Active positioning airbag assembly and associated systems and methods

An airbag system for use with an aircraft seat, the airbag system comprising:

• an airbag stowed in a position forward of the aircraft seat and above a strike area associated with the aircraft seat, wherein the airbag is configured to inflate and deploy in a generally upward direction away from the strike area, and then downwardly to a position between the strike area and an occupant seated in a generally upright position in the aircraft seat, in response to a crash event.

An airbag system for use with an aircraft seat, the airbag system comprising:

• an airbag stowed above a strike hazard forward of the aircraft seat;
• and
• means for deploying the airbag in a generally upward direction away from the strike hazard, and then downwardly to a position between the strike hazard and an occupant seated in the aircraft seat to protect the occupant during a crash event, wherein deploying the airbag protects the occupant from striking the hazard forward of the aircraft seat when the occupant is seated in an upright orientation during the crash event, and wherein deploying the airbag avoids inflating the airbag against the occupant when the occupant is seated in an out-of-position orientation during the crash event.

A method of deploying an airbag between a strike hazard positioned forward of an aircraft seat and an occupant seated in the aircraft seat, the method comprising:

• detecting a deceleration event above a preset magnitude;
• and
• inflating the airbag from a housing positioned above the strike hazard in response to detecting the deceleration event, wherein inflating the airbag includes initially deploying the airbag from the housing in an upwardly direction away from the strike hazard, and then deploying the airbag in a downwardly direction toward the strike hazard to position the airbag between the strike hazard and the occupant seated in the aircraft seat.