Abstract Within the frame work of Brite-Euram programme CRASURV ‘Commercial Aircraft — Design for Crash Survivability’, technology is being developed for the design of composite air frames with respect to crashworthiness. A significant part of the project consists of the design, fabrication and drop-testing of two representative composite fuselage sections, to generate the experimental data needed for the validation of new energy absorbing structural concepts, validation of simulation tools to model and analyse these structures subjected to crash loads.