Chris Blattman

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Where’s the safest seat on the plane?

As our thoughts turn to summer travel…

In a study commissioned by United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority, where 105 plane accidents and 2000 personal accounts were analyzed, emergency exit seats and the rows in front and behind them were found to be the safest. For the best chance of escaping from a burning aircrafts, the report said that passengers should choose aisle seats near the front of the aircraft and within five rows of the emergency exit.

What are the most dangerous seats? Anything six rows or more from the emergency exit. Here are the survival rates for escaping from a burning aircraft:

  • Front of the aircraft, 65%
  • Rear of the aircraft, 53%
  • Aisle seat, 64%
  • Non-aisle seat, 58%

Via Gadling

2 Responses

  1. First off I am a pilot for a major carrier. Secondly, considering the fact that the wing-area of the aircraft is the most structurally reinforced, any seat of the wing would be the safest. This is reinforced because not only does it have to take the brunt of the aerodynamic stresses during flight, but it is also where the main undercarraige is located, and has to absorb the impact of landings, both soft, and hard.

  2. let’s multiply the probability of dying by the probability of actually being in a burning airplane and then realize that they all pretty much equal 0!

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