Safest Seat on Plane? Next To Real Neighbor

Flying is VERY safe but “recent scares involving Alaska & JAL flights raise basic Qs about where to sit & how to behave in case of emergency. Short answers: There’s no real “safe” seat & ”Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”

That sums up the WSJ piece reminding us, despite those back-to-back scares, “millions of travelers reach their destinations every day without incident” & 2022 saw only 20 airline accidents resulting in one fatality. Got it. But, should that rare airborne nightmare come your way? “There’s really no ‘saftest’ place to sit,” Anthony Brickhouse, assoc. prof at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U, told the newspaper, especially given the unpredictability as well as rarity of those few air emergencies that do occur. “If you can tell me how an aircraft is going to crash,” he said, “I can tell you where to sit.”

Ironically, perhaps, Brickhouse suggested the BACK of the plane has proved safest, followed by seats near the wings, where “strong structural components” make those parts better able to withstand trauma. Mr. Brickhouse does not seem to mind all that jet fuel in those things that twirl (aka engines) around wing seats. He also favors any exit-row seat for the chance of a fast escape in an emergency. “If something does happen, I’m at the exit,” he said. On the other hand, recall how the near JAL disaster was largely avoided. Despite a blocked exit, spreading flames & a cabin filling up with smoke, all passengers got off safely with apparently remarkable calm & old-fashioned care for one another. No screaming (at least, not much). No stampeding. No pushing or shoving. Single file was the rule of the day. And, it seems to have really helped save the day.

Davd Soul