Expert: Proximity to exit row helps.
It's the million dollar question for any worried air traveler, what's the safest seat in case of a plane crash?
Dr. Cynthia Bir worked on a Discovery Channel episode which tried to answer that question by purposely crashing a Boeing 727 in the desert last year.
"We lost our entire first-class section and a few rows further back, going back into the coach area," Bir tells KTRH News.
However, that doesn't guarantee a coach ticket will keep you alive.
"That's unique to that crash," Bir adds. "Had the plane crashed in a different manner another section of the plane would have been more severely damaged."
Bir says what's more important is proximity to an emergency exit and how quickly you can evacuate.
"Its knowing those things like assuming the emergency position and, if an impact occurs, what you do afterward such as finding those exit rows, being calm, keeping a presence about you with the events going on," she says. "When you panic, that's when you get a poor outcome."
