Experts reveal what the safest seat on a plane actually is after the Air India crash

Sitting in 11A saved one man’s life in the devastating Air India plane crash, but is that actually the safest seat on a plane? Here’s what experts say.

Aeronautics and astronautics professor John Hansman told Time + Leisure that sitting at the back is always considered the safest because “the front of the airplane acts as a shock absorber”  in an accident.

He explained that when a plane goes down, it usually does so nose first, so the people at the front are more likely to be injured. That means sitting in the very back row of the aircraft is the safest.

On a Boeing 737, which is generally considered the most popular aircraft in the world, the back is usually somewhere between rows 45 to 50. The number of rows varies a lot by aircraft.

However, while most planes do crash nose-first, this isn’t always the case. Former aircraft systems and software engineer Steve Wright explained to Time that the Air India plane was “atypical” and “sunk” into the ground with “the nose up”.

That means in this case, the back of the plane wasn’t the safest. British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh managed to survive because he was close to an emergency exit and the wings.

Credit: Canva

“Structurally on the airplane, the strongest part is obviously where the wings come in,” aviation attorney Jim Braucle added. “And he was close to an exit.”

“I know he didn’t exit because he was behind some rubble, but those areas are reinforced so that, in the case of an accident, the door doesn’t get deformed, so people can escape.”

Most Read

It’s over! OnlyFans confirms Bonnie Blue’s ban is permanent and the exact reason why

22-year-old who did vile stunt with Bonnie Blue says she’s ‘traumatised’ and needs therapy

Bonnie Blue has responded to that really ridiculous rumour she is actually a man

So, sitting at the back of a plane, next to the wings and near an emergency exit can all be considered “safe” seats on an aircraft. Ultimately, it depends on how the plane goes down in a crash.

“If you’re in a crash, all bets are off. So pick whatever seat you want to make you feel comfortable,” federal aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti told The New York Times. “You just can’t predict crash dynamics.”

So, don’t worry about where you’re sitting on a plane too much because you can’t really predict where the safest seat will be.

A 2024 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that the risk of dying during commercial air travel is one in every 13 million passengers, and air travel is still the safest form of transport.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.