Tom, an airplane owner in Georgia, writes: How do you re-web an airplane seatbelt?
The cloth part of a seatbelt — the webbing — is the weak link in the lifespan of an airplane’s restraint system.
Age, UV from the sun both in flight and out on the ramp, and repeated bending and tugging combine to simply wear fabric out.
Which is not to say that seatbelt hardware has an infinite life. Metal components are subject to damage, fatigue, and corrosion (you wouldn’t believe the junk some people are willing to fly with). And those inertial reels for retractable systems? Don’t even get me started on all the things that can go wrong with that wind-up toy.
But all of that said, assuming that it’s just the fabric that’s shot, you have three options.
First, it’s possible in many cases to have the fabric straps removed from the hardware and replaced with new material.
The second option is to replace the entire system with all new components.
And the third is to retrofit by upgrading to something better than you had before.
Let’s take a quick look at the issues around all three, so you can decide what makes the most sense to you.
Oh wait. First, how would you know that the webbing is at the end of its service life and needs to be replaced?
The condition of your seatbelts is one of those things A&P/IAs are required to check during an annual inspection, so your mechanic may say “it’s time.”
Or, with some higher-end or newer GA airplanes, seatbelts are listed as life-limited components. When the time’s up, they gotta go. Ten years or 3,000 hours is one number I saw.
But all of that is not to say that you shouldn’t be keeping a solid preflight eye on them yourself.
What to look for?
I reached out to the most expert folks I know in the seatbelt biz — Alpha Aviation, which has been supplying general aviation with seatbelt solutions for more than 34 years — and asked them what pilots should be alert for.
Paula Deml, Alpha’s Vice President and CEO, gave me a short list of things to be alert to:
Pilling (small balls of lint) or fraying of the webbing
Missing or broken stitches
Mis-shaped or wavy webbing, stiffness, or brittleness and
It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Holes, cuts, and punctures.
I would add that you should inspect your belts on a regular basis in good light or using a bright flashlight. And I do mean inspect, not glance-and-go.
Also, apparently, heavily soiled belts should be viewed with a suspect eye, for three reasons.
First, it’s possible that the grime is masking damage.
Second you’ve got to ask: Why are they soiled? An exposure to chemicals may weaken the fabric.
Third, if they are just garden-variety uncleanable from age, well, really old fabric may not be the best when it comes to the tensile strength you want to have working for you in an airplane crash. Remember that even a slow crash in an airplane is like a highway-speed crash in a car.
OK, so let’s say the fabric has to go. How does the first option, re-webbing, work?
The belts are detached from the airframe and sent to a certified repair station with an FAA-approved repair specification for re-webbing.
As an owner, you can actually do this yourself, as replacing seatbelts is one of the permitted preventive maintenance items of 14 CFR Part 43, Appendix A, Subpart C. That assumes you are comfortable with the operation.
How complex it is varies a lot from airplane to airplane. But to be clear: While you can remove and reinstall, you cannot re-web the belts yourself.
At the re-webbing facility, they’ll basically cut away the old webbing and craft and attach replacement webbing to your hardware and send it back to you. You then reinstall it in your airplane.
This is the cheapest option, but it has one problem and two restrictions. The problem is the downtime. You could be grounded for a month, or more, as this is not a fast process.
The first restriction is that, depending on your hardware, you might not be eligible. To re-web, all the existing components need to be TSO’d, and their data tags need to be intact for the repair facility to accept them. If the tags have worn off or are unreadable, the re-webbers aren’t permitted to work on your gear.
Related to this, if it’s a shoulder harness made before 1987, you are likely out of luck. Prior to then, shoulder belts didn’t require data tags, so with older ones, you have no way of proving they’re legit.
Don’t panic (yet) if you can’t see your tags at first glance. They are generally on the attachment end of each individual belt, not the buckle end.
The second restriction is that seatbelts are subject to ADs and service bulletins like all other certified aircraft gear.
