How safe are modern aircraft with carbon fiber composite fuselages in a survivable crash?

Abstract

Composites, especially reinforced with carbon fiber, are light, strong and stiff. They enable aircraft to be lighter and more fuel efficient, which benefits the environment. Carbon fiber reinforced composites have already replaced aluminum as the main material in the fuselages of state-of-the-art airliners like the Airbus A350 XWB and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. But these composites do have an Achilles heel: they are brittle, which can be a problem in a crash. As research into how these materials will perform in an airplane crash is ramping up, we talk to one of the researchers investigating it.