A Study of Helicopter Crash-Resistant Fuel Systems

Abstract

This report presents the results of a study, funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), of helicopter Crash-Resistant Fuel Systems (CRFS). It covers the historical efforts that led to the current state of the art in military helicopter fuel systems and the more recent modifications to civil certification standards in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 27 (Normal Category Rotorcraft) and Part 29 (Transport Category Rotorcraft). It describes the basic research, testing, field investigations, and production efforts that have led to the highly successful CRFS, that have saved many lives and have reduced the costs of accidents. While the hardware and fabrics are available today to create the CRFS, the adequacy of the integration of these items into existing and new civil fuel system designs cannot be assessed because of the lack of cuiTent field investigation data on civil helicopter crashes. This report reviews this problem, including the forms used for reporting and the current level of available data, which is essentially nonexistent. Training of field investigators in specific crashworthiness technology is of great importance, as well as the need for trained engineers in the design and certification process. A discussion of the civil and military crash environments is provided to give a background for the discussion of the need for reevaluation of the rationale used in establishing the current civil regulatory standards. The value of full-scale crash testing during the early development of the military CRFS is reviewed. The lack of any planned tests for the CRFS in current civil helicopters is an area of concern. A section of the study discusses the individual components of a CRFS, with guidance on the application of each item to the overall system design. This report provides guidance to designers looking for information about CRFS design problems and analytical tools for use in product improvements.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA401697

Entities

People

  • D. S. Hall
  • I. J. Rimson
  • N. B. Johnson
  • S. H. Robertson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Health Services
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Medical Personnel
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Safety Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Transport Aircraft
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Systems Analysis and Design