were installed on the gunsights in simulated Cobra and Apache cockpits, then sled tested at 7 and 25 g. The tests indicated airbags reduced head accelerations by 65 percent, head injury criteria by 77 percent, and head angular acceleration by 76 percent in the Cobra tests. In the Apache tests, the airbags reduced those same indicators by 68, 52, and 83 percent. An airbag system, the report concludes, is likely to prevent severe or fatal head and chest injuries in an Apache or Cobra crash. Volume 1 of the report describes the tests and discusses the results. Volume 2 consists of Appendixes A, B, and C of the report and contains processed signal graphs of all sled tests.