Who created the capsule for the rescue of air passengers

The capsule with passengers and crew can jump out of the aircraft fuselage through the rear hatch in 2-3 seconds. Photo: screenshot from YouTube

A few days after the crash of the Russian aircraft in Egypt, messages about the creation of miracle capsules that can save lives for passengers at the time of the crash began to spread actively in various media and social networks. Moreover, the authorship of quite similar capsules is simultaneously attributed to the citizens of Russia and Ukraine.

The Forum reviewed potential inventions.

Capsule Tatarenko

Aviation engineer from Kiev, Vladimir Tatarenko, developed a capsule that can be separated from the aircraft in seconds at the time of the crash.

The shooting capsule, as conceived by Tatarenko, is attached to the fuselage. The concept of a capsule with seats for passengers and crew, invented by an engineer, can jump out of the plane's fuselage through the rear hatch in two or three seconds.

First, a small parachute is pushed out of the plane; it pulls out a large parachute, which already pulls out the capsule itself. True, it can only be installed on model aircraft, which have a place in the tail section for the hatch through which the capsule passes, that is, for Boeing or Airbus, it is not yet suitable.

Since about 70% of accidents, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, occurs on steady horizontal flight, Tatarenko believes that this system is able to provide practically guaranteed rescue of passengers and crew during a plane crash in the air, on takeoff and on landing.

29 October Community Street FX Motorsport & Graphics posted a video on Facebook demonstrating the Tatarenko passenger rescue system. The video now has over 18 million views and 270 thousand shares. These figures are explained by the fact that just a couple of days after its publication, an Airbus A-321 crashed en route to St. Petersburg.

The aircraft manufacturer told the Ukrainian portal AIN.UAthat the capsule should fly at a speed of 8-9 m/s, and the design includes a sensor that determines the distance to the surface. When the distance is reduced, the powder engines are turned on, which slow down the container - as a result, it lands at zero speed. The capsule descends using a parachute system, but can also splash down on an inflatable raft or land on a shock-absorbing platform.

More technology is described in article Vladimir Tatarenko in the magazine “Inventor and Innovator”, published in 2014 along with drawings of various versions of the capsules.

According to the author, a capsule that can be installed in production aircraft models is the first stage of the invention, which requires about four years (two years for development and testing, another one and a half to two years for obtaining ICAO airworthiness certificates).

The second step is the creation of new aircraft models initially equipped with such capsules. If in the first case, when the capsule is installed in an existing aircraft model, it becomes heavier, in the second its mass does not change. The implementation of the idea at the moment is great, since relatively recently ultra-light and durable materials have appeared from which a capsule can be produced - carbon fiber.

However, the chances that the invention will see the light of day are still low, since the pleasure is quite expensive. The estimated cost of the first stage - creating a capsule that can be built into existing aircraft models - is about a million dollars.

Tatarenko has already applied to the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine, but they replied that the authorities have no money for such a project. According to him, the leaders Experimental Design Bureau (OKB) them. Antonov says that in two years they would create a capsule with which Ukraine would strike the whole world.

According to the inventor, such carriers are unprofitable for carrier companies, because, due to the capsule of seats in the aircraft, they will be one row less, that is, fewer tickets will be sold for each flight. In addition, as the aircraft becomes heavier, fuel consumption will increase.

“I asked them: well, even if the ticket is 30% more expensive, what plane will you send your family on and fly yourself: on a regular one or on one from which you can be guaranteed to escape? But they told me that they don’t have any security problems now,” says Tatarenko.

Vladimir Tatarenko was born in Siberia, near Krasnoyarsk, after studying he was assigned to the Kiev Aviation Plant, and then he became the leading engineer of the Aviation Technologies Research Institute.

Khalidov's capsule

The scientist Hamid Khalidov from Dagestan, reportedly invented the system of personal protection of air passengers. The Russian proposes to mount polymer parachute capsules into the fuselage of the liner, which can eject together with people in the event of a crash.

The inventor created the APAX system - an aviation passenger autonomous rescue capsule - on the principle of detachable modules inserted into the fuselage of the aircraft. In the event of a plane crash, these capsules are first pressurized and then ejected.

Hamid Khalidov like reports lifenews, patented his idea in 2000 under the name “APAX System - Rescue of Air Passengers.” Each capsule is equipped with a special parachute for a soft landing.

“The capsule is created from modern polymer material, so it will not burn or sink. The weight of the modules will be no more than one or two tons, and there will be no excessive fuel consumption,” assures Hamid Khalidov. “Many new inventions are being made now, but practically nothing new has been invented to save airplane passengers.”

As Khalidov tells on his the official website, in the attachment points of the aircraft wings to the fuselage, along it and along its circumferences between the nose part with the pilot cabin, capsules and tail part are placed elongated cumulative charges, undermining which carry out almost instant explosive cutting of the fuselage, which frees the rescue capsules with passengers from the aircraft.

With the help of the parachute-braking system, rescue capsules make a soft landing. The complete autonomy of the capsule and the ability to withdraw the parachute for a fraction of a second, by starting active self-restraint, make it possible to save passengers even during takeoff and landing at extremely low altitudes. After landing (or landing), the capsules include appropriate emergency communications, alarms and life support. Both today and tomorrow for the air passenger the most important condition will be the guarantee of saving his life. If some planes can do it better than others, this will provide them with high demand and competitiveness. Moreover, the expected appreciation will not exceed a few percent of the cost of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, the designer and candidate of military sciences, Igor Tabachuk, was skeptical of Khalidov’s device. The expert believes that the more different systems in the liner, the more likely they will break. In addition, according to the designer, an additional two tons - too much load for an airship.

“This is actually an armored capsule. Why insert any modules into the plane if the fuselage itself can be used as a capsule,” comments Tabachuk. “There are a huge number of people working on rescue systems, and I think everything that has been done so far is the limit of what’s possible.”

Hamid Khalidov, a graduate of the radio engineering faculty of Dagestan State University, until 2010, was an adviser on inventions and innovations to the chairman of the presidium of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). In 2010, Khalidov became vice-president of the Eurasian Transport Innovation Center in Moscow.

Cocoon Balana

Another potential author of the revolutionary invention is considered Moldovan Alexander Balan. In March, 2014, it was reported that a graduate of the Moldovan Polytechnic Institute developed a security system that guarantees the rescue of passengers in the crash of any aircraft.

In its structure, the project resembles a cocoon enveloping an air passenger. Opening Alexander, as they wrote Moldavian media, “shaken the world’s scientific elite,” and Chinese tech corporations allegedly immediately promised billions for the project.