No child left unbuckled
Aircraft passengers tend not to worry about the in-flight safety of their children, says Lucille Fisher, whose job is writing and rewriting safety requirem

Aircraft passengers tend not to worry about the in-flight safety of their children, says Lucille Fisher, whose job is writing and rewriting safety requirements for business aircraft owners and operators. But, she adds, the truth is they should.
First of all, she explained, FAA requirements for child restraint systems are minimal. Second, those airline seats designed to withstand a 16-g impact were created around adult biometrics and do not account for those of infants or small children. And finally, no child sitting in an adult’s lap is truly safe.

While the FAA does not mandate use of a child seat or restraint system, in its guidance to employees it emphasizes “the safest place for your little one during turbulence or an emergency is in an approved children restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap.”