Flying ~ Safest Aircraft ~ Safest Seats ~ What Should You Do ~ Increase Your Survival Odds. We have taken a look at 17 years of NTSB data (1983-2000), Link Below, plus an overlapping 36 years of NTSB reports and seating charts, in an attempt to determine:
1⃣ Where are the Safest Seats,
2⃣ What are the best way to live through a disaster in the sky,
3⃣ Simple things you Must Do to increase your Survival odds, in the unlikely event, you are involved in an Airline Distaste.
4⃣ We have carefully examined a report from Popular Mechanics, information by Ben Sherwood’s Survivors Club, Manliness’ articles, the NTSB, and AFF reports.
🌐 We often think that plane crashes are catastrophic and unsurvivable events. Thanks to Hollywood Movies, the News Channels, and the Internet, enduring image of a plane crash, usually involves an aircraft plummeting to the ground from 30,000 feet and obliterating everyone on board in a terrifying fireball. Do we have your attention…
🌐 Report analyzing airline accidents from 1983 to 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, found that the survival rate For Crashes was on average 95.7% and fatalities were at 4.3%. There have been some accidents where everyone, or nearly everyone, died, but those are much Rarer than you may have imagined based on what we all see in the News. The NTSB found that even in a number of very serious accidents where Fire and Substantial Damage occurred, 76.6% of these Passengers Survived, however, 23.4% were passenger Fatalities.
🌐 Its a Relative Rarity of Aircraft Accidents happening in the first place (the average American’s chances of being killed in an airplane crash are about 1 in 11 million), and you can see that flying is actually the safest form of transportation there is. Taking to the road on an average day is far more dangerous — it just doesn’t feel like it because you have four (or two) wheels on the ground and a sense of control.
🌐 Important Facts from the FAA and the NTSB, (Federal Aviation Administration) and NTSB found in their research on plane crashes:
1⃣ 40% of fatalities, occurred in crashes that were Survivable.
2⃣ 50% of all airplane-crash fatalities, might have been prevented, had the passengers taken prompt action, rather than delaying their exit from the wreckage, for example.
🌐 The "odds" of being involved in a plane crash are statistically very slim, the fatality rate is not Zero. If you were involved in a serious Airline Disaster, heaven forbid, would You know What To Do to increase your chances of walking away, as a Survivor. We are going to offer some "research-backed" advice from Ben Sherwood’s "The Survivor’s Club" and other Survival Data delivered in NTSB Crash Reports, in effort to give you some Easy to Remember TO DO LIST, on what you can do, to make it out of an Airline Disaster alive.
🌐 You’ve Only Got 90 Seconds to Get Out. This Get Out Fast message is a Key ingredient to Surviving. Quick Action will frame all the other tips in this article. For example, if you actually survived the impact of the crash landing, you statistically have a good chance of getting out of the Airplane Alive. However, on Average, you only have 90 seconds to Get Out of the Aircraft, before Fire and Toxic Fumes and Dark Smoke suffocate the crash-impact survivors, only to die of Smoke Inhalation.
🌐 Most passengers in a plane crash actually Survive the actual crash-impact; However, it’s the fire and toxic fumes that quickly engulfs the plane very soon after the crash. Folks may be surprised they survived the impact, and become complacent about other dangers.
🌐 Crash-Impact Survivors vastly underestimate how quickly Fire will spread and consume an airplane, and all its plastic components, insulation materials, synthetic interior materials, seating, and the Luggage stored in the belly of the Aircraft.
🌐 NTSB and FAA Post Crash Victim Surveys conducted, show startling results. Most people believed that they would actually have about 20 to 30 minutes to get out of a Crashed Aircraft. In Reality it only requires, on average, 90 seconds for Fire to "burn through" the Aircraft’s aluminum fuselage, then begin consuming the Aircraft’s interior and everyone remaining therein. This is a Scary Factoid. You Must be Extremely Motivated to get You and your Loved Ones OUT of the Aircraft, Immediately.
🌐 Health and Fitness is a Survival Tactic. The FAA has rigorously studied and crunched the numbers on airplane crash survivors. The FAA has also tested nearly 2,500 people in simulated evacuations to find out the "type of person" who typically survives.
1⃣ Young, slender men have the best odds of surviving a plane crash.
2⃣ Sadly Older and Over weight women have the worst survival odds.
