PILOT AND LEADING AVIATION MEDIC CALL FOR BAN ON ALL UNSAFE NECK CUSHIONS

Recently retired Captain Paul Richards -- the inventor of the Airogym DVT Cushion, and Dr Ian Perry, an aviation medical expert, are today calling on Airlines and authorities to ban all unsafe neck cushions, until further testing by the authorities has been carried out to determine the risks involved should the plane suffer a loss of cabin pressure.

Capt. Paul Richards unusual combination of experience in aviation and inflatable safety equipment led him to investigate the possible dangers of inflatable neck cushions. There is potentially a serious problem with the neck cushions many passengers take on flights and some airlines give away to passengers in first class," explains Captain Richards. If there was a cabin decompression, due to a computer glitch or pump failure, which has happened more than once in my flying career, this could be fairly unnoticeable in the cabin, however the pressure loss could be sufficient for the trapped air inside a neck cushion to greatly expand as the pressure outside the neck cushion, i.e. in the cabin, decreases. It is a scary sight to behold, and the wearer would find it very difficult to remove the neck cushion. A large explosive decompression, such as a window blowing out, would cause the neck cushion to expand rapidly and explode at high volume."

After trials in his workshop Captain Richards took his concerns to various experts and institutions for preliminary testing and also invented the solution, the GraceFail - a simple burst disk which relieves the pressure gently and quietly before expansion of the neck cushion could cause damage. The GraceFail is fitted to all Airogym.comfort neck cushions however is not needed on Airogym DVT Cushions as they are only ever half full and the user has this beneath their feet rather than around their neck.

Dr Ian Perry evaluated the results from tests carried out at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at Southampton University, which showed that standard neck cushions explode at a median volume of 145 decibels, equivalent to a handgun fired by the ear, and that GraceFail cushions bursts gently at a volume of only 113 decibels, similar to a handclap. He concludes that 145 decibels close to the ear can cause; hearing damage in sound sensitive individuals; acute stress responses including vaso-constriction, increased blood pressure, increased respiratory rate and increased heart rate which could be of serious consequence to those with pre-existing cardiovascular or coronary disease; and dizziness and loss of balance which might impair the efficient evacuation of an aircraft in an emergency." He continues, There have probably been some unreported cases or incidents where the neck cushion has expanded and people havent realised that this has been the cause of the problem that the passenger has suffered. If a passenger is in trouble or in difficulty, the first thing cabin crew would do would be to take the neck

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PILOT AND LEADING AVIATION MEDIC CALL FOR BAN ON ALL UNSAFE NECK CUSHIONS

cushion off, and see what the problem was, not thinking that the neck cushion could have caused the problem."    Dr Perry also expressed concern that the expansion of the cushions could be physically dangerous and further testing was carried out to determine the risk of reduction of oxygen to the brain as the vessels in the neck are compressed, and stress to the vertebrae as the cushion explodes.

Mr Mark Whiteley, vascular surgeon at The Nuffield, Guildford, carried out ultrasound tests to the neck of a volunteer wearing an expanding neck cushion. He concludes that After some very preliminary work, we confirm that some neck cushions appear to affect the blood flow in the vessels in the neck when the cushion pressure rises. In view of this, there is a need for further research into this potential problem".

Testing was also carried out at Millbrook Proving Ground to measure the stress levels to the neck as the standard cushions explode. The test was carried out to simulate the rapid inflation of a neck cushion during a decompression of an aircraft cabin. Although the tests showed negligible damage compared to a road crash, there is enough cause for concern to indicate further testing is necessary.

Dr Perry concludes the existing neck cushions should be banned immediately from airline service until further tests are carried out, and the GraceFail system should be fitted to all neck cushions to prevent over inflation caused by altitude changes or sudden decompression."

The Airogym.comfort fitted with the GraceFail is available for purchase on line at www.airogym.com and costs 5.99 plus p&p however customers purchasing an Airogym DVT Cushion will be offered an Airogym.comfort neck cushion free of charge for a promotional period.

The GraceFail is patented.

