Disengagement of Safety Harness Buckles -CT4

摘要

During the crash of a CT4 Airtrainer in August, 1979 both safety harness buckles disengaged. The crash was very severe but the harnesses did not show signs of overloading. After a series of tests it was concluded that the buckles disengaged because of misalignment of the loads onto the buckle. This misalignment may not be represented in the standard test procedures and they may give a false sense of security. New tests are proposed, but further work would be desirable to establish design and test criteria. (Author)