Air crash scenarios are unpredictable, but experts have learned some things about what may be the safest seats for passengers. According to Ed Galea, an Australian aviation safety expert who studied hundreds of plane crashes, being seated within seven rows of an exit can help to save lives. It was found that on average people can walk that distance after a crash to get to safety. Popular Mechanics magazine gathered data from 20 accidents in the United States between 1971 and 2007 and found that the back of the aircraft is safer in crashes. That study found passengers seated in the back of the plane are 40 percent more likely to survive a crash. Other experts caution that seat location is an uncertain factor and that the best practice is simply to follow the advice of the flight attendants. Passengers should brace themselves properly, undo their seatbelts when instructed, exit the plane as fast as possible in an orderly manner, and not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
A seat assignment near the front of the airplane will sometimes mean the passenger is seated last, but it also means the passenger will disembark from the plane first. For a passenger with a tight flight connection or for one uncomfortable and eager to get off the plane, seats near the front are best. If the passenger is concerned about overhead storage space, she may want to sit farther back because she will get on the plane earlier and have more options about where to stow a bag.
Each aircraft varies when it comes to leg room, reclining ability, where to stow bags and ability to see a television monitor. Online services like Seat Guru can evaluate any journey and determine the best seats based on different variables. Seats at the bulkhead, or the front, have more leg room but often have nowhere to store bags in front of the seat and might not have a good view of television monitors. Seats in emergency exit rows can have a lot of leg room but sometimes cannot recline as much as others. Seats in the back row often cannot recline and are generally near a bathroom, meaning many people will be standing near the seats waiting in line.