A good example of how this can be a show-stopper for owners revolves around AmSafe belts that used Pacific Scientific reels. There’s a service bulletin that prevents re-webbers from working on them without an overhaul of the reels, but the hardware for the overhaul is no longer available, meaning the systems can’t be re-webbed.
A final word on re-webbing: I have it on good authority that there are some sketchy players in this part of the business, so be careful about who you choose. My industry contacts told me that Aviation Safety Products in Blairsville, Georgia, has a good reputation, and I’m sure that there are others out there too.
My point is that this isn’t one of those categories of purchases where you should beat the bushes for the absolute lowest price. Do your homework.
Of course, all of that applies to certificated aircraft. I guess with an experimental, you could still use two pieces of rope and tie a knot. (That was a joke, experimental aircraft friends, so please don’t flame me in the comments.)
If it turns out that you aren’t eligible for re-webbing, what do you do?
In this case, you’ll need to replace everything, webbing and hardware. Some aircraft owners choose to do this anyway, even if they can re-web, either because they figure that with webbing worn out the hardware can’t be far behind or they don’t want the downtime.
In this case, you order a new set, keep flying the old ones (unless they’ve suffered a complete failure), and when the new ones arrive, you just swap them out, make an entry in the airframe logbook, and you’re back in business. It’s no different than changing a tire, as far as the regulations are concerned.
If the maker of your airplane is still in business, and still supports your make and model, you can probably get replacement belts from it. This may not be the cheapest option, however, so at least compare prices with third parties. And that third-party ecosystem is your only avenue for unsupported airframes and orphans.
Figure you’ll save a few bucks buying used online? Think again.
AC 41.13-2B makes it very clear in 907 (d) that the FAA mandates all used or salvaged restraints “be overhauled by an FAA-approved facility.”
The third option is an upgrade.
What would you possibly want to upgrade about a seatbelt? Well, maybe you have an older airplane that only came with lap belts. Did you know that adding a shoulder harness cuts your risk of serious injury or death in half? That’s what an NTSB study of 37,000 GA accidents discovered.
Upgrades can be quite simple or can get a little bit tricky, but not as tricky as you’d think. You’ll need to investigate this for your individual ride, but I learned a couple of interesting things.
Prior to 1986, when shoulder belts became required equipment on all new GA airplanes, a number of manufacturers offered them as optional extras. And here’s the good news: In many of these airplanes, even though the purchaser didn’t select the option, the hardware was installed anyway. It’s been hiding up there under the headliner all this time. If this is true of your airplane, you can order the shoulder belts and attach them yourself.
If that’s not the case for you, I hope you remembered to include your A&P on your Christmas card list. For most certificated airplanes that did not originally have shoulder belts, one vendor or another has worked out how to install them, and has gotten that method approved by the FAA as a Supplemental Type Certificate or STC. If you’re not familiar with STCs, they generally blanket-cover a make and model, but are issued to individual airplanes.
How do you know if you are going to need an STC? Alpha’s Deml says, “if you are drilling, welding, or modifying the airframe, an STC will be required.”
But no worries, there’s no paperwork involved for you, beyond writing a check. You can buy a kit that comes complete with the STC itself, along with all the parts and hardware necessary, and instructions for your A&P (the regulations don’t allow you to drill holes, weld, or modify your airframe as a non-mechanic owner). All you’ll need to do is choose the color of webbing — airplane seatbelt webbing apparently comes in 180 different hues.
Alpha has a ton of STCs for three-point systems. If you’re looking for a four-point restraint, BAS Inc. or Hooker Harness have you covered.
And, of course, the ultimate upgrade — if available for your ride — is the airbag-style restraint. It provides the maximum safety, but does require specific on-going maintenance and component replacement.
So there you have it. Re-web, replace, or retrofit. Really, the only non-option is flying with a seatbelt that won’t keep you from flying — literally — should the unexpected come to pass.
