Sitting next to an exit door, like Ramesh, gives you an opportunity to be one of the first out of the plane, although some exits do not function after a crash. The opposite side of the plane was blocked by the wall of a building it crashed into, he said.
In January of last year, a panel missing several bolts blew off the side of a Boeing 737 MAX mid-flight, creating a gaping hole and damaging the adjacent seat. Fortunately, no one was seated there at the time, and the incident resulted in no fatalities.
Sitting by the aisle might offer you a speedier escape but it increases the likelihood of being hit in the head by luggage falling out of the overhead bins – a much more common occurrence than major crashes.
SAFETY BRIEFINGS
Paying attention to the safety briefing at the start of your flight – often dismissed as routine – is likely the best way to improve your chances of survival, experts say.
Disciplined compliance with cabin crew evacuation advice, including leaving bags behind, was a key factor in saving the lives of all 379 passengers and crew aboard a Japan Airlines flight in January last year.
The Airbus A350 aircraft had collided with a Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, killing five of the six crew members on the smaller aircraft.
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