Abstract: Crashworthiness is one of the most important problems in aircraft design and one of necessary conditions to get an airworthiness certification. The crashworthiness research of different aircrafts in America, European Union and Japan etc. are introduced. Numerical simulation method, experiment method and their key problems are presented here. To achieve a crashworthiness design objective, the crashworthiness design characteristics are analyzed by comparing light fixed-wing aircrafts, helicopters and middle and large aircrafts. Energy absorption structure is one of the key problems in crashworthiness design, and the crashworthiness of an aircraft could be improved by redesign fuselage bottom structure, fuselage frame and strut. Also, typical methods are listed here. In addition, reliability analysis and optimization design methods are summarized. Finally, the development of aircraft design is also prospected.