3⃣ FAA has found that differences in age, gender, and girth account for 31% of the difference between people’s evacuation times.
4⃣ Escaping a plane crash requires you to maneuver quickly through narrow aisles with over-head luggage that has busted loose from those over-head bins, and the interior wreckage strung everywhere around you and on top of you. You may even have to throw or move Blockages out of your way.
5⃣ When successfully in getting to an Emergency Exit or a Hold in the Aircraft’s Skin, You then have to slip/slide through an Emergency Exit that may be only 20" wide.
6⃣ Considering that you Survived the crash with non-fatal injuries, if you are
7⃣ OVER Weight, and Physically not Fit, your survival rate is reduced significantly. Being out of shape reduces your chances of survival; Your being unFit could put other passenger’s lives at risk too, as they’ll have to wait for the "FAT One" to exit to safety.
8⃣ Hold-ups at the Emergency Exit due to Over Weight passengers having trouble deplaning, has caused Many Unnecessary Fatalities.
🌐 Emergency Exit FATAL Bottlenecks. For example, in a runway-collision that occurred in 1991, investigators found the charred remains of 10 passengers all lined up in the aisle waiting to leave a wing exit; Sorry to express this in this fashion, however it was the Fat Folks who Froze Up, having trouble Squeezing through the Emergency Exit and literally Created a FATAL Bottleneck. Therefore if you’re a bit on the rotund side, make it a goal to shed some of that table muscle so you’ll be Physically Fit enough to save your own life and perhaps the lives of others.
🌐 Choose New Modern Large Aircraft, if Possible. If you have the choice between flying in a "puddle jumper" or a 737, choose the 737. According to FAA and NTSB investigations, larger modern wide-body Airplanes have more energy absorption capabilities, in a crash situations. This energy absorption capacity, means you may be subjected to less deadly-force, which may equate to a higher survival rate.
🌐 Avoid small-regional carriers if possible. They have accident and incident rates, double that of major national carriers; Their pilots are often less-experienced and overworked. Note that national airlines frequently use, regional carriers for some of the sub-connection-routes that fly under their name.
🌐 Popular Mechanics published an article in 2007 that analyzed commercial airplane crashes in the U.S. making note as to where the survivors were actually seated in each accident. The statistics showed that the safest place to be Seated was in the Middle-Back Portion of the Aircraft. These conclusions are well supported by other expert research, including reports by the FAA and the NTSB.
🌐 Each Aircraft Crash is different. According to the folks who dedicate their lives to studying plane crashes, the statistics are somewhat inconclusive because every airplane crash is quite different. Many crashes are nose-first, thus making the back of the plane safer, but several have been tail-first (as with the recent incident in San Francisco) or wing-first.
🌐 Five Row Rule, when making your Seat Selections at the time of ticket purchases. No one knows what kind of crash may occur. Therefore instead of worrying about whether your seat is near the back, focus on finding a seat near an Emergency Exit, preferably a Few Rows behind an Emergency Exit, over the Wings. According to researcher Ed Galea, those who survive a plane crash typically only moved on average FIVE Rows to escape. Beyond Five Rows the chance of getting out alive decreases dramatically.
1⃣ The best seat to have is 2 Rows Behind the Emergency Exit Row because:
2⃣ You will move Forward to the Emergency Exit,
3⃣ You will Not have to go backwards to get to the Exit.
4⃣ In theory You’d be of the first out of the Aircraft should you need to exit.
5⃣ Select an Aisle Seat, you also have easier access to the lavatory during flight
6⃣ Aisle Seats have a 64% better chance of Survival compared to the other seats.
7⃣ Window Seats have a 58% chance of survival, if sitting in a window seat.
8⃣ Avoid bulkhead rows. More leg room; however, the bulkhead-walls are not as flexible as the seating in front of you, when you literally collide with the seat-backs in front of you, during a crash situation. Researchers admit that there are exceptions to the Five Row Rule; he’s found people that successfully moved 19 rows to get to an exit. Moreover, even if you’re just two rows away from an exit, there’s always the chance that some exit doors may be blocked or jammed. In sum, your chances of survival will increase if you’re within Five Rows of an exit.
