Why don't passenger seats on aircraft face backwards?

Billy Doyle, by email

Air crash investigators have found that flight stewards in rear-facing seats have suffered less severe injuries in accidents than forward-facing passengers. This is because the energy from the body as it decelerates rapidly in a crash is dispersed evenly through the seatback, rather than concentrated on the seatbelt, which cuts into a person facing forward. Although rear-facing seats are probably safer, airlines have resisted them, largely because they fear passengers will find the idea unacceptable. British Airways has installed rear-facing seats in its Club World cabins; Southwest Airlines in the US experimented with the idea in economy class, but reverted to conventional forward-facing seats.

Comments: 10

Login or register to post comments
13488 reads

Back is best

Tue, 2010-12-21 13:06

chopin

The mildly amusing cynicism of 'Financial' apart, a main purpose of air crash investigation is the improvement of accident survivability. If government accident investigation bureaux conclude that rearward facing passenger seat can help improve the survivability of a crash then they could and should mandate that requirement. The understandable cynicism creeps in when airlines would then have to weigh up the financial pros and cons of such a radical, mandatory requirement. My own thought is that it would considerably improve accident survivability and that passengers would get used to it over time. And lets face it, first-time flyers wouldn't know any different.

Backwards Seats

Tue, 2010-03-09 20:15

Guest

The RAF does have rearward facing seats on all it's VC10 passenger aircraft and people have no complaints.

Dean
www.oggsplosh.com

Forwards or backwards

Wed, 2010-01-27 10:23

Guest

Trains have both forwards and backwards. So have taxis. Given the choice, which will you take when you travel? I suspect that it'll be forwards facing and I also think that that's probably because as humans we don't like things sneaking up on us from behind. We like to see what's coming.

Apart from that, flying is very safe. If you're unlucky enough to be in a plane when it crashes, your chances won't be good one way or the other.

Why?

Sun, 2010-01-03 18:23

Guest

Although it seem 'unfair' that the seat havn't started changing, it is more likely to take effect on new planes due to the cost of refurbishing a plane or jet. Another thing is that the force of taking off makes you feel like you are stuck to your chair. during take off, you would probably have the same feeling you would while crashing. If the idea was changed to suit both situations, a flight would be safer and possibly more comfortable.

No reason why not

Tue, 2009-12-01 22:53

keithc

I hear the "passengers won't like it" argument, but nobody seems to have any evidence. I do remember flying in an RAF passenger aircraft many years ago and the seats were rear-facing and it certainly didn't cause me or anybody else any problems.

Rear facing aircraft seats

Wed, 2009-12-02 14:47

Guest

There is an RAF passenger aircraft still in service with rear facing seats called a VC-10. I have flown on these and although it didn't bother me, I know there are a lot of people who don't like travelling backwards by any means. Unfortunately due to the nature of HM Forces jobs, it wouldn't matter if you didn't like it or not because you have to go however a consumer could exercise that choice.

Perhaps in the future we'll

Thu, 2009-12-31 11:38

Guest

Perhaps in the future we'll see seats that face forward for take-off but somehow rotate and face backwards during the flight before rotating around again for the landing.

Wouldnt that be pointless?

Sat, 2010-01-02 14:32

Guest

A plane is more likely to crash when taking off or landing because of the forces applied to the engines and the plane itself. So you wouldn't really want to be facing forward.
That said if the seats are facing backwards at take off then you would have nothing to brace yourself when the plane accelerated on the runway. They would probably need to lean back so your head was pointing forward and the seat base taking the force.

Financial

Mon, 2010-05-31 07:31

Guest

I the aircraft were to crash there would be too many survivors willing and able to sue the airline. Forward facing seats offer maximum kill.

Best reply yet

Wed, 2010-11-24 20:33

jyashi

This is the most reasonable and probable answer I have seen yet...

Q&A Tabs

Is time real or an illusion?

Diverse thinkers, from the ancient Greek philosophers through contemporary quantum cosmology and eternal inflation theory, have called time an illusion. For them, the perception of time passing...

Is swallowing your own phlegm harmful?

Phlegm is the mucous secretion of the respiratory passages. The cilia cells that line these passages are continually driving the phlegm upward to the throat, where it triggers the swallow reflex...

Can I get sunburnt through glass?

Ordinary glass absorbs 97 per cent of the UVB rays that cause sunburn and some skin cancers, and 37 per cent of the less harmful UVA radiation. This translates to a protection of about SPF30, so...

What is the record for the most languages spoken by one person?

It depends on how high (or low) you set the bar of fluency. Ziad Fazah, born in Liberia, brought up in Beirut and now living in Brazil, claims to be the world's greatest living polyglot, with a...

Why do we salivate before we vomit?

Vomiting is a deliberate response by the body that evolved as a purging mechanism to remove toxins or foreign bodies from the stomach and oesophagus. Since stomach contents are highly acidic,...

Is time real or an illusion?

Diverse thinkers, from the ancient Greek philosophers through contemporary quantum cosmology and eternal inflation theory, have called time an illusion. For them, the perception of time passing...