The aim is to prevent being rapidly propelled forward. Return your seat to the upright position and lower your head to your knees or rest it on the seat in front of you. Put your hands behind your head, but do not lace your fingers. Keep your elbows to the side of your head, but not over knees.

Surviving a mid-air collision is an extremely rare occurrence and depends heavily on the severity of the impact and the structural integrity of the aircraft involved. From a passenger's perspective, the primary "survival" action occurs in the seconds following the impact: immediately don your oxygen mask (if the cabin depressurizes) and assume the brace position to protect yourself from secondary impacts or a hard emergency landing. In general aviation, many modern small aircraft are equipped with ballistic parachute systems (like the CAPS system on Cirrus planes) that can be deployed to safely lower the entire airframe to the ground. For pilots, the key to survival is maintaining control of whatever remains of the flight surfaces and looking for the nearest suitable landing site, even if that means an off-airport "ditching." Historically, the most famous survival cases involve pilots who were able to maintain partial flight control after a "glancing" blow. However, the true "survival" strategy for mid-air collisions is prevention: utilizing modern technologies like TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System), maintaining a vigilant "see and avoid" watch, and strictly adhering to Air Traffic Control instructions to ensure aircraft are always properly separated.