Oct 09, 2021 12:00:00

What is the history of the spread of 'airplane seat belts'?

Nowadays, when boarding an airplane, it is required to fasten a seatbelt during takeoff and landing, and it is recommended to fasten the seatbelt when seated in case of sudden shaking even when there is no sign to wear it. However, from the beginning of the development of airplanes, it was not recommended for crew members to wear seatbelts, and at one point the 'seatbelt danger theory' was whispered. Airplane-related website Air & Space Magazine has compiled.

How the Airline Industry Got Wise to Seat Belts | History | Air & Space Magazine

https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/how-airline-industry-got-wise-seat-belts-180978271/

The Wright brothers succeeded in the first powered flight of mankind in 1903, but after that, the improvement of airplanes progressed rapidly, and in the First World War that broke out in 1914, military reconnaissance aircraft and fighters also appeared. After the war, full-scale transportation by plane began, and in 1919, the world's first international airmail went into service.

As the initially life-threatening flight journey becomes more reliable, more attention will be paid to the comfort and safety of the plane. In 1929, Boeing's chief engineer Charles Montis provided services similar to rail travel, such as 'bedroom, smoking room, observation room, and meal arrangement,' at a conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on commercial flights. He declared that he would do it.

Monteith also appealed to the audience for the need for a 'safety belt,' saying that air travel safety is also Boeing's top priority. 'For safety belts, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are opposed to the introduction. Most transportation systems operating in the United States also do not provide belts to passengers, but sometimes they are rapidly demonstrating their need. It has been done, 'said Montis.

At that time, Mr. Monteith envisioned not an aircraft collision, but to prevent people thrown out by eddy and pre-takeoff tremors from becoming 'projections' flying around in the cabin. As you can see from Monteith's remarks, passenger seat belts were considered an option in 1929, but some people, including Monteith, made seat belts a standard option. I thought I should do it.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the United States invested even more money and brains in aircraft research. In 1942, the Crash Injury Research (CIR) project was launched with the aim of improving survival in car and aircraft crashes, led by

Hugh Dehaven of Cornell University. Dehaven, a 12-year director and senior researcher at CIR, is a former pilot who has done a lot of research from his experience of surviving a crash during training and is also known as the 'father of collision survival.' increase.

In the 1940s, skepticism remained in the seatbelts, and the theory that 'when a collision occurs, the seatbelts dig into the abdomen and cause damage to the internal organs' was whispered, but Mr. Dehaven's enlightenment That concern has diminished through activities and public education campaigns.

However, the crash of Vickers Viking at London Heathrow Airport on October 31, 1950 once again cast doubt on the safety of seat belts. The accident was caused by poor visibility due to heavy fog, and contacted the ground at an angle of about 20 degrees at a speed of about 150 to 120 km / h, killing 28 out of 30 crew members and passengers.

Forensic scientist Donald Tear , who conducted the accident investigation, said in a September 1951 report that 'more than half of the victims showed a sharp bend on their safety belts', a direct cause of death. Claimed to have been a seat belt. This report was a hot topic, and some Americans evaded seatbelts, including an article under the heading 'Dangerous Safety Belts' that seatbelts could cause fatal damage in the event of an airplane accident. The trend has spread rapidly.

Dr. Eugene Dubois of Cornell University, a member of the CIR and a former chairman of the Aviation Medicine Commission, set out to overturn the situation where seat belts are considered dangerous. In September 1952, a year after Tear's report, Dubois and colleagues published a report titled 'Seat belts are not dangerous.'

Dubois and colleagues argued that the impact of the Vickers Viking crash on the runway probably did not overwhelm the seatbelts worn by the passengers. On the other hand, he pointed out that the impact on the right wing pushed the passenger's body to the right side, and the stiff armrest of the seat may have caused injury to the liver and spleen. However, this was not the direct cause of death of the passengers, but the investigation team said, 'The plane slipped and rolled, causing the seats and belts to separate from the aircraft and plunge into the hard surface of the aircraft and broken windowpanes. We conclude that 'the rupture and fracture of the aorta' was the real cause of death.

Dr. Milton Helpan, Deputy Chief Coroner of New York City, also agreed with the CIR's conclusions. Of the passenger injuries reported by Tear, there were no bladder, abdominal, or stomach injuries, so 'there were no signs of seatbelt injuries,' Helpan said. matter.

Various crashes attracted attention in the 1950s, and the United States Congress enacted the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, advancing efforts to tighten government regulations to increase the safety of commercial aircraft. Basic aircraft safety requirements, including seat belts for passenger seats, were codified in 1972 and have been updated frequently since then, and have been passed down to the present day.