Effects of restraint tether devices on pilots’ neck injuries under arrested landing conditions

Pilots are susceptible to neck injury during carrier-based aircraft arrested landings due to excessive head flexion. This study used a validated multibody head-neck model to examine how tether stiffness and orientation affect the performance of tether-type head-neck restraint systems. Polyester (stiff) and nylon (soft) tethers were evaluated at four sagittal-plane orientations. Results showed that the presence of a tether significantly reduced peak neck muscle force. Stiff tethers generally provided better restraint, while soft tethers showed slightly lower upper-cervical injury indices. No significant cervical injury was predicted in any condition. These findings can inform future restraint-system design.