# SAIB 2026-10: Equipment / Furnishings - Restraint Systems - Type: Special airworthiness information bulletin (advisory, not mandatory) - Status: Historical - Revision: 0 - Issued: April 8, 2026 - Products: safety belts and torso restraint systems - Product type: Appliance, Airship, Balloon, Glider, Light-sport Aircraft, Rotorcraft, Single-Engine, Small Airplane, Small/Large Airplane, Small Multi-Engine - PDF: https://openairdocs.org/files/sha256/a6/f0/a6f0d0d7dcaef43f329a0ef5c1aec8ba48f5906d1deadf8032383e92ea9891c5 - FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/DRSDOCID181305360720260408161645.0001 - DRS record last changed: April 15, 2026 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/saib/2026-10 ## Text Some pages are OCR from the scanned FAA bulletin. OCR can misread letters and numbers. FAA Aviation Safety **SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS** INFORMATION BULLETIN SAIB: 2026-10 SUBJ: Equipment / Furnishings - Restraint Systems Date: April 8, 2026 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory. Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) is being issued to alert owners, operators, and maintenance technicians of an airworthiness concern for torso restraint systems and safety belts installed in general aviation aircraft. At this time, the airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 39. Background The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) notified the FAA of multiple general aviation accidents in which restraint assemblies failed after being subjected to impact loading. Although it is unknown if the loading surpassed the restraints’ design criteria, failed restraints may contribute to serious injury or death of occupants. One related accident as documented in NTSB Accident No. CEN12FA601 occurred on September 16, 2014, when an Aeronca 7AC airplane impacted terrain after losing control during takeoff. The pilot sustained serious injuries, and the passenger sustained fatal injuries. The investigation revealed that the pilot’s Aero Fabricators four-point restraint assembly model H-702- 300, see Figure 1, separated at the shoulder harness Y-junction threading that separates the two shoulder straps and connects to the fuselage attach strap behind the pilot’s head as shown in Figure 2. The NTSB performed additional testing on these restraints as documented in the accident docket’s “Survival Factors Factual Report” dated September 16, 2014, and concluded that the shoulder harness failed at loads below those prescribed in current Technical Standard Orders (TSOs). A search of NTSB public dockets identified at least fifteen other general aviation accidents resulting in full or partial failure of the occupants’ restraint system. Many of these failures occurred at the Y-junction threading as shown in Figure 2. These accidents often involved serious or fatal injuries of the occupants. Further inspection of the accident findings revealed that these restraints are often designed to obsolete TSO requirements. Minimum torso restraint system performance requirements are currently prescribed in TSO-C114 dated March 27, 1987. Minimum safety belt performance requirements are currently prescribed in TSO-C22g dated March 5, 1993. Both TSOs provide standards equivalent to SAE Aerospace Standard (AS) Document No. AS8043, “Torso Restraint Systems,” dated March 1986. Recommendations The FAA recommends that owners and operators of general aviation aircraft:  Ensure their restraint systems meet the minimum performance requirements prescribed in TSO-C114 dated March 27, 1987 for torso restraints and TSO-C22g dated March 5, 1993 for pelvic seat belt restraints, or later revisions thereof.  Positively identify that their restraints meet these minimum performance requirements through visual inspection of the manufacturer’s label markings on the restraint assemblies. These markings may list the TSO numbers and/or the rated strength of the restraint assembly. The assembly’s rated strength to meet the current performance requirements is 3000 lbs or more. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show examples of label markings of restraints which do and do not meet TSO-C114 or TSO-C22g requirements.  Replace torso and pelvic restraints which are not labeled as meeting TSO-C114 or TSO- C22g or later revisions, respectively; which do not meet or exceed an assembly rated strength of 3000 lbs or more; or which have a missing, illegible, or unreadable label or marking on the restraint with a restraint which meet these TSO minimum performance requirements. The FAA recommends that owners, operators, and maintenance technicians of general aviation aircraft:  Perform routine preflight and annual visual inspections of both the shoulder and pelvic restraints to check for signs of wear, deformation, discoloration, defects, or fraying. Special attention should be paid to the threading on the Y-junction that separates the two shoulder straps and connects to the fuselage attach strap behind the occupant’s head as well as the fastener hardware.  Report findings of damage to the FAA point of contact. Please include the make, model, and serial number of the restraint and aircraft; a description of the damage; photographs; recommended inspection techniques to locate the damage; the damaged parts’ time in service; and any other information that may assist in our evaluation of this issue. Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the collection of information. The OMB control number is 2120-0731. For Further Information Contact Kristi Bradley, General Aviation Safety Coordinator, Fleet Safety Section, Compliance and Airworthiness Division, FAA; phone: (817) 222-5390; email: OperationalSafety@faa.gov. Figure 1 Four-point restraint assembly Figure 2 Four-point restraint assembly with separation at shoulder harness Y-junction threading ASSY C/PÑA M/NUM 502751-1 S/A 2010-3-511-2428 SCHRONS afety Produch OrCH PART NO. Type: 18.2601W1W 10 Arnaberg, Germany MODEL NO Date Mfo.: 33/13 AR/19-2601W 1W-10 DATE CHE CONFORMS TO RATED LBS ETSO-C22g / 15O-C22g Conforme To: EASA 210. 10029419 red Strength: 3000 ibs NATED A ONLY Figure 3 Example label markings of restraints that do meet TSO-C114 or TSO-C22g requirements (Photo credit: AeroSavvy Aviation Insight) AMASAF Conforms To: S/N AMSAFE, INC. 1043 # 47TH AVE FAA TSO-C221 PHOEBIX, AZ 85843 CAA AR-162 PNR 504095-401-2398 PHYS CHG 00 MFR 35FB9 DMF 10/21/16 ASSY S/A M/NUM 501661-2 C/PNR 407-370-720-101N REPAIR BY AMSAFE ONLY RATED 1500 LBS Figure 4 Example label marking of restraint that does not meet TSO-C114 or TSO-C22g requirements 4 --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.