More than 200 people lost their lives: That plane crash became a turning point! Giant airbags are the new hope...
In June, an Air India flight from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to London, the capital of England, encountered disaster just 30 seconds after takeoff. Preliminary reports indicated that the plane's fuel control switches were accidentally turned off immediately after takeoff, cutting off fuel flow to the engines and causing a complete loss of power. Cockpit recordings show two pilots questioning each other in shock about who made this fatal decision. Amidst the chaos, the plane crashed, leaving only one person aboard alive. This incident has become one of the deadliest air disasters in the last decade.
Two aviation engineers from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India believe they have developed a system that could help prevent similar accidents.
GIANT AIRBAGS FOR PLANESAccording to the news in Popular Science, the system developed by two engineers includes artificial intelligence-controlled giant external airbags.
Dubbed "Project REBIRTH," this multilayered safety system proposes equipping aircraft with sensors that constantly monitor flight conditions. If the system determines a collision is unavoidable at an altitude below 3,000 feet, giant airbags are deployed, creating a protective cocoon to absorb the impact.
Infrared flares and flashing lights are also activated during a collision, so that wreckage can be more easily found by emergency crews.
"THE WORLD'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-ASSISTED CRASH RESCUE SYSTEM"Engineers are calling the design, which has been nominated for the 2025 James Dyson Award, "the world's first AI-powered crash rescue system."
Although still in the early testing phase, computer simulations indicate that this system could reduce crash forces by more than 60%.
Speaking to Popular Science magazine, an aviation expert said the concept was promising, but warned that many questions remained, particularly regarding the additional weight of airbags.
Eshel Wasim and Dharsan Srinivasan, the brains behind REBIRTH, said that this concept is a direct response to the Air India crash.
"THAT DESPAIR WAS DISTURBING US""My mother couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about the fear the passengers and pilots felt knowing there was no escape. That helplessness was haunting us," Wasim said.
The two began examining academic research on airline safety and discovered a significant gap:
Existing systems were largely focused on preventing accidents, but solutions for improving survival when accidents were unavoidable were quite limited.
So they decided to develop a method that focuses on three goals:
- Reduce the speed of the aircraft before the accident,
- To absorb the impact of the impact,
- To enable rescue teams to reach the accident site more quickly.
The REBIRTH system begins working long before the popcorn-shaped airbags are deployed. Sensors placed throughout the aircraft monitor altitude, speed, engine status, heading and pilot reactions.
These sensors transmit data to an artificial intelligence system. This system analyzes the information and determines whether a potential crash is imminent. If the system makes this determination at altitudes of 3,000 feet or below, it deploys the airbags.
Pilots also have the ability to temporarily cancel the system's activation, but it's not yet clear how long this period lasts.
If the pilot doesn't abort, giant airbags are deployed from the plane's nose, fuselage and tail. All of this is planned to happen within 2 seconds.
These so-called "smart airbags" are composed of energy-absorbing layers such as Kevlar, TPU, Zylon, and STF. Their interiors are reinforced with non-Newtonian fluids, which further enhance impact absorption.
If the engines are still operational, the system automatically engages reverse thrust. Engineers say this method can reduce the aircraft's speed by 8% to 20% before impact.
When the aircraft lands with its airbags covered, the system automatically sends out infrared flares, GPS coordinates and lights, allowing rescuers to quickly locate the aircraft.
Wasim and Srinivasan said they have seen promising results from computer simulations of their system so far and have built a 1:12 scale prototype. The duo has begun contacting policymakers, aircraft manufacturers, and government agencies to initiate larger-scale testing. They say REBIRTH is ready for comprehensive testing.
OVERHEAVY AIRBAGS MAY DO MORE HARM THAN BENEFITAviation expert Jeff Edwards, however, believes more test data is needed to assess the system's viability. He notes that the system's true effectiveness may depend on its weight on the aircraft.
Although airbags and thrust reversers are designed to reduce crash force, this advantage can be negated if the system is too heavy and adds significant weight and drag.
Also, commercial aircraft weigh a lot, so the airbags needed to be really huge to cushion the impact force.
There are still some uncertainties about the effectiveness of the AI-based monitoring system. AI can detect a plane's proximity to the ground and activate safety measures, but Edwards says there are also numerous real-time variables to consider when landing off the airport.
ON THE TRACK OF UNCOMPROMISING IDEAS ON AIRCRAFT SECURITYREBIRTH follows in the footsteps of many unconventional air security ideas that have been proposed so far.
For example, some small twin-engine aircraft have parachute systems that cover the entire aircraft for safe landing in the event of engine failure.
A 2011 NASA-supported project aimed to develop a self-healing coating resistant to lightning, extreme temperatures, and electromagnetic interference. This technology involved coating the aircraft's exterior with a conductive film and energy-absorbing foam, which would then repair itself if damaged.
IF HE WINS THE AWARD, HE WILL JOIN THE EXTRAORDINARY IDEAS CLUBREBIRTH will join the club of extraordinary and innovative projects if it wins the James Dyson Award, which will be announced on November 5. Winners of the James Dyson Award receive a $40,000 prize money.
mynet
