FAA calls for removal of certain Zodiac seats

FAA is calling for more than 10,000 Zodiac Aerospace seats to be removed from service, citing design flaws that could cause injury if a passenger was thrown forward during a high-impact incident. Affected airlines include US carriers Delta Air Lines, Envoy Air, Island Air, Republic Airlines, SkyWest Airlines and United Airlines. “The impact of the [passenger’s] head onto a typical transport passenger seat back during seat qualification testing normally results in an initial contact, followed by an unimpeded sliding motion down the back of the seat,” the NPRM states. The issue came to light after the Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil (ANAC), the FAA’s Brazilian counterpart, requested the US agency’s “review and input on test data submitted for seats to be installed in the Embraer ERJ models”. <br/>