25 thoughts on “Choosing the Safest Seat on Airplane: Tragedy Revisited”
Ed. C
It doesn’t matter to me if first class is in the front or the rear of the plane….
2
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Ed.
We’re smiling.
Aloha.
2
Mandy W
I almost always get seats in the rear of the plane for safety reasons. The noise doesn’t bother us because we usually have headphones on.
No matter what we can’t control what may not happen. I try not to worry but the thoughtless cross my mind.
Sorry for the loss of your friend and family member.
2
Joy
My mom worked for the F.A.A. for many years and always advised me to sit at the back of a plane due to better odds of making it through a survivable crash and I take her advice the majority of the time for that reason.
2
Rachel
I absolutely always consider safety and worst case scenario when choosing my airline seat.
2
TL
As I studied aviation in graduate school in the 80’s, we read many accident studies and actually analyzed the data from a number of aviation accidents. One of the problems with aviation data is that the data is sparse (not many accidents) and lumpy (they don’t happen a regular time intervals). Then, we have to look at an even smaller subset of “survivable” accidents (many accidents are sadly not survivable). All of this makes it hard to make any conclusive findings from airline accident data.
This is so odd. I was looking up some info on one of Herbie’s
albums, saw one of the tunes was co-written by Jean – – I knew she had worked on some early lyrics. Googling their names together so see how many they collaborated on I ended up on a site about the plane crash.
Jean and I were close friends in grammar school (the Lab School in Chicago), and later after I moved to Boston. All I had known/ read about the crash was wind shear. It is painful to absorb the details I’ve just read. I guess I’m writing to you because I am grateful to see this blog entry by someone who shares this loss of a friend.
I used to see Herbie every couple of years when he played in the Boston area and we’d chat a bit. But it has been a while now.
Statistics can \spin\ information in interesting ways. While it may \statistically\ suggest that sitting in the rear of a plane relates to a better survival rate… I must fly for my work and spend 85% of my work week traveling so the \value\ of the survivability means almost nothing.
Given how few planes crash, I would rather spend my countless hours in the more stable, more comfortable, less noisy and certainly time saving (at least 30 minutes boarding and 30 minutes disembarking saved each flight) front of the plane -and not not pay extra to do so. I would rather live a full life in (relative) comfort than subject myself to freezing, deafening, non-reclining hours of torture hoping that my seat choice would give me better odds of surviving a plane crash where others would not -thank you.
Very sad when anyone’s life is cut short especially when traveling in the Safest mode of travel. I have known of this and usually sit from the wing back in the plane. Also because we go to see the grand kids and of course our kids that live in Hawaii. this is maybe also I am cheap so I get the least expensive seat and fly non stop.
I am sorry for your loss and yes, I do think about our safety when we fly. Often the thought crosses my mind ” What am I doing flying 35,000 feet in the air?”
We have only flown first class once when we were bumped and subsequently upgraded – so, we always sit further back. We rarely pay for an exit row but do prefer to sit on two aisle seats across from each other.
There is a scripture that says that ‘time and unforeseen occurrence befall us all.’ Accidents happen. I believe accidents are just that – nothing more.
There are a lot of things that influence survival. Seating preference ‘might’ just be one of them. But it isn’t a guarantee.
We are at the mercy of circumstances – many beyond our control. We cannot control pilot error, mechanical error, weather and more.
We weigh the risks vs the benefits of flying – the same as we do driving a car vs walking. We hope for the best. I personally stay buckled up as much as possible.
Thanks for a thoughtful article. I don’t think anyone wants to dwell on the possibility of not making it to their destination. But those rear seats don’t sound nearly so bad after all.
1
Comments are closed.
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It doesn’t matter to me if first class is in the front or the rear of the plane….
Hi Ed.
We’re smiling.
Aloha.
I almost always get seats in the rear of the plane for safety reasons. The noise doesn’t bother us because we usually have headphones on.
No matter what we can’t control what may not happen. I try not to worry but the thoughtless cross my mind.
Sorry for the loss of your friend and family member.
My mom worked for the F.A.A. for many years and always advised me to sit at the back of a plane due to better odds of making it through a survivable crash and I take her advice the majority of the time for that reason.
I absolutely always consider safety and worst case scenario when choosing my airline seat.
As I studied aviation in graduate school in the 80’s, we read many accident studies and actually analyzed the data from a number of aviation accidents. One of the problems with aviation data is that the data is sparse (not many accidents) and lumpy (they don’t happen a regular time intervals). Then, we have to look at an even smaller subset of “survivable” accidents (many accidents are sadly not survivable). All of this makes it hard to make any conclusive findings from airline accident data.
This is so odd. I was looking up some info on one of Herbie’s
albums, saw one of the tunes was co-written by Jean – – I knew she had worked on some early lyrics. Googling their names together so see how many they collaborated on I ended up on a site about the plane crash.
Jean and I were close friends in grammar school (the Lab School in Chicago), and later after I moved to Boston. All I had known/ read about the crash was wind shear. It is painful to absorb the details I’ve just read. I guess I’m writing to you because I am grateful to see this blog entry by someone who shares this loss of a friend.
I used to see Herbie every couple of years when he played in the Boston area and we’d chat a bit. But it has been a while now.
Statistics can \spin\ information in interesting ways. While it may \statistically\ suggest that sitting in the rear of a plane relates to a better survival rate… I must fly for my work and spend 85% of my work week traveling so the \value\ of the survivability means almost nothing.
Given how few planes crash, I would rather spend my countless hours in the more stable, more comfortable, less noisy and certainly time saving (at least 30 minutes boarding and 30 minutes disembarking saved each flight) front of the plane -and not not pay extra to do so. I would rather live a full life in (relative) comfort than subject myself to freezing, deafening, non-reclining hours of torture hoping that my seat choice would give me better odds of surviving a plane crash where others would not -thank you.
Amen!!!
Very sad when anyone’s life is cut short especially when traveling in the Safest mode of travel. I have known of this and usually sit from the wing back in the plane. Also because we go to see the grand kids and of course our kids that live in Hawaii. this is maybe also I am cheap so I get the least expensive seat and fly non stop.
Well, like a famous comedian once said…”you ever hear of an airplane *BACKING* into a mountain!
I am sorry for your loss and yes, I do think about our safety when we fly. Often the thought crosses my mind ” What am I doing flying 35,000 feet in the air?”
We have only flown first class once when we were bumped and subsequently upgraded – so, we always sit further back. We rarely pay for an exit row but do prefer to sit on two aisle seats across from each other.
There is a scripture that says that ‘time and unforeseen occurrence befall us all.’ Accidents happen. I believe accidents are just that – nothing more.
There are a lot of things that influence survival. Seating preference ‘might’ just be one of them. But it isn’t a guarantee.
We are at the mercy of circumstances – many beyond our control. We cannot control pilot error, mechanical error, weather and more.
We weigh the risks vs the benefits of flying – the same as we do driving a car vs walking. We hope for the best. I personally stay buckled up as much as possible.
Thanks for a thoughtful article. I don’t think anyone wants to dwell on the possibility of not making it to their destination. But those rear seats don’t sound nearly so bad after all.