An expert and plane crash survivor spoke to nervous travellers and revealed which area of the plane’s cabin is the safest to sit according to statistics and research
Avaiation experts have revealed which spot of the plane is considered the safest for travellers.
Based on statistics, experts have revealed that the safest place to sit on a plane is either in the middle or the back. Most casualties and deaths occur from the front. In addition to this, emergency services and rescue teams often enter the plane from the rear, meaning anyone there would in theory be saved first.
While in the air, the rear feels perhaps unsafe due to the feeling of turbulence being more prevalent, studies have shown it is in fact the safest if things go wrong. However, plane crashes are very uncommon, with no fatal crashes in the UK for five years in 2022.
Train travel is much more dangerous than aeroplanes, with 0.01 deaths per 100 million miles for planes and 0.04 for trains. But experts say there are measures travellers can take to ensure they’re safe when in the air.
According to a 2015 analysis by Time magazine of 35 years of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data , seats in the back of the plane were safer. In the back third of the aircraft, they had a fatality rate of 32%, whereas those in the middle third had a fatality rate of 39%.
The ones in the front third had an increase of fatality rate, coming in at 38%. Even more specifically, the middle seats in the back of the aircraft are statistically the safest, with just a 28% fatality rate.
By comparison, aisle seats in the middle of the cabin had a fatality rate of 44%. However, officials do warn that this is mainly due to circumstance. There have been other incidents where the front passengers survived.
For example, in the 1977 disaster in Tenerife — aviation’s deadliest accident, which killed 583 people — the 61 survivors sat mainly in the front of the Pan Am aircraft. Ultimately, it comes down to several other circumstances that can’t be controlled, so safety positions might not be the most reliable.
“Given how unlikely an accident is, turbulence is a much more frequent condition most fearful fliers should avoid,” explained David Rimmer, CEO of AB Aviation Group and plane crash survivor. He spoke to Travel and Leisure and advised passengers “opt for marginally ‘less safe’ seats near the middle of the airplane” to avoid the worst impacts.
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