The Safest Seat on an Airplane Is...(popularmechanics.com)
popularmechanics.com
The Safest Seat on an Airplane Is...
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/XG/aircrash-seat-illo-0807.gif
3 comments
It's a survival rate chart, full article here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/safety/4...
Based on 20 plane crashes in the United States.
It seems silly to be worried about this sort of thing given to low likelihood of a crash in the first place.
Most measures of flight risk are in "flight hours", so it's hard to make a direct single-flight measure. But most of the sources I was able to find quickly ranged from about 1/1MM to 1/10MM, largely depending on the airlines and countries out of which they are operating. I'll use 1/5MM for my purposes (if anyone has a better idea, pipe in).
So, if one were to look at the survival rates in the chart as "per flight" versus "per crash", it would be.
First Class: 49% * (1/5MM) = .0000098%
Ahead of Wing: 56% * (1/5MM) = .0000112%
Over Wing: 56% * (1/5MM) = .0000112%
Rear: 69% * (1/5MM) = .0000138%
[edit: cleaned up for readability]
So, if one were to look at the survival rates in the chart as "per flight" versus "per crash", it would be.
First Class: 49% * (1/5MM) = .0000098%
Ahead of Wing: 56% * (1/5MM) = .0000112%
Over Wing: 56% * (1/5MM) = .0000112%
Rear: 69% * (1/5MM) = .0000138%
[edit: cleaned up for readability]
Um, thats a pretty low chance of survival. In my experience, its closer to 0.999991 or so?
Ha, thanks for the correction. Was too caught up in the numbers :p
Correction: as JoeAltmaier pointed out, I should have written something along the lines of "failure rate" or "hazard rate". Clearly a "survival rate" like that would make no sense.
>> First Class: 49% * (1/5MM) = .0000098%
>> Rear: 69% * (1/5MM) = .0000138%
Thanks for putting the per-flight risk numbers here, but these two numbers there still feel odd.
>> Rear: 69% * (1/5MM) = .0000138%
Thanks for putting the per-flight risk numbers here, but these two numbers there still feel odd.