What You Can Do to Survive a Plane Crash

Above, flying over the San Gabriel Mountains and headed to the Mojave Desert.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Over the years, the topic of where is/are the safest place(s) to sit in a plane to reduce your risk of injury or death in a crash has come up. Topic of fear if flying came up between a friend and I just the other day.

She wrote:

If there is turbulence, I'm convinced the plane will fall out of the sky and we're done for.  I wish they would just authorize the stewardesses to shoot a tranquilizer dart into people like me so that we wake up at the final destination. 

Some fears are a bit extreme (although I've been on a couple of "white-knuckle" flights, most notably one in 1976 while flying to Las Vegas and I likely turned green) and although the fact that flying is considered the safest mode of transportation, those people won't be dissuaded from their fears.

Some say that the safest places to be seated are the rows even with the wings, while others say the seats in the tail section are the safest.  Who is right?

Peter Greenberg has an article of reducing your risk of injury or death and what to do to survive a plane crash.

Greenberg starts it with:

Even though plane crashes are statistically uncommon, they are widely feared. Take comfort in the numbers, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports that only 1 in 1.2 million flights resulting in an accident. For additional reassurance, the NTSB noted that there was a 95 percent survival rate in plane crashes from 1983 to 2000. Even though the odds are in your favor, it is good to be prepared. You can even take a few measures to ensure your safety. Choosing a seat, staying alert, and being informed are all steps to ensuring survival.

To view the full article, go here.