Helicopter airbags

Several of NASA Mars rovers have successfully landed on Mars, protected from impact with the ground by sophisticated airbags.

Now the helicopter manufacturer Bell Helicopter based in Fort Worth, Texas, believes the same technique could be used to protect helicopters in emergency landings (see image, below right).

The bags would be fitted to the underside of a helicopter and deployed only when the vehicle is about to hit the ground at too high a velocity.

The company says the bags are also designed to reinflate after impact to act as flotation devices should the helicopter ditch in water.

Read the full helicopter airbags patent application