Air travel remains one of the safest forms of transport, but recent incidents have resulted in travelers being paused before flying in friendly skies.
Passenger aircraft can have hundreds of seats in different cabins, and the exact layout may vary depending on the airline or aircraft model. When travelers choose their seats after booking their flight, they may wonder whether the plane seat is safer than the other seats. Travel + Leisure consulted several major aviation safety experts to find out exactly what passengers need to know about the safest seats on a plane.
Meet the experts
John Hansman is a professor of aviation and astronauts at MIT. Cary Grant is an assistant professor at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's College of Aviation. Trisha Ferguson is CEO of the Interaction Group. Her team will discuss aviation safety.
MIT Aeronautics and astronaut Professor John Hansmann shared with T+L that the rear seats of aircraft are generally the safest. He continued, saying in the event of an accident, “the front of the plane will act as a shock absorber.”
Hansman, who also serves as director of the MIT International Air Transport Centre, noted that each plane's collisions are different and there is a risk in every seat in an emergency.
This was evident in a real-world simulation of airline crashes for MIT experiments and Discovery Channel programs. Educational research teams found that a Boeing 727 plane crashed for investigation, and that a test dummy placed behind the plane walked unharmed, while a person sitting in the center of the plane sustained a broken bone. Unfortunately, a first class cabin, or a test dummy in the first few rows, could have been ejected from the plane in this simulation and died in the event of a similar accident.
Airline crash simulations also revealed that wearing a seat belt and sitting in the right brace position (often described as placing your head on your lap and hugging the back of your legs) can help minimize the injury to your test dummy in a simulated emergency.
Cary Grant, assistant professor at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Aviation, says there is data that the rear of the plane can be safer, but in most cases there is no safer seat in an emergency, as each accident differs in terms of location, speed and angle of impact.
Previously working as a flight instructor and safety team leader for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Grant is the captain of major airlines, telling T+L:
He also strongly recommends that safety briefings on the video screen or that they have been conducted by flight attendants at the start of the flight. Another useful safety tip, according to Grant, is to wear closed toe shoes on the aircraft in the event of an emergency evacuation.
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Experts also recommend that you leave all items during an emergency evacuation, including luggage and personal belongings. In a recent aviation accident, passengers were able to see photographing the incident and evacuation.
Regardless of the seat the passenger chooses, all experts agree that the easiest way to stay safe is to buckle as much as possible during flight.
Beyond the seat belt, aviation experts shared another potential lifeline in emergencies: safety cards in every seat.
“An important caveat to remember is that each aircraft and each door on the aircraft can work differently. Therefore, it is important to check the safety demonstrations and cards for each flight you board.” Ferguson's team will discuss aviation security, including creating a seatback safety card.
Ferguson recommends that you have a visual inspection to identify the two closest exits to your seat and count the number of rows you are far apart. She points out that if the cabin becomes smoky or flips it may be difficult to find.
Despite all the emergency procedures for the accident, the experts we spoke to argue that aviation is one of the safest modes of transport. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there was one accident in 2024 in every 880,000 flights.
