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German company Autroflig has reported that The European Aviation Safety Agency has approved its FLYWEIGHT safety seat for use in helicopters according to European Technical Standard Order rules.

The first production FLYWEIGHT seat will be installed shortly in a Leonardo AW109SP light multi-purpose helicopter operated by US medical transport specialist Intermountain Life Flight.

The composite seat shell is connected to the aircraft via an aluminium frame. The seat’s basic version weighs 8.8 kg (base configuration) and has a modified Energy Absorption System. This is to achieve a high level of dynamic crash safety, comparable to the widely used textile safety seats.

According to the company, aircraft outfitters have expressed significant intererest in the new seat. Autoflug intends to bring at least one more variant to series production this year.

Gerhard Heiming