The question has been answered in a Discovery Channel experiment.
In light of the deadly incident on a Southwest airliner this week, where is the safest place to sit on a plane?
Jennifer Riordan was sitting in a window seat when she was nearly sucked out of the airliner after an engine explosion. She later died.
Studies have found aisle seats are safer than window seats, and the seats in the back of the plane are generally safer than those in the front.
The Discovery Channel carried out an experiment in which they deliberately crashed an airliner loaded with test dummies and sensors. They found the "passengers" in the rear seats could have walked away, unlike those in front.
In addition, most passengers who survive a crash were sitting within five rows of an emergency exit, according to studies.
But there's some good news for nervous fliers, according to Christine Negroni, an aviation journalist and author of "The Crash Detectives."
"The large majority of accidents are survivable," she said. "The only accidents we hear about are those in which there are many fatalities. But the statistics show that 95 percent of all aviation accidents do not have fatalities."
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