Nervous fliers, rejoice - the safest places to sit on an aircraft have finally been revealed.
Speaking with TIME magazine, experts - who have analysed airplane crashes over the past 17 years - have revealed that you should opt for the middle seats of the aircraft.
That means waving goodbye to the aisle and the window seats, we’re afraid.
They explain: “The middle of the cabin, historically, has the highest overall fatality rates–more specifically the middle aisle seats.
“The fatality rate [in middle seats near the back of the plane] is 28%, compared to 44% [in the aisle seats in the middle of the plane]”.
The two rows closest to the emergency exit are also good options, as they provide you with an opportunity to get out of an accident or emergency safely.
And, strangely enough, sitting toward the back of the plane, as opposed to the front, is also strongly recommended.
The producers of Channel 4’s documentary, The Crash, arranged for a Boeing 727 carrying cameras, sensors and crash test dummies with breakable “bones” to be deliberately crashed into the Sonoran Desert in Mexico.
After hitting the ground, the front of the plane and the first 11 rows of seats – usually reserved for first-class, business-class or premium-economy passengers – were ripped apart.
A force of 12G was recorded in this section of the aircraft. Further back, the force fell to around 6G.
Experts concluded that none of the plane’s first-class passengers would have survived, but 78 per cent of the other passengers would have, with the chance of survival increasing the closer they were sitting to the rear of the aircraft.
We guess that first class isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, then!