Originally Posted by
GalleyWench
It's great to see a young person with so much ambition. Sadly, I don't think she will be very successful with her cause. Airplane seats have to be designed to meet very stringent crash tests and I doubt that a wheelchair would be sturdy enough to withstand the negative g forces that the FAA requires. On paper I think it's a wonderful theory, just wish there was a realistic way to make it happen.
Amen to the safety concearns mentioned here! To be honest, too many powerchairs out there that are used while being transported in a car aren't even safe in case of any crash. There are not too many powerchairs I know off that actually get crash-tested for being safely transported in while in a car. A car crash is 'nothing' compared to the forces that one experiences when faced with an aircrash, emergency landing etc.
I am a VERY avid user of both my powerchair and manual chair. Heck, having a seat even just one inch or degree off will cause me a lot of pain. Not to mention the fact that I'm used to a seat that chances to my bodies needs each and every second over and over again. The powerchair has actually been crash-tested and is considered 'safe' for usage while driving. Any airline seat (including first/business) is a royal pain for me. Yet, no way I will want to flight in my own wheelchair. I would rather be in pain from the discomfort of a seat than be dead -or more disabled- because I wanted to sit comfortably and oops...... the plane crashed.
Making airline seats more comfortable? To be honest, I've seen too many folks that would need too many ajustments to start to make an airline seat 'comfortable'. It would be way too costly, and somehow I can't imagine the general flying public willing to pay such an increase of fare.
Besides all of this, no way it would work. If it was even discussed as a real option, it would have to be open to fit any kind of wheelchair. After all if it does not, discrimination will be shouted within seconds. Now a manual chair isn't too big of a size challenge. A powerchair becomes a bit worse. A powerchair with lots of extra aids on it; even a bit more. A powerchair with tilting options; still more. After all; the person in the chair has these options because they need them, so they'll want to use them on a long haul flight. And then there comes along the customer that uses a lie flat wheelchair. Woops. Those quickly are the size of a regular one person bed. That in itself takes about, how many........... 4 seats at least? I can not imagine it being cost effective enough to such a point to make this work.