Airlander's airbags ensure a softer landing

The Auxiliary Landing System (ALS) is one of two modifications made to Airlander 10 following its ‘heavy landing’ at its Cardington-Bedfordshire base in August 2016.

The second modification is a Mobile Mooring Mast (MMM) and both are the result of lessons learned following last year’s airborne anomaly.

Hybrid Air Vehicles, the company behind Airlander 10, announced the enhancements ahead of the aircraft’s imminent hangar exit in April 2017 and resumption of flight tests.

ALS is made up of two airbags that can be deployed as an extra cushion to land on and extend the range of Airlander’s landing angles. The airbags are over 3m long and contain 15 m³ of gas, which is less than 0.1 per cent of the entire hull volume.

An airbag on each side of the flight deck also offers enhanced protection to the cabin and flight deck. ALS will be deployed on most landings in the flight test programme and will use existing ballonet fans to inflate.