Engineers Unveil AI-Driven 'Crash Survival' Prototype for Commercial Aircraft

A team of engineers has unveiled an AI-powered crash survival system for commercial aircraft that uses external airbags, adaptive propulsion and impact-absorbing materials intended to make otherwise fatal crashes survivable.

Called Project REBIRTH, the concept was developed by Eshel Wasim and Dharsan Srinivasan of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science’s Dubai campus and is a finalist for the James Dyson Award. The designers say the system combines machine-learning sensors that monitor aircraft status with mechanically deployable protective structures that would wrap the fuselage in seconds when a crash is deemed unavoidable.

According to materials released by the team, REBIRTH’s onboard AI continuously monitors altitude, speed, engine performance, flight direction, fire detection and pilot response. If the system determines a crash is unavoidable below 3,000 feet, it initiates automatic deployment of layered fabric airbags from the nose, belly and tail that the designers say can inflate in under two seconds; the captain retains the ability to abort deployment during that decision window.

The proposal also includes measures intended to slow descent and reduce impact forces. When engines remain operational, the system would command reverse thrust to reduce speed; if engines fail, the design calls for auxiliary gas thrusters. The team estimates those measures could reduce descent speed and stabilize the aircraft by roughly 8 to 20 percent. In addition, the interior would incorporate impact-absorbing fluids behind cabin walls and seats that the designers say remain pliable until they harden on impact, reducing transmitted forces to passengers.

Wasim and Srinivasan said they were motivated to pursue the design after the June crash of Air India Flight 171 near Ahmedabad, in which one passenger survived and the remainder of the 242 people aboard were killed. "After the June 2025 Ahmedabad crash, my mother couldn’t sleep," one of the creators wrote in the project description. "She kept thinking about the fear the passengers and pilots must have felt, knowing there was no way out. That helplessness haunted us. Why isn’t there a system for survival after failure?"

The designers propose that REBIRTH modules could be retrofitted to existing airframes or incorporated into new builds and say they plan to partner with aerospace laboratories for crash-sled and wind-tunnel testing. They also said the next steps would include bench testing, certification work and approvals from aviation regulatory authorities before any in-service deployment.

Project REBIRTH is one of the finalists for the James Dyson Award; the winner will be announced Nov. 5 and will receive more than $40,000 and support to develop a business around the invention. The team said their goal is to see the concept tested, certified and deployed, not to seek recognition.

Experts in aviation safety have underscored that any novel aircraft safety system requires extensive testing, verification and regulator sign-off before it could be fitted to commercial aircraft. Certification typically involves multiple stages of structural testing, system redundancy reviews, human factors evaluation and full-scale flight or drop testing, and can take years.

The engineers’ public materials do not provide detailed engineering data, formal test results or independent verification of the claimed performance figures. The proposal lays out a conceptual architecture and asserts that the combined systems — rapid-deploy airbags, adaptive propulsion, and impact-mitigating materials — could convert certain low-altitude, otherwise unsurvivable accidents into survivable events.

Regulators and manufacturers will assess claims like those made by the REBIRTH team against existing certification standards and operational requirements. Questions likely to be considered include the system’s reliability in a wide range of failure modes, the effects of rapid external inflation on aerodynamics and structural loads, maintenance and inspection regimes, weight and fuel-burn penalties, integration with crew procedures, and the potential for unintended consequences during normal operations.

In their submission to the James Dyson Award, the inventors described REBIRTH as "the first AI-powered crash survival system" and as an effort born of grief and a desire to provide an additional last-resort option for passengers and crew. They said they plan further development work and engagement with aerospace testing facilities to move the concept beyond the prototype stage.

The announcement of REBIRTH adds to ongoing public and industry conversations about how emerging technologies — including sensors, machine learning and new materials — might be applied to aircraft safety. Any practical deployment would depend on rigorous testing, regulatory clearance and collaboration with manufacturers and operators before it could be considered for commercial service.