Air Platform Passive Occupant Protection

Seated aircrew members rely on their five-point harnesses to position their bodies correctly within their seats in order to provide the best chance of survivability during a rapid deceleration event. The current system requires the user to adjust each of five straps manually in order to correctly position the central rotary buckle in such a way to minimize potential internal injuries. For a variety of reasons, these straps are not always adjusted properly. When excess length is present, the harness can no longer effectively limit the users motion or displacement during a crash. Of special interest in this SBIR topic is the phenomenon of pitchout, in which a users head and shoulder pivot forward away from his/her seatback, or in which the users head and shoulders exit the harness completely. Pitchout can lead to significant injuries and even death. In order to improve the crashworthiness of the current harness, GS Engineering proposes a comprehensive approach to development of a high performance self-adjusting harness, which will eliminate the manual adjustment protocol and in turn greatly reduce injuries caused by pitch-out. GS Engineering will work with its strategic team members to deliver a crash-worthy harness with high commercialization prospect.