Aircraft

Hoover Industries is here at Hamburg promoting its array of lifejackets and life rafts, but also its other capabilities, including aircraft interior design and manufacture.

One product on display is the infant/small child life preserver. “This is the only device in existence to truly provide 100 percent safety for infants.  If a plane did go down, and everyone drowned the infant would still be floating waiting for the rescue team,” explains Dave Miller, vp engineering.

“It is fully FAA TSO-C13f [the latest standard] approved and it’s also patented.

“I have five grandchildren, you pray that nothing will happen, but planes do go down.  Our focus here at the show is to let everyone know we’re here in Hamburg and promote all of our product lines,” he says.

Kidology: Paulina Budzynski with the infant life preserver.

The ISC-20 offers protection from hypothermia and the elements, as it is a ‘survival capsule’ and has a thermal protection vest.  It weighs a maximum of 950g (2.1lbs) and will inflate in two seconds at 21º Celsius (70º F) and supports a maximum buoyancy of 18kg (40lbs).

“We have everything from the infant life preserver to two man rafts all the way up to our largest raft which can take 46 people.

“There’s still a good market for large life rafts, there are still many airlines that use a slide and raft system, rather than a detachable slide.  We’re the only manufacturer of rafts that size, it’s still a very good market for us,” says Miller.

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