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Want to feel safe while flying? Choose a front aisle seat

by Anna Brones (RSS feed) on Jun 27th 2008 at 6:00PM

As a child I was always a fan of the window seat when flying. Then I grew taller and became a fan of the aisle seats where I could comfortably stretch out my legs as long as it wasn't beverage service time. Even better would be if I lucked out with an aisle emergency exit seat. But it looks like those of us who prefer the aisle seat have yet another reason to do so: safety.

In a study commissioned by United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority, where 105 plane accidents and 2000 personal accounts were analyzed, emergency exit seats and the rows in front and behind them were found to be the safest. For the best chance of escaping from a burning aircrafts, the report said that passengers should choose aisle seats near the front of the aircraft and within five rows of the emergency exit.

What are the most dangerous seats? Anything six rows or more from the emergency exit. Here are the survival rates for escaping from a burning aircraft:

Front of the aircraft, 65%
Rear of the aircraft, 53%
Aisle seat, 64%
Non-aisle seat, 58%

Need help on just how to score an emergency exit seat? Read this.

Filed under: Airlines, News, Consumer Activism

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