🌐 Overcome Post-Crash Normalcy-Bias With an Action Plan. As discussed in detail, on why we’re "hardwired for sheepdom" we are naturally affected by the Normalcy Bias. The Normalcy Bias causes our brains to assume that things will be predictable and normal most of the time. When things aren’t normal, it takes our brain a period of time to process a Crash Event as a Survivor. Meaning that instead of springing to immediate-action when surprised with one having Survived the Crash, we spend valuable time "digesting" the Crash Drama, which may cause you to become a victim instead of a survivor.
🌐 Aircraft Accidents are a Fault of the Equipment, the Pilots, the Weather, or Terrorism, or a combination of these factors. If you Survive the Crash, YOUR next steps are your Choice. Recall You only have 90 Seconds to Escape. Don’t Waist time counting your blessings having survived the Crash portion of the Event, only to Die of Fire, Toxic Fumes and Smoke inhalation, that Kills most of those, remaining in the Aircraft only a minutes more…
🌐 Investigators have discovered that Normalcy Bias has caused many unnecessary deaths in plane crashes. Instead of taking immediate action after a crash, people mill around. Many survivors waist time looking for their carry-on luggage before getting to the exit.
🌐 Normalcy bias manifested itself in dramatic fashion during a plane collision in 1977 that killed 583 people, the worst aircraft disaster in history. Two 747 jumbo jets collided with each other just above the runway on the small island of Tenerife (part of the Canary Islands off of Morocco). After the collision, one jet tumbled to the ground and exploded, killing all 248 passengers on board.
🌐 The other jet crash-landed, but didn’t explode. The collision sheared away the top of the jet and flames began to take over the aircraft. Passengers who survived the initial collision could have escaped unharmed, but they had to act Very Fast. Paul Heck, a passenger on the burning plane (who was 65, by the way), sprung to action. He unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed his wife’s hand, and hightailed it to the nearest exit. They, along with 68 other passengers, survived, while 328 died.
🌐 In an interview after the disaster, Mr. Heck noted how most people just sat in their seats acting like everything was fine even after colliding with another plane and seeing the cabin fill with smoke. Researchers believe that passengers had a little over a minute to escape before being consumed by the flames, and are convinced that if more people had taken immediate action instead of remaining in their seats pretending like things were manageable, the survival rate would have been much, much higher.
🌐 Overcome the Normalcy Bias, Have an Action Plan on what you’re going to do in the event of an accident every single time you get on an airplane.
1⃣ Know where the exits are.
2⃣ Spot the nearest exit,
3⃣ Count the number of seat-bacls, the rows between yourself and the Exit Row.
4⃣ Should it be nighttime, or the interior lights fail, you won’t have to succumb to confusion because you’ll know right where to go.
5⃣ Literally Size-Up the Over-Weight and UnFit passengers around you to see who may be Potential "Roadblocks" to your exit.
6⃣ Traveling with kids, talk to your Spouse, set Kid Assignments,in the event of an accident.
7⃣ Mentally Rehearse a Quick Spring to Action, as soon as the Aircraft comes to Stop.
8⃣ Don’ Expect too much assistance from the Flight Crew.
9⃣ FAA-NTSB found that 45% of the Flight Attendants in survivable crashes are incapacitated or deceased.
🔟 Be Ready to take Immediate Action without any Direction from Anyone.
🌐 FAA found that Frequent Fliers were the Least Informed. Overcome the Normalcy Bias by reading through the safety card as well as listen to the flight attendants when they give their pre-flight safety messages. You may think you’re justifiably confident, but you’re probably complacent; in a report published a few years ago, the FAA found that Frequent Fliers were the Least Informed on what to do and most susceptible to the normalcy bias in the event of an aircraft disaster. Re-reading the safety card will remind you where the nearest exits are and what to do during a crash landing. As you read through the safety guidelines, formulate your action plan.
🌐 Aviation High Risk Periods: Plus 3/Minus 8 refers to the first three minutes after takeoff and the last eight minutes before landing. According to flight crash investigators, close to 80% of all plane crashes occur during this timeframe (the events leading up to the recent Asiana plane crash happened during the last 8 minutes of descent). In between those times, the chances of a plane crash occurring drop dramatically. Thus, if you want to up your chances of survival, you need to be extra vigilant and ready to take action during the first 3 minutes after takeoff and the last 8 minutes before landing. Here are some suggestions from The Survivor’s Club on what to do and not do during Plus 3/Minus 8:
🌐 Do Not Sleep, Do Not Sleep while Flying. Make sure your shoes are on and secured. If you’re traveling with your wife or girlfriend, make sure she’s wearing flats and not high heels. It’s hard to run in stilettos. Don’t drink before getting on a plane. You want to be fully present in the event of a crash. Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, low and tight. Go over your pre-flight action plan. You don’t need to be paranoid during this time, just vigilantly relaxed.
