The plane is, given in hand, the safest means of transport in the world. Yet, in the very rare cases in which an accident really takes place, the possibility of coming out live is almost nothing. It is one of those truths that know each other, but you prefer not to think about. Yet two young engineers have decided to face her chest, making an uncomfortable but necessary question: what if there was a way to survive even when everything else fails?
Rebirth was born from this question, an active security system that swells huge airbag around the aerer fuselage a few moments before impact. The aim is to cushion the crash and increase the possibilities of salvation. An idea that might seem out of a science fiction film, but that has already attracted the attention of international experts and media.
The idea of airbag for planes was born after a plane disaster
It all started with a real tragedy: the flight Air India 171, which started from Ahmedabad to London, rushed just 30 seconds after take off. A sudden failure of the fuel controls turned off the engines and caused the crash. Of the 242 passengers, only one survived.
One of the two inventors, Dharsan Srinivasan, said that his mother could not stop thinking about terror that they must have tried passengers in those last moments. The same happened to Eshel Wasim’s mother, the other engineer behind the project. Both decided to transform that sense of impotence into a concrete action, as they explained in their candidacy for the James Dyson Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in the world for technical innovations.
There is no system that helps to survive after something went wrong. This has tormented us.
Thus was born Rebirth, an acronym which means “rebirth”, but which for them is an engineering response to human pain. A way to say that, even after the failure of any other security system, there may still be a possibility.
Rebirth: an intelligent airbag activated by sensors and IA
The functioning of Rebirth is surprising in its simplicity: from take -off to the landing, the system constantly monitors the flight through sensors that control altitude, speed, state of the engines and the actions of the pilots. If the system detects that an accident is imminent and inevitable under 3,000 height feet, it activates automatically.
In less than two seconds, huge airbags swell from a muzzle, tail and lower part of the plane, transforming the fuselage into a sort of enormous “protective ball”. Airbags are made up of ultra-resistant materials such as Kevlar, Zylon, TPU and are covered with non-Newtonian fluids, which become rigid to the impact.
According to the simulations conducted by the two engineers, the system would be able to reduce the impact for 60%. If the engines are still active, the system operates the reverse thrust to slow down the 20%plane. If, on the other hand, the engines are off, gas engines slow down and stabilize the fall.
Once touched Earth, Rebirth emits an emergency signal with GPS, flashing lights and high visibility orange paint, to help rescuers find any survivors more quickly.
Rebirth is activated only when everything else went wrong. It is the last chance.
Innovative ideas, but not without obstacles
For now Rebirth exists only in simulations and in a 1:12 scale prototype, controlled by microprocessors and CO₂ cartridges. The two engineers have already developed patterns, materials on materials and a plan for crash tests, but to test it in real scale you will need industrial partners and specialized workshops.
In the meantime, experts in the aeronautical sector remain cautious. Jeff Edwards, a former US Navy driver, stressed that the addition of Airbags so large on each plane would entail a significant weight gain, as well as potential aerodynamic complications. And in a sector where every kilo counts, this is a problem, explained Edwards:
To avoid an accident every twenty years, we should accept a daily compromise in terms of costs and consumption.
It is not the first time that visionary ideas emerge to increase safety in flight. Some light planes are equipped with parachute, the NASA has tested coverings that are replaced after lightning, and even a patent Airbus has imagined a trap door to expel hiotwits. But Rebirth is different: he does not try to avoid the accident, but to make it possible to survive even when it is too late now.
The idea was born from a real experience, from a human need: to do something, concretely, in order not to remain unarmed in front of the tragedy. Whether this technology becomes reality or not, the question remains valid: is it really impossible to survive a plane crash?
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