Many believe that pilot and passenger safety will play an increasingly larger role in sales of future general aviation airplanes. Two of the most obvious advances in safety devices in recent years that support this trend are air bags (inflatable restraints) and airplane parachute systems. While these devices have been proven to improve crashworthi-ness, their biggest impact on GA is just being realized—new-airplane buyers seem to be more willing to buy when aircraft salespeople can prove that safety is a top-of-the-list feature of their product. New-airplane manufacturer Cirrus equips its airplanes with Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) parachutes. Cessna, Aviat, Mooney and Zenair are all installing AmSafe's Aviation Inflatable Restraint (AAIR) air bags as standard equipment in their latest offerings; Cirrus and Adam will add them too.
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