Which section of seats safer?

Question

I know it depends on the situation, but generally speaking (or according to past experiences), passengers in which sections of the seats in a plane have a higher survival rate?

Answer 1

During a mid air occurrence, the place probably the safest would be in the very back of the aircraft near the empenage (tail section) of the aircraft since it will sometimes break off and cushion your blow (most effective in a rear mounted engine aircraft). During a collision with the ground or another aircraft that is on the ground, you have two options, First class, due to the fact you don't have a seat in front of you that could snap your neck, or economy near the wings, because its the strongest and you get a great view of outside! (you also have all the fuel to the side of you.

I would take first class (h**l your in first class, who wouldn't)

Overall, I really don't think it makes a difference.

Answer 2

I would say the tail of the plane. By sitting over the wing, you would be one of the last people to get out because most of the emergency exits are towards the front and back of the plane. Also, by sitting over the wing, you will be directly over the fuel tanks, far more people have been killed by the post crash fire than the actual impact itself. Besides, most of the crash sites I have seen, the tail is the only recognizable thing left.

Answer 3

generally, in the majority of crashes, the survivors were seated in the tail.

Airplanes can crash in every single imaginable way except by backing up into something. And they'll crash into anything too. Anything from water, mountains, flat ground, building, birds, other airplanes, UFOs (has not happened yet) etc. So, those who actually know anything about this, there isn't a safer seat anywhere except in the terminal.

The wingbox is the strongest part of the airplane. Most wingboxes are made of honeycombed composites and all kinds of light, but very strong materials. There's spars, crossbars, wing roots, etc, all holding and binding that part to the rest of the aircraft. After all, the winbox is what the wings connect to and the wings are what lifts the aircraft, so the makers can't have that part breaking away for anything. This is does not mean it is the safest part however. If the aircraft stalled and fell straight into the ground, the strength of the wingbox wouldn't do you much good. However, if it were a controlled crash-landing, that wingbox may just save your life.

In past crashes, survivors, if any at all, have been sitting in the tail. However, again, for a head-on impact or a crash landing, sitting in the tail would be good, but if the airplane is ditching in the water, a maneuver which requires the tail to settle first, you're screwed if you were in the tail because that part would break off first and the rushing water would pin you to your seat until the tail is fully submerged at which point you're drowning already. Even on land, if the pilot screws up and the tail hits the ground first and breaks away, you'll probably be buried alive because the tail would dig into the ground. (Did I mention the jagged pieces of aluminum and red hot wires will be smashing into you too?)

Collatery, the front is good for a ditching in the water but if the plane is crashing into land or a mountainside, you're going to be vaporized or cut down by flying debris.

So essentially, just pick a place on or aft of the wingbox and let fate decide how and into what your plane is going to be crashing in. This may sound very grim, but airliners don't crash fatally anymore these days thanks to the past crashes and experience the industry has learned lots.

One thing that would have saved many many lives is to make all seats face aft, or towards the back of the airplane. Indeed, this is why the USAF was the safest airline for a long time. When facing aft, and knowing a plane can't back up into anything in the air, you're protected against flying debris, and your body and the seat, can absorb much more Gs of deceleration. Just that alone, could've saved countless lives in nearly every single aviation crash.

However, no passenger airline would do it because the passengers would have complained like crazy. Air sickness may also be more pronounced. (Sure beats the h**l out of dying, in my opinion though)

Answer 4

Close to an exit, far from an engine. Otherwise, it doesn't make much difference.

You want to be close to an exit because there's a possibility of a fire shortly after the doors are opened. The faster you get out, the better. Plus, you minimize your chances of an injury or getting lost or trampled during an emergency evacuation.

You don't want to be look out the window at an engine because of the possibility of uncontained engine failure. You don't want bits of a flywheel embedded in you.

Almost everything else is so statistically unlikely to make any difference it's not worth worrying about.

Answer 5

Check this report by Popular Mechanics very interesting:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/...

Answer 6

Being an old crewman that put his @ss on the lowest bidder I would say go for the strongest part of the aircraft which is where the wings and fuselage,  Now days it also gives you the best egress routes.

Answer 7

I agree with care taker.....over the wing is the most structurally supported area.  

Answer 8

While it may be true that sitting in the rear of the aircraft tends to increase your likelihood of surviving a crash, the best seats to be sitting in during a crash are the first class seats. They have a greater ability to absorb G-forces than economy seats.

Answer 9

Economy class

Answer 10

I have always heard it was the tail section, which is a mini-airfoil in and of itself, and will generally hit with lesser impact after the aircraft has broken up. (The wing section carries with it the added risk of fuel tank explosion.)

I don't plan to personally test the validity of this assertion, however.