Editor,
Would aft-facing seats improve survivability and reduce injuries of aircraft crash landings?
In a commercial aircraft, installing aft-facing seats will improve the survivability in an aircraft crash landing. Even a cursory analysis of the problem will show that having passengers seated in aft-facing seats will improve their survivability and with fewer injuries from an aircraft crash landing than with forward-facing seats.
In forward-facing seats, when an aircraft crashes the passengers are slammed forward with a huge force. This force may cause numerous injuries and even death. Their seatbelt could cause neck and head injuries, internal injuries and even death.
In an aft-facing seat, the seat itself will absorb most of the force. The head rest will limit the head being slammed backward and the seat will stop the body from going backward.
In my view there is no other change that aircraft designers can make that will improve survivability and reduce injuries in aircraft crash landings.
Granted, there is a major physiological problem. Unless the public is apprised of the benefits of aft-facing seats, they may be reluctant to board an aircraft. They may recognize that this configurations could be the difference between life and death.
Once an airline does a pilot program of this change and proves it successful, it is predicted that the entire world industry will make this change.
The word is that the United States military has used aft-facing seats for many years with no significant problems. If so, why hasn’t the industry adopted it? It could be that the right decision-makers are so busy with other matters they haven’t been apprised of its merits.
Though this proposal does not address an aircraft fire resulting from a crash landing, it is noted that an aft-facing passenger is much less likely to be injured and should be able to exit the aircraft successfully before it’s engulfed in flames.
I have written to the director of the FAA, CEO of Alaska Airlines, the Boeing Co. and even President Obama urging their support of a pilot program.
Will the addressed decision-makers act on my message?
Joseph Coomer
Oak Harbor
