949. AIR CARRIER OPERATIONS BULLETIN NO. 8-76-48
USE OF CHILD/INFANT RESTRAINT
SYSTEMS IN AIRCRAFT
a. Recently, the FAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
have agreed upon a single government performance standard that will satisfy both
aviation and highway safety requirements for child/infant restraint systems. Child/infant
restraint systems which have the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) label
of the NHTSA, an FAA label, or both, are approved for use in all aircraft provided they
are listed on a “FACT SHEET” issued by the FAA.
b. FAR 121.311 requires that “during takeoff and landing of an airplane, each person on
board shall occupy an approved seat or berth with a separate safety belt properly secured
about him/her. However, a person who has not reached his/her second birthday may be
held by an adult who is occupying a seat or berth.”
c. A person under the age of two may continue to be held in an adult’s lap or placed in a
regular passenger seat for takeoff and landing. The FAA does not require but, because
of the safety benefits thereof, does encourage the use of approved child/infant seats
aboard aircraft. An air traveler should check with the certificate holder providing the
transportation to determine if it will accept an approved seat’s use and whether it will
require the purchase of a ticket for an approved seat’s use.
d. To improve emergency evacuation capabilities, the following precautions are
recommended:
(1) The certificate holder’s training program should cover the use of child restraint
systems.
(2) The child/infant seat should be secured to a regular passenger seat at all times or, if
not in use, stowed as carry-on baggage.
(3) The child/infant seat should not be located in an aisle seat or in a row of seats
immediately forward of, aft of, or in the same row as an emergency exit.
(4) During an emergency evacuation the child/infant seat should remain attached to the
passenger seat, and only the child should be removed from the aircraft.
(5) No other passenger may occupy the same passenger seat with a child/infant seat.
(6) Child/infant seats are not approved for use in sideward facing passenger seats.
