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Technology 101: Finding The Safest Airplane Seat

airplane seat safest

(Chances of survival in case of a crash – pick your seats wisely – it may even keep you alive in the unlikely situation. Note the irony of things – you pay more for Business Class but your chances of survival are even slimmer. Photo by Sourav Mishra from Pexels)

Read these first:-

This may interest frequent fliers.

From Popular Mechanics:-

A look at real-world crash stats, however, suggests that the farther back you sit, the better your odds of survival. Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front.

That’s the conclusion of an exclusive Popular Mechanics study that examined every commercial jet crash in the United States, since 1971, that had both fatalities and survivors.

The raw data from these 20 accidents has been languishing for decades in National Transportation Safety Board files, waiting to be analyzed by anyone curious enough to look and willing to do the statistical drudgework.

In the past, I did not really care much about where I am sitting as long as I am on the right plane and heading to the right destination. Sometimes, I only wish that the neighbouring passengers in the plane are a bit more sensitive to other passengers.

Some of my friends like to sit in front for a couple of reasons – it is nearer to the lavatory (especially for those who have small storage “tank”), it is easier to disembark (since most of the time, you will disembark from the front) and there is a higher chance of getting the available meal (if they are serving fish and chicken – one of this would run out by the time the meal trolley reaches the back).

But over the years, I find that it is more comfortable sitting at the back – there are usually more empty seats at the back since most like to sit in front. So, I can put my spare items on the empty seats. Further, I don’t have to worry about reclining my seat and inconvenience the passenger at the back when they are having their meals (something that some passengers at the front don’t think). Ya, by sitting at the back, it takes a longer time for me to disembark but it does not make any big difference.

Disembarkation is pretty fast in modern planes – sometimes they even open the door at the back to ensure passengers get off even faster. The real delay is often encountered at the immigration counters and luggage retrieval areas. And with most of the crying babies and “hard to handle” kids sitting at the front, it is somehow “quieter” at the back – added advantage in a 7 – 8 hours flight.

And when it comes to getting your food of choice, it is not really a big problem.

These days, I simply log in to the airline website, pick the seat of my choice and can decide to have something different for my airline meals (such as meals cooked for Hindus or vegetarians). This way, you are pretty sure that there is one meal reserved for you no matter where you are sitting.

I had special meals for Hindus on my recent flight and I was surprised at how good the meal looked and tasted compared to the usual airline meal which is usually predictable and bland (so much so my neighbouring passengers wanted the same meal as mine).

And now with the statistics backing me up, the back seats look so tempting and safe.

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