- Ends -

Notes to editors

Photographs and further information are available to all media from Amanda Richards at amanda@airogym.com / 020 8248 5067 / 07770 916818

Further quotes attached from:

Paul Richards, Design Consultant to Airogym.com and designer of the Airogym

Dr. Ian Perry Aviation Medical Expert Consultant to the JAA

B Lawton, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, Southampton University

Phil Glyn Davies, Manager Crash Test Worthiness Engineering, Millbrook Proving Ground

Mr Mark Whitely, MS FRCS(Gen) MBBS Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Visiting Senior Fellow in Vascular Surgery at the University of Surrey.

AIROGYM.COMFORT -- FURTHER QUOTES

Paul Richards, Design Consultant to Airogym.com
I realised that there could be a problem and started investigating and realised there was a simple solution to the problem which is now on the Airogym.Comfort neck cushion. This is called the Gracefail -- a small pressure relief device which is put into the neck cushion so that if there were a loss of pressure, it would then allow a gentle relief, quietly and slowly. Im calling on the airlines and the aviation authorities, firstly to ban unsafe neck cushions from all aircraft and then secondly to carry out further research into this problem."

Dr Ian Perry represents IAOPA as a Consultant in Aviation Medicine on the Medical Subcommittee of the Joint Aviation Authority, a Fellow of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. He has the Diploma in Aviation Medicine and has been appointed to the new US/AOPA Board of Aviation Medical Advisors.

The neck cushions available at present represent a health hazard if over-inflated or suddenly decompressed. All aircraft have to climb and descend. If a cushion is inflated on the ground or in the climb it will expand further, once cruise altitude is reached. The cabin altitude can rise and fall by a thousand feet or so even in the cruise. This could result in further inflation, which could cause problems. A scenario could be drawn of a neck cushion being inflated fully whilst the aircraft was taxiing out for take off, and then possibly exploding on reaching cruise altitude."

B Lawton, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, Southampton University

Ten samples of the standard model were slowly over-inflated to failure. Ten samples of the GraceFail model were also over-inflated to failure. The peak Sound Pressure Levels observed for samples of each model are as follows: Standard models median 145dB, GraceFail models median 113dB. To put this in perspective, peak levels in the mid-140s may be expected at the ears of firearm users.... Such high peak levels may be considered potentially hazardous to the hearing. The GraceFail Neck rings gave a median peak Sound Pressure Level of 113.0 dB. This sort of level may be produced by a single hand clap."

Phil Glyn Davies, Manager Crash Test Worthiness Engineering, Millbrook Proving Ground
Millbrook Proving Ground is a large engineering centre. In our crash labs were more used to crashing vehicles of up to 50 mph into a steel wall or testing aircraft seats to simulate crash landings, but today were testing neck cushions used for passenger comfort on Aircraft. The reason for conducting these tests is that medical experts have expressed concern that the cushions may inflate quickly when the aircraft decompresses and that this may cause injury to the occupant."

Mr Mark Whitely, MS FRCS(Gen) MBBS Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Visiting Senior Fellow in Vascular Surgery at the University of Surrey

Weve done some very crude tests today, inflating neck cushions and measuring the carotid artery and jugular vein flow. Certainly in the preliminary study weve just looked at, when the cushion starts to inflate there seems to be pressure on the carotid artery that changes the flow within it and hence the flow to the face and brain. Also, there seems to be an affect on the jugular vein, which is the blood coming back from the brain, but it would need further study to see if it was significant. There are two carotid arteries which are the major blood supply to the brain. If you put enough pressure on them so that you reduce or even stop the flow, the brain would not be getting any blood which would put you to sleep and worse still, if it lasted for a long time, could actually cause permanent brain damage. Its very early days to say whether any damage could be done, but of course, one would first of all worry about people with hardening of the arteries, something thats fairly common, certainly in older people - anyone over the age of about 55/60 can start to coke up their arteries. If they already had some arterial hardening or one artery quite diseased and you placed pressure on either the other side or both arteries you could potentially cause some clotting within the blood vessel itself and worse still, completely block it."