NASA looking to make helicopters safer with airbags

One big problem with helicopters is that you’re in big trouble if anything goes wrong. There isn’t much of a safety or escape mechanism in these machines so in the event of trouble, its sheer luck that gets to decide the outcome. That’s where airbags enter the scene with their life saving credentials. And that’s also where NASA decides to do a bit of safety testing for helicopters with airbags thrown in.

nasa airbag helicopter

The airbags function as a shock absorber system mounted at the bottom of the helicopter and absorb a large part of the force of impact. In a recent test, a small helicopter was dropped from 35 feet, and though it hit the ground at 54mph, the honeycomb airbag system absorbed much of the force and the test dummies did not get badly damaged.

Via: NASA/ CrunchGear