Phone query from Doug: March 1st 2011
Little Gulliver had a lovely phone call from Doug, who pilots his own light aircraft. He is looking into safety on board when he takes his grandchildren on a trip. The CARES will be used for the older children, but what are the best options for the baby (then aged approximately 3 months old)? The aircraft does not have bassinets installed.
Ben @ Little Gulliver said: March 3 2011 1:18 PM
Hello Doug,
Thanks for visiting Little Gulliver and your query on Tuesday. I spoke to Donna, our chief researcher, and your findings are in line with our understanding.
For children over 1, the only two child restraint options for use in all phases of flight are an Australian standard car seat (AS 1754) or CARES restraint. Although, for an Aust. car seat to comply, the airline must be willing to provide the 3rd overhead tether belt which may then restrict the use of any tray table directly behind the child’s seat and also limit feet rest area for the passenger behind. Each car seat will carry a different height and width dimension and this is why the airlines still have a policy of needing the exact make and model of the seat to cross check with the type of airline seat the child will most likely use.
We do not have access to any lists of which carseat is suitable for which airline seat unfortunately. For your particular aircraft, any Australian approved car seat that fits your seat configuration should provide a compliant seat for your baby passengers who are too young for a CARES. It will need to be setup in the window seat or bulkhead seat so it does not impede other passenger’s ability to move about. One brand we’ve seen mentioned is the Britax Safe N Sound Compaq car seat. The other brands I’d seen mentioned are US standard only so not available for use out here.
Additionally, airlines traditionally only recognise the car seat safety standard requirements of the country they are registered in, so US airlines will be OK with US standard car seats but not allow Aust standard ones on board. This makes it very difficult if travelling across multiple airlines for any overseas travel.
For a baby flyer, the options are even more limited. The infant lap belt is common on Australian airlines but banned in other parts of the world. Evidence appears to show them as relatively ineffective in certain circumstances too. A baby can be in a bassinet arrangement if under 3 months old, but you indicated this isn’t relevant for your charter craft. A suitable car seat or the infant lap belt are the only approved item for such young flyers.
Here’s a couple of articles that may be of interest, apologies if you’ve come across them already. Flying with babies – this is an article Donna published on our blog. This article also links to a Flight Safety Australia Fly Baby Fly discussing babies on board (it was published in 2004, but there appears to have been little progress on the issue since). We also list the links to the latest child restraint policies for most local airlines here.
I hope this helps, please let me know if I can assist with any other queries.
Kind regards
Ben