Most people don’t put a whole lot of thought into where they’re going to sit on a plane. And very few of us think about what part of a plane to sit in to survive a crash.
But it turns out there are actually places to sit on an aircraft that are safer than others.
TIME magazine studied the seating charts of 17 flights that had both fatalities and survivors. After breaking down this data, the researchers found that seats in the back third of a plane had a 32% fatality rate, the middle third of a plane had a 39% rate, and, finally, the front third of a plane had a 38% fatality rate.
Photo Credit: pxhere
When the researchers broke it down by row position, they found the passengers with the lowest fatality rate: in middle seats in the rear of a plane had the best outcome with a 28% fatality rate. After a plane actually crashes, survivors who are seated near an exit are the most likely to get out of a plane alive.
The seats with the worst rates? Aisle seats in the middle third of an aircraft had a 44% fatality rate.
The study also found that sometimes, like life, who lives and who dies on a plane is completely random. Whatever part of the plane takes the brunt of the impact determines how an accident plays out. The researchers discovered that, in some cases, victims who died were spread completely irregularly throughout the plane.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
So if you are worried about flying, for a little peace of mind you can choose one of those middle seats in the back so you’ll fly just a little bit easier.