Phoenix, Arizona, April 05, 2011 — AmSafe Industries, Inc., the leading provider of highly engineered restraint systems, today unveiled its next-generation seatbelt airbag for commercial aviation at the 2011 Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany (booth 7F61).

"AmSafe developed the first and only seatbelt airbag certified for use on commercial aircraft as a cost-effective method of 16G compliance for difficult-to-certify seat placements. Over the last 10 years it has become the standard solution for challenging seat certifications. As its benefits have become more widely understood, the use of our seatbelt airbag has grown beyond this narrow application, and the product has enabled the development of numerous creative premium class seating environments that simply could not be certified with standard restraints," said Bill Hagan, president of AmSafe Industries, Inc. "Today AmSafe is introducing our next-generation seatbelt airbag. Having listened to our airline customers, we have completely redesigned the system, once again advancing the state-of-the-art, and creating a product that is substantially lighter, sleeker, more intelligent and optimized to support fleetwide retrofits."

The next-generation AmSafe Seatbelt Airbag will be available for delivery in the third quarter of 2011 and features numerous enhancements, including:

• A reduction in weight of more than 30 percent
• An increase in service life of more than 40 percent
• Wireless on-board diagnostics (accessed manually or through an integrated wireless system)
• Sleek design improvements, featuring a more narrow bag-belt and, as an option, AmSafe's new lightweight buckle

AmSafe introduced the aviation seatbelt airbag in 2001 to provide the commercial aviation industry with an option for compliance with the FAA's 16G safety regulation while protecting airline LOPAs and their associated revenue. Since its debut in 2001, it has been adopted by nearly 70 airlines around the world. Fifty thousand seatbelt airbags are currently in commercial service and have aggregated a total of 350 million hours of trouble-free operation.

The seatbelt airbag is a self-contained, modular restraint designed to protect occupants from serious head-impact injury and to enhance one's ability to exit an aircraft following a survivable accident. Integrated into the lap belt portion of the seatbelt, the seatbelt airbag, unlike automotive airbags, safely deploys up and away from the seated occupant, making it a safe restraint for passengers of all ages, including children.

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Source: AmSafe
Title: AmSafe Introduces Its Next-Generation Seatbelt Airbag
Date Published: April 5, 2011
Date Accessed: August 8, 2013