Where is the safest place in airplane crashes? For some particular kinds of the crash (like overshot the runway), the survival rate of the passengers can vary depending on where they sit. Some research already shows that the back of the airplane after the wing trailing edge is the safest place. However, we don’t think it shows the complete picture of the fact.
The engineers keep trying to design and optimize the airplanes with less weight to improve fuel efficiency. The fuselage is normally aluminum or composite structure with the skin thickness in some areas even less than 2 mm. In order to carry the heavy loads coming from the wings and landing gears, the center fuselage has some strengthening structures such as Center Wing Box and Keel Beam. So comparing to the other segments, the center fuselage is much stronger.
When there is an impact on the nose or tail of the airplane in a crash, the fuselage may break near the front and the rear section of the center fuselage. This situation is like applying a force on a cantilever beam, the areas near the fixing end bear the maximum bending and most likely to break first. Therefore, we don’t suggest picking a seat near the joint area between the center and rear fuselage, otherwise, you together with your seats have the risk of being thrown out of the cabin in case of a crash. We suggest choosing the seats that are more close to the rear end of the cabin.
Updated on Nov 5, 2020