Abstract
A concern related to air travel by people with disabilities is the risk of low-back injuries while transferring the traveler to or from the aircraft seat. Potential contributing factors to this risk are the spatial constraints imposed by the aircraft's interior. This study investigated the effects of such constraints on the trunk angles, angular velocities, and load moment arm during a two-person dependent transfer between a wheelchair and an aircraft seat. Trunk kinematics were recorded as 33 pairs of subjects transferred a dummy to and from an aircraft seat under unconstrained and constrained conditions. The constraints primarily affected the front transferor, increasing peak trunk flexion, lateral bending, twisting, and load moment arm. Effects on the rear transferor were small and appeared to have offsetting effects on injury risk. The results suggest that the row spacing on an aircraft contributes to low-back injury risk during dependent transfers of travelers with disabilities.
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