How to survive a plane crash

Some plane crashes cannot be survived. Others – the vast majority, in fact – can. A US government study found there were 568 plane crashes in the US between 1983 and 2000, involving a total of 53,487 passengers and crew. Of these, 51,207 – more than 90 per cent – survived. Even in those crashes deemed the worst , the study found that more than half the passengers and crew survived.

More recent research by Boeing suggests air travel is only getting safer, with crash survival rates now closer to 96 per cent. It says this is down to improved science and technology, stricter rules for pilots and crew when it comes to things such as fatigue, and the continued implementation of wider lessons learned from past crashes.

So can you boost your chances of survival? Yes. The US government study found that around a third of those who died would almost certainly have survived if they'd taken certain precautions.

What are these precautions? Well, as you'd imagine, it's an imprecise science, heavy with claim and counter-claim, while some precautions are rendered useless in certain crashes. Some say your choice of seat is critical, with exit rows and the rear of the aircraft being safest – and there is data to support this theory (see below). Famously, Viswashkumar Ramesh, from Leicester, the sole survivor of last year's Air India disaster, was seated in 11A, next to an emergency exit. Aircraft manufacturers have a different opinion.

But there are areas on which all agree. Here is a checklist that might just save your life.

Have a plan

This is key. Time and again, having a notion of what you are going to do in the event of a crash or forced landing has been found to be fundamental to survival.

First, really do listen to the safety announcement and read the safety card, and, if you don't, then at the very least know exactly where to find the nearest exits. Actually count the number of rows from your seat to the exits in front and behind you – in the event of a crash, you may well be trying to find them in pitch dark and/or thick smoke.

Bear in mind that – distressingly – you may have several minutes' warning before impact, so use that time to go through any plan again. Better still, go through a Plan B as well: that exit you have in mind may be blocked.

Consider your chosen seat

Although some claim that seats over the wing of an aircraft are best (because the plane is "strongest" there), popular opinion has it that, in the event of a plane crash, the rear of an aircraft is the safest place to be . This theory is supported by several studies and a 2012 Channel 4 documentary.

The producers of the show, The Plane 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 off. 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 to the rear of the aircraft.

Though an analysis of a single crash is hardly decisive, the findings support a study by Popular Mechanics, carried out in 2007. The magazine analysed all crashes after 1971 and found that rear seats (behind the wing's trailing edge) were safest, with survival rates of 69 per cent as opposed to 56 per cent over the wing and 49 per cent at the front.

The world's two biggest aircraft manufacturers, however, insist that no conclusive evidence is available.

"One seat is as safe as another," said a spokesman for Boeing. "Especially if you stay buckled up." That is an important point. The Channel 4 study in Mexico also saw three dummies placed in the same row, but in different positions: one in the brace position and wearing a seatbelt, one buckled up but sitting normally, and one sitting normally minus the belt. The unfastened traveller would have been the only one to perish, it was claimed.

This evacuation issue is also key. As outlined above, the majority of plane crashes are survivable. So surely a seat close to an exit would be safest? As mentioned earlier, the sole survivor of Air India Flight 171 was seated next to an emergency exit. And this theory is supported by a University of Greenwich study, commissioned by the Civil Aviation Authority. Researchers checked the accounts of 2,000 survivors in 105 accidents around the world – those sitting more than six rows from an exit were found to be far less likely to survive, though the difference between window and aisle seat was "marginal".

Stay focused at take-off and landing

Also known as the "three- and eight-minute" rule, as those time periods, respectively for take-off and landing, are the most dangerous parts of any flight. Analysis by Boeing of accidents on commercial flights from 1959 to 2024 showed that 21 per cent of accidents occurred at take-off and 46 per cent on landing and final approach – in other words, two-thirds of all accidents since the beginning of the commercial jet age have occurred in an 11-minute window.

So keep your shoes on during these critical moments and remain alert. Wait awhile before knocking back the sleeping pills, popping in the earbuds or engaging in other behaviour likely to distract you. And rouse yourself for landing.

Brace

Like the question of safer seats, this is a contentious area. Internet conspiracy theorists allege the recommended brace positions (which themselves have varied over the years) are those guaranteed to break your neck and back most successfully – a deliberate ploy, they claim, to make your death as quick and painless as possible and reduce insurance costs.

Others – less ludicrously – point out that one of the two recommended brace positions is impossible for anyone in a modern economy-class seat, where the space in front of you is simply insufficient. It's worth noting that some think the recommended brace positions don't make much sense, and that you should sit up straight and push against the seat in front of you.

In any event, you are trying to do three basic things by bracing. Get your torso as low as possible to reduce the jack-knife effect at impact; stop yourself from flying forward and hitting the seat or other parts of the aircraft interior; and prevent injury to your legs and ankles that will hinder your escape from the aircraft.

