612 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–19 Edition) 

§ 29.785 

will not suffer serious injury in an 
emergency landing as a result of the 
inertial factors specified in § 29.561(b) 
and dynamic conditions specified in 
§ 29.562. 

(b) Each occupant must be protected 

from serious head injury by a safety 
belt plus a shoulder harness that will 
prevent the head from contacting any 
injurious object, except as provided for 
in § 29.562(c)(5). A shoulder harness 
(upper torso restraint), in combination 
with the safety belt, constitutes a 
torso restraint system as described in 
TSO-C114. 

(c) Each occupant’s seat must have a 

combined safety belt and shoulder har-
ness with a single-point release. Each 
pilot’s combined safety belt and shoul-
der harness must allow each pilot when 
seated with safety belt and shoulder 
harness fastened to perform all func-
tions necessary for flight operations. 
There must be a means to secure belt 
and harness when not in use to prevent 
interference with the operation of the 
rotorcraft and with rapid egress in an 
emergency. 

(d) If seat backs do not have a firm 

handhold, there must be hand grips or 
rails along each aisle to let the occu-
pants steady themselves while using 
the aisle in moderately rough air. 

(e) Each projecting object that would 

injure persons seated or moving about 
in the rotorcraft in normal flight must 
be padded. 

(f) Each seat and its supporting 

structure must be designed for an occu-
pant weight of at least 170 pounds, con-
sidering the maximum load factors, in-
ertial forces, and reactions between the 
occupant, seat, and safety belt or har-
ness corresponding with the applicable 
flight and ground-load conditions, in-
cluding the emergency landing condi-
tions of § 29.561(b). In addition— 

(1) Each pilot seat must be designed 

for the reactions resulting from the ap-
plication of the pilot forces prescribed 
in § 29.397; and 

(2) The inertial forces prescribed in 

§ 29.561(b) must be multiplied by a fac-
tor of 1.33 in determining the strength 
of the attachment of— 

(i) Each seat to the structure; and 
(ii) Each safety belt or harness to the 

seat or structure. 

(g) When the safety belt and shoulder 

harness are combined, the rated 
strength of the safety belt and shoulder 
harness may not be less than that cor-
responding to the inertial forces speci-
fied in § 29.561(b), considering the occu-
pant weight of at least 170 pounds, con-
sidering the dimensional characteris-
tics of the restraint system installa-
tion, and using a distribution of at 
least a 60-percent load to the safety 
belt and at least a 40-percent load to 
the shoulder harness. If the safety belt 
is capable of being used without the 
shoulder harness, the inertial forces 
specified must be met by the safety 
belt alone. 

(h) When a headrest is used, the head-

rest and its supporting structure must 
be designed to resist the inertia forces 
specified in § 29.561, with a 1.33 fitting 
factor and a head weight of at least 13 
pounds. 

(i) Each seating device system in-

cludes the device such as the seat, the 
cushions, the occupant restraint sys-
tem and attachment devices. 

(j) Each seating device system may 

use design features such as crushing or 
separation of certain parts of the seat 
in the design to reduce occupant loads 
for the emergency landing dynamic 
conditions of § 29.562; otherwise, the 
system must remain intact and must 
not interfere with rapid evacuation of 
the rotorcraft. 

(k) For purposes of this section, a lit-

ter is defined as a device designed to 
carry a nonambulatory person, pri-
marily in a recumbent position, into 
and on the rotorcraft. Each berth or 
litter must be designed to withstand 
the load reaction of an occupant 
weight of at least 170 pounds when the 
occupant is subjected to the forward 
inertial factors specified in § 29.561(b). 
A berth or litter installed within 15

° 

or 

less of the longitudinal axis of the 
rotorcraft must be provided with a pad-
ded end-board, cloth diaphragm, or 
equivalent means that can withstand 
the forward load reaction. A berth or 
litter oriented greater than 15

° 

with 

the longitudinal axis of the rotorcraft 
must be equipped with appropriate re-
straints, such as straps or safety belts, 
to withstand the forward reaction. In 
addition— 

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