The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene a study committee to assess and evaluate the conditions under which it may be technically feasible to equip passenger aircraft with in-cabin restraint systems for motorized and nonmotorized wheelchairs.
The committee will examine the design, engineering, and safety requirements for installation and use of these restraint systems and for the wheelchairs that would be used as seats in aircraft, including aircraft structural requirements, wheelchair occupant restraint and passenger emergency evacuation requirements, and injury criteria limits for both wheel chair users and occupants of seats behind and adjacent to the wheelchair users. The committee will also address the implications of the findings from these assessments on Federal Aviation Administration regulations and policies for airworthiness, crash worthiness, and other safety requirements.
Should the committee find, based on its analyses, reasonable circumstances under which it may be technically feasible to equip passenger aircraft with in-cabin wheelchair restraint systems, the study committee will then consider in more depth how individuals who use non-motorized and motorized wheelchairs can be effectively accommodated using these systems and how airlines can use them to provide an equal level of service to air travelers with significant disabilities.
Where appropriate, the committee may advise on further actions warranted for making public policy choices with respect to these systems, including needed research, information gathering, and technical analyses.

The study is sponsored by the U.S. Access Board in fulfillment of provisions in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act.