Find protection

That last point is pertinent: after the M1 Kegworth crash of 1989 (when 79 of the 126 people on board survived), many victims were found to have legs broken below the knee, the result of their legs flying into, or being forced against, the seat structure in front of them.

Therefore, hold your legs and/or place your feet flat on the floor, as far back as possible (preferably farther back than your knees), and place hand luggage under the seat in front of you to act as a cushion.

If you can, add additional protection for your head – a pillow, say, or blanket – and place your head on the seat in front of you. Be sure that you have removed any dentures, pencils or other sharp objects from around your person. Also be sure to hold the brace position until the plane has come to a standstill – there may be additional impacts after the initial one.

As for your seatbelt, pull it as tight as possible. For every inch of slack you are increasing the potential G-forces to which you'll be subjected.

Think about your seatbelt

One of the strangest findings of research into crashes and passenger behaviour is that over and over again, people struggled with what you'd imagine would be the easiest of tasks – undoing their seatbelts. That's because in times of stress people revert to learned, instinctive behaviour, and when it comes to seat belts, normal and instinctive means a car seat belt. Following a crash, investigators found that many people scrabbled around to find the push-button release on their belts, as this is the release with which they were most familiar. Aircraft seat belts, of course, unbuckle.

Overcome negative panic

After a crash, speed is of the essence, as is calm. But a frequent stress reaction is what is known as "negative panic", whereby many people remain seated and immobile, as if in a trance, stunned by events. The same can apply to aircraft crew who, despite their rigorous training, may also fail to react.

One of the keys to survival can be to listen to, and follow crew instructions, but if they or your immediate neighbours appear to be in a trance, then you have to make your own moves and decisions. In a similar vein, shocked passengers were often found to have remained seated waiting for instructions that, for whatever reason, didn't come. Move .

Leave your luggage

Times have changed, and against the improved safety measures of the airline industry are some changes for the worse, including when it comes to passenger behaviour. Evacuation from modern cabins has become more challenging, the result of bigger planes with higher passenger loads, more overweight passengers, smaller seats, plus more cabin animals, electronic distractions and as-large-as-possible carry-on cases.

We know people can be idiots, but statistics on passengers attempting to retrieve that luggage and other possessions – or even stopping to take videos on their phones – when ordered to evacuate an aircraft make for depressing reading.

A 2026 IATA report suggested 40 per cent of passengers would try to retrieve luggage after an emergency landing, and 10 per cent would do so even when explicitly told not to by the crew. Around 80 per cent of interviewed passengers claimed to know exactly what to do in an emergency: in truth, the figure is 61 per cent.

Sadly, experts suggest that education around the issue has only limited impact. IATA and the US Federal Aviation Authority believe overhead bins that can be centrally locked during critical phases of a flight may be the next stop if behaviours do not change.

Worse, only 18 per cent of travellers know (and understand why) an aircraft must be evacuated in under 90 seconds (see below), and there's the rub: if you can't see smoke or any apparent danger, the temptation is to reach for your bags. But the smoke and fire often come later – and quickly – by which time it's probably too late.

Avoid smoke inhalation

Fire, and smoke inhalation, are the main causes of death in most survivable plane crashes. Even a few breaths that draw in smoke can result in the loss of consciousness. If possible, wet a handkerchief or other piece of material to cover your nose and mouth. If no water is available, use urine. This is a matter of life and death – it's no time to be fastidious.

In a smoke-filled plane, some sources suggest you keep low to the floor, as there's likely to be less smoke at floor level. Wrong. The chances are you'll simply be trampled, crushed or suffocated under luggage, falling bodies and the rush of other passengers. Keep your head down, mouth and nose covered, but stay on two feet. Climb over seats if gangways are blocked.

Keep your hands free

You've left your luggage – well done, because you will need your hands to be free, whether it's to remove obstacles, cover your nose and mouth, or fight off the flailing fists of others.

This said, don't push (you won't get through any faster) or lash out yourself – you'll slow everyone down and invite retaliation, and in a stressful fight-and-flight situation such as a crash, people find extraordinary strength – you could be knocked out or otherwise injured.

Move fast

The "golden window" for escape lasts only 90 seconds after the plane stops moving. This is the time it usually takes for a post-crash fire to burn through a plane's fuselage, or for smoke to fill the cabin and cause asphyxiation. To repeat: inhaling smoke for even a few seconds can lead to unconsciousness.

Listen to flight attendants, get to an exit fast, check quickly that it is viable, inside and out, then get out and move as far from the plane as fast as possible. And whether you stop to help others? Well, that is up to you, and to the reserves of courage and fellow feeling you may or may not have. Who knows what we will do in extremis?

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.