A WILD plan to make planes crash-proof using gigantic airbags has been revealed by two budding engineers.
The mind-blowing concept would kick into action using AI to detect when a crash cannot be prevented by the pilot.
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Project Rebirth wants to create a system with smart airbags, impact-absorbing fluids and reverse thrust mid-air to turn “fatal crashes into survivable landings”.
The proposal came about from two tech whizzes, Eshel Wasim and Dharsan Srinivasan from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science university in Dubai.
Their radical design was “born from tragedy” in the wake of the catastrophic Air India crash that took the lives of 260 people on June 12.
The plane crashed just 32 seconds after leaving Ahmedabad Airport in India, en route to London Gatwick Airport.
“After the June 2025 Ahmedabad crash, my mother couldn’t sleep,” said Eshel.
“She kept thinking about the fear the passengers and pilots must have felt, knowing there was no way out.
“That helplessness haunted us.”
They submitted their idea as an entry for this year’s esteemed James Dyson Award, in hopes of securing funding support to make it a reality.
In their entry, the duo detail how they aim to focus on three areas that they believe can make a crash proof plane possible: cushioning impact, reducing descent speed, and absorbing energy.
The concept would trigger external airbags that wrap around the nose, belly, and tail of the aircraft.
Their AI system would monitor things like altitude, speed, engine status, direction, fire, and pilot response to determine whether the emergency smart airbags made from a layered fabric need to be inflated.
If a crash is unavoidable below 3,000 ft the system activates automatically – although it’s still possible for the pilot to override it.
But Project Rebirth is just an idea for the moment so it remains to be seen if it’s technically possible.
National winners for the James Dyson Awards have already been chosen.
A global winner will be selected later this year, who will be given a £30,000 prize to kick-start their project.
Key findings of Air India preliminary crash report
- Dual engine shutdown – fuel cutoff switches moved from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’
- Confusion between pilots – cockpit audio confirms one pilot asked ‘why did you cut off’, the other replied ‘I didn’t’
- RAT deployed – as seen in CCTV footage before the crash, the ram air turbine (RAT) which acts as a backup power source in case of emergencies had deployed
- Engine relight attempted – fuel switches were found returned to ‘RUN’ at crash site
- 32 seconds – the time the aircraft was airborne before it crashed
- Thrust levers mismatch – Thrust levers found at idle but black box data shows takeoff thrust was still engaged
- Fuel test pass – fuel was clean without any contamination
- Normal take-off set-up – Flaps and landing gear correctly configured
- No bird activity – clear skies, good visibility, light winds
- Pilot credentials clear – both medically fit and rested
- No sabotage detected – although FAA alerted over a known fuel switch vulnerability not checked by Air India
- Aircraft loading – the flight was within weight and balance limits
