National Academies' Accessible Airline Travel Book Published

HERL Director Dr. Rory Cooper served on the National Academies committee that authored the just released report Technical Feasibility of a Wheelchair Securement Concept for Airline Travel. This is an important step towards accessible air travel.

There appear to be, in this preliminary assessment, no formidable issues that present design and engineering challenges for installing in-cabin wheelchair securement systems in airplanes. While equipping enough airplanes with securement systems to provide meaningful levels of airline service would require substantial effort, the types of cabin modifications required to provide the needed space and structural support would likely be of moderate technical complexity for many individual airplanes. This report identifies and examines potential technical challenges to the development and implementation of an in-cabin wheelchair securement system.

A free downloadable PDF of the report is available from National Academies Press.