When you book a seat on a plane, you probably have certain criteria in mind. Price. Comfort. Leg room. Seats next to each other to sit with the rest of your party. If you have enough points (or money), you might even look into first or business class options.
What about safety?
Statistically speaking, flying really is one of the safest modes of transportation. According to the FAA, among worldwide commercial jets, there were only 25 airplane accidents in 2022 (the most recent statistics available). Yet Forbes reports that in the same year, there were nearly 6 million police-reported car crashes in the U.S. alone. According to the US National Safety Council’s analysis of census data, the odds of dying in a plane are about 1 in 205,552, as opposed to 1 in 102 in a car.
That said, some people are still significantly more interested in what the “safest” seat(s) on a plane is.
No universal answer
Unfortunately, there’s no universal answer to that question. The main reason is that there’s never a unifying theme to plane crashes; they’re all different. The type of plane you’re on, what the crash involves, even the specifics of emergency exiting, etc., all play a part in whether or not someone will survive a plane crash.
Myths vs. statistics
There’s a common myth that sitting in an aisle seat is the safest seat to be in during a plane crash. This is simply because it’s the easiest to evacuate and will, therefore, get you to an emergency exit that much faster.
But again, that’s only a myth. In fact, Time Magazine studied 17 plane crashes over the course of 35 years. Of total deaths, 44% of those in aisle seats in the middle of the plane perished (56% survived), while only 28% of those in middle seats died (72% lived). They also discovered that, overall, the back 1/3 of planes had the most survivors.
A 727 was even deliberately crashed in the desert, back in 2012, to see which seats would have the highest chance of survival. How they set the whole thing up was fascinating. During that crash, the seats in the back had the highest chance of survival, the seats in the middle of the plane had a 78% chance, and people in first class would have all been goners.
So the back 1/3 of the plane, in the middle seats, is the safest?
Maybe. But not necessarily.
See, the U.S. government also studied plane crashes of all types, from 1993 to 2000. THEY discovered that 90% of the passengers who had survived were seated 7 seats away from the emergency exit.
Then what’s the safest seat?
Essentially, there isn’t any. The chances of being in a “safer” seat is just luck.
Here’s a video that explains some more, and what else you can do to help ensure you exit from a plane safely in the event of an emergency:
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