Air travel is extremely safe, especially when compared to drivingbut when things go wrong, they tend to go very wrong indeed. Those of us with profound paranoia scroll through the seat selection when buying a flight and wonder, where can I sit for the best chance of surviving the utopia?
I know I’ve wondered that, late at night when the drugs haven’t worked their way; What does it take to get through an event as extremely violent and devastating as a plane crash? CNN spent time pondering the question and the answer was clear: The middle and back of the fuselage, sandwiched between the window and the aisle seat. Basically, the seats that are guaranteed to be both large and cheap are the safest by far:
It is worth remembering that accidents do not conform to the standards of their nature. During the crash of United Flight 232 in 1989 in Sioux City, Iowa, 184 of the 269 people on board survived the crash. Most of the survivors were seated in the back of first class, towards the front of the plane.
However, one investigation TIME A review of 35 years of plane crash data showed that the rear middle row of the plane had the lowest fatality rate: 28%, compared with 44% for the middle aisle seats.
This is also reasonable. Sitting next to the exit row will always give you the fastest exit in an emergency, as long as there’s no fire on that side. But the wings of the plane store fuel, so this doesn’t qualify the middle exit rows as the safest row choice.
At the same time, being closer to the front means you’ll be hit before those in the back, which puts us in the last exit row. As for why center seats are safer than window or aisle seats, it is, as you might expect, because of the cushioning provided by having people on either side.
It’s important to remember that airplanes are designed to survive a crash in general, and pilots are trained to keep everyone safe. However, airplane design isn’t much use against, say, a whole damn mountain, and Pilots can also lose their bearings also. So the next time you choose a seat on a flight, remember: A few hours of suffering can save your life. I definitely won’t forget it.
