If you head even further back, you'll find the last rows of the plane have even better perks. On many flights, you'll find the final rows have fewer people in them, which means more room for you to stretch out since there is no one sitting behind you, and you may even have a seat open next to you.
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Seats towards the back of the plane tend to experience more turbulence than those towards the front. Those who experience motion sickness should avoid seats in the back at all costs. Additionally, those seated in the back are the last passengers to get off the plane.
While people usually aren't clamoring to get those back middle seats, this shows they do have at least one advantage! Logically, the safety of these seats makes sense. Seats at the back of an airplane are close to exit rows while providing more cushion from any collisions that may impact the front of the plane first.
The seat you choose can actually reduce the amount of turbulence you feel! Grab a seat near the center of the plane, over the wings, or toward the front of the aircraft. These areas are more stable, and you'll notice less turbulence than at the back of the plane.
Aviation specialist Doug Drury from Central Queensland University has analysed different seating options and has concluded that the middle seat is the safest option in the case of a plane crash.
Seats at the back of the cabin had the lowest fatality rate at 32 per cent. The Aviation Safety Network analysed 65 plane crashes and found seats in the back to be safest in over half of the incidents, based on survival rates.
“The smoothest place to sit is over the wings,” commercial pilot Patrick Smith, host of AskThePilot.com said. These seats are close to the plane's center of lift and gravity. “The roughest spot is usually the far aft. In the rearmost rows, closest to the tail, the knocking and swaying is more pronounced,” Smith added.
While turbulence can feel scary, airplanes are designed to withstand massive amounts of it. A plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket, wrote pilot Patrick Smith on his site, AskThePilot.com.
The study concluded that passengers who sit in the back rows “are 40% more likely to survive a crash” than those in the front. Statistics provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) support this finding.
Delta Airlines is a large American airline that has a strong safety record. It has received multiple honors for its devotion to safety, including being named the World's Most On-Time Airline for several years in a row by FlightGlobal.