# What's the Straight Dope on the safety of air travel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368 "2003-06-25T21:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368/21 "2003-06-27T23:22:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dutchboy208 \* > \*\*Skogcat (nice name btw) \*\* Thanks > [@](#): > > \*\*I wasn’t saying you’d be sucked out, but that the plane would have been ditched or landed before the body was significantly deprived of oxygen. \*\* No worries, my mistake. They only need to get you down to around 10,000’ anyway. ---
**Author:** ![the\_terminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@the\_terminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_terminator)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368/22 "2003-06-28T04:08:20Z")
On a related note, i read somewhere that the whole “bracing” technique they instruct you to do in an event of an imminent crash is really just to kill you and spare you the pain of injuries you would suffer during the crash. The article claimed that placing your head between your knees would, on impact, force your spine into your brain and kill you instantly. Also, this position would keep your teeth safe, or at least in the same place, so that investigators could identify your body by dental records.I read this some time ago, but i think i found it on [www.forwardgarden.com](http://www.forwardgarden.com) ( this probably means it’s just an urban legend, but it does sound very believable). I dont know if this was mentioned in Fight Club as well, because I havent seen that movie. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368/23 "2003-06-28T04:18:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by the terminator \* > **On a related note, i read somewhere that the whole “bracing” technique they instruct you to do in an event of an imminent crash is really just to kill you and spare you the pain of injuries you would suffer during the crash.** I doubt this very much. For one thing, a dead passenger is much more expensive for the airliner than a badly injured passenger in terms of publicity and liability. Also, think of what happens when you are wearing a lap belt only (which is all you have on an airliner) and you experience a _very_ rapid deceleration. Your upper body gets thrown forward violently and you hit the seat in front at a high speed, or get violently stopped by your lap belt. If your upper body is bent forward to start with, it doesn’t have time to pick up much speed before it slams into the seat in front. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368/24 "2003-06-28T10:16:30Z")
Where do these rumors get started? The oxygen canisters are there to get you high, the lifejackets won’t keep you afloat, and now the brace position will kill you? AND getting your information on airplanes from _Fight Club_? It’s a MOVIE. It’s FICTION. Geez, people…! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by the terminator \* > On a related note, i read somewhere that the whole “bracing” technique they instruct you to do in an event of an imminent crash is really just to kill you and spare you the pain of injuries you would suffer during the crash. The article claimed that placing your head between your knees would, on impact, force your spine into your brain and kill you instantly. Also, this position would keep your teeth safe, or at least in the same place, so that investigators could identify your body by dental records. If you’re on a jet about hit something like the side of a mountain it doesn’t matter what position you’re in, particularly if you’re sitting in first class up front. But they don’t ask you to brace because it makes it easier to identify your remains - they ask you to do it because it _marginally_ reduces your chances of dying. An emergency landing can be VERY rough and you don’t want your limbs and head flailing around and hitting things like the seat in front of your or your fellow passengers. The brace position gets you all tucked up into a ball. Also, when any vehicle comes to an abrupt halt you’re flung forward - by having your head down between your knees you’re avoiding the snapping-forward motion that leads to whiplash and sprained necks. Now, that seat belt for your airplane seat should, ideally, buckle over your thighs or the boney part of your hips - if you wear up high on your waist is can cause internal injuries and that would be a Bad Thing. Now, if we were _really_ serious about passenger safety we’d have all the seats face backward and everyone would be in a five-point harness. But for some reason the flying public doesn’t want to put up with that. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368/25 "2003-06-28T10:36:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*On the contrary, there are years where there are no airline fatalities. It’s still extremely safe. \*\* No. It’s not _extremely_ safe. It’s about as safe as most anything else we do. The Gaspode is making the point that it depends upon which statistics one uses–the statistics that he mentions don’t come out in favor of airlines. You can’t pick an arbitrary length of time in which there were no fatalities, and say that means that the risk is zero. But using a per trip basis has a strong bias against a conveyance that makes long trips, like airplanes. I think that is also part of the point that he’s making. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-safety-of-air-travel/184368.md?page=1)