🌐 Put on Your Oxygen Mask as Soon as It Drops. Airplane cabins are pressurized so you can breathe normally at 30,000 feet. When a cabin loses pressure, there’s so little air at high altitudes that getting oxygen to your bloodstream is next to impossible. That’s where oxygen masks come in. They pump pure oxygen into your nose and mouth so that you can get the air you need.
🌐 In an event where the mask drops from above, put it on as soon as it drops. According to passenger studies, most folks think they can survive an hour without a mask after a plane loses pressure. You actually just have a few seconds. Just a few seconds of oxygen deprivation can cause significant mental impairment, and loss of consciousness. If you want to get out of a Crashed Airplane alive, you’ll Need all your mental faculties intact when it lands. Also, follow the safety guidelines of securing your mask first before helping others secure theirs. You’re pretty much useless to others if you’re not getting oxygen to your brain.
🌐 Do not believe that bracing positions were a silly exercise. There’s no way that curling up in a ball would help you survive in a plane crash. But research has shown that proper Bracing Positions indeed increase your chances of survival, particularly in an emergency crash-landing. These crash-positions help reduce the velocity of your head, when it inevitably slams into the seat in front of you. Moreover, proper positioning helps to minimize limb flailing.
Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, low and tight, over your lap, designed to withstand 3,000 pounds of Deceleration Forces, which is about three times as much as your body could reasonably handle, without loosing consciousness.
🌐 Forget Your Carry On Luggage, Remember the Kids. The plane has crash landed and you’re still alive. Time to get to those exits as fast as you can. Remember, you only have 90 seconds. Believe it or not, you need to be reminded to forget your carry-on luggage! It will slow you down and block others’ escape, and it may injure you or someone else if you try to get down the very steep inflatable slides with it. You can get another iPad when you return safely to your home. In your rush to get out of the plane, don’t forget your kids. That actually happens. Your brain does stupid things in disasters. Keep reminding yourself, “I have kids. I have kids. I have kids.” Ideally, you should have a plan with your wife and kids on who goes with who in case of an emergency exit.
🌐 Have any of you been involved in a plane crash? Did you notice normalcy bias take hold of passengers? What do you think helped you escape alive? Share with us in the comments! The funny thing about all those expert opinions: They’re not really based on hard data about actual airline accidents. A look at real-world crash stats, however, suggests that the farther back you sit, the better your odds of survival. Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40% more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front.
🌐 Aircraft Disaster Statistics. In 11 of the 20 crashes, rear passengers clearly fared better. Only five accidents favored those sitting forward. Three were tossups, with no particular pattern of survival. In one case, seat positions could not be determined.
🌐 In seven of the 11 crashes favoring back-seaters, their advantage was striking. For example, in both the 1982 Air Florida accident in Washington, D.C., and the 1972 crash of an Eastern 727 at New York’s Kennedy Airport, the handful of survivors were all sitting in the last few rows. When a United DC-8 ran out of fuel near Portland, Ore., in 1978, all seven passengers who died were sitting in the first four rows.
🌐 Oddly, the five accidents that favored front-cabin passengers all occurred between 1988 and 1992. In the 1989 United DC-10 accident in Sioux City, Iowa, for example, the majority of the 175 survivors sat ahead of the wing.
🌐 There was just one crash in which passengers in the front had a pronounced survival advantage. The only two fatalities in a 1989 USAir runway accident at LaGuardia were both sitting in Row 21 in the 25-row Boeing 737-400.
🌐 Where detailed seating charts were available, survival rates were calculated for various parts of the passenger cabin. Again, the trend was clear: The rear cabin (seats located behind the trailing edge of the main-wing) had the highest average survival rate at 69%. The over-wing section had a 56% survival rate, as did the coach section ahead of the wing. First Class and Business-Class sections (or in all-coach planes, the front 15% of the rows) had an average survival rate of just 49%.
🌐 Remember, when the "experts" tell you it doesn’t matter where you sit, you now know better, and head towards the back of the Aircraft. Once your seat-belt is firmly fastened, relax: There’s been only one fatal jet crash in the U.S.A. in the last five-plus years.
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