Matthew L. Wald | The New York Times

WASHINGTON - At one time, airline safety generally meant one thing: avoiding a crash. But safety regulators are increasingly focusing on surviving one.

Starting this fall, all new airplanes will be required to have seats that will stay in place when subjected to stresses up to 16 times the force of gravity.

The old seats had to meet stresses of only nine times the force of gravity.

And, in a safety measure borrowed from automobiles, some seats will be equipped with air bags.

The combination of sturdy seats and air bags means that if a plane touches down short of the runway or rolls off the end of the runway and hits an obstruction, "You're going to be conscious. You're going to have the opportunity to survive," said Bill Hagan, president of AmSafe, which makes the air bags.

In some airline crashes, the strength of the seats is irrelevant because the crash is not what the engineers call "survivable."

In other crashes, still violent but not as much so as exploding in midair or breaking up in flight, the passengers' survival depends on suffering little or no injury in the first phase of the accident, as when a plane runs off the runway, and then getting out of the plane quickly to avoid a post-crash fire.

The new rules have taken effect gradually. Airplane models introduced after 1988 were required to have the new seats, known as "16g" seats. So planes such as the Boeing 777 and the swarm of new regional jets all have them. But older models that were still in production were not required to have the seats.

But beginning Oct. 27, new airplanes of models certified before 1988 must also comply. In practice, aircraft manufacturers have been delivering many planes that meet the new rule for some time. So the deadline is more of a milestone than an actual changeover date.

But while Boeing has been delivering 737s for years with the 16g seats, the 747-400 - the current model of the 747 - still had the old 9g seats. But Boeing produced its last 747-400 a few weeks ago.

A new model, the 747-8, will be introduced soon with the sturdier seats. Sandra Angers, a Boeing spokeswoman, said that few planes had been delivered lately with the old-style seats because few designs from before 1988 were still being manufactured.

The new rules do not affect older planes with the old seats. But those planes are disappearing from airline service because they are less fuel-efficient than newer models and because the total number of planes is down as airlines cut service in the recession.

The air bags are built into one side of the lap belt, which appears a little thicker.

The air bags are widely used in first- or business-class cabins, where the seat in front is too far away or angled in such a way that it cannot function as a cushion. In coach class, the air bag has started out for use in front rows, exit rows and bulkhead seats, near galleys or toilets. In other seats, the passenger gets some protection from the seat back directly ahead, which is designed to break in a way that provides a cushion.

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