Some empirical data suggests that seats in the back of the airplane offer a greater level of safety. The NTSB investigates most major accidents in the United States and often releases seating charts indicating seat survivability. A Popular Mechanics investigation of available data revealed that those sitting in the back had a 40 percent greater chance of surviving a crash. In 11 of the 20 crashes studied, those in the back portion of the aircraft had higher survivability. Much of the initial shock and energy of a crash is absorbed by the front end of the plane.
The exit-row seats also offer a bit of additional safety. In a plane crash, the initial impact is often survivable, but passengers can't easily get out of the damaged and flaming wreckage before it's too late. Sitting in an exit row can help assure that you are one of the first passengers off the plane, increasing likelihood of survival. Sitting closer to any exit gives a similar benefit.
Using the same logic as being close to an exit or exit row, sitting in an aisle seat gives you a higher chance of evacuating quickly. As there are fewer people blocking your path to the exit, this increases your chances of evacuating and surviving before being overcome by smoke or otherwise bogged down.
Many contend that there are no "safer" seats in an airplane, and that all seats are equally safe, because of the severe nature of aircraft accidents. According to AirSafe.com, "the level of fatalities often are either very low, with less than 10 percent casualties, or very high with over 90 percent fatalities." It is not very common for half of an airplane to suffer more damage than the other half. Although your likelihood of being in a crash is extremely low, a serious accident is likely to be fatal for all or nearly everyone on the plane.
