The Safest Seat on the Plane, and Why I Never Sit There

Plenty of people are fearful about flying, although you're actually much safer zipping through the clouds buckled into your airplane seat than you were as you sped to the airport, past drivers who were gabbing on their cells, enjoying a sandwich, texting, having a good cry or applying make-up. (Sometimes all at once.)

And let's not talk about the folks who are stoned, drunk, and/or falling asleep at the wheel.

Airplane pilots, one trusts, are doing none of these things. And even if they were, modern jets, we're told, can pretty much fly themselves. The reassuring fact is that in the past 30 years, there have been just 368 commercial aircraft accidents in this country.

Nevertheless, Time Magazine just devoted a page to the topic of "Where's The Safest Place to Sit on a Plane?" To answer this question, they took a look at a study of accidents since 1985 with both fatalities and survivors.

The worst place to sit? Survival rates in aisle seats in the middle of the cabin are 57% worse than in the safest seats.

An aisle seat in the middle of the cabin? That's where I always sit!

We all have our own seat selection strategies. Windows are the most popular, although some, like me, prefer the aisle for the mobility it offers. (I get up so often to stretch my legs that it seems rude to sit anywhere else.) And because sitting over the wings offers the smoothest ride, I usually end up in an aisle seat in the middle of the plane.

Is it a little disquieting to realize that if left to my own devices I'll choose one of the least safest seats on the plane?

Sure.

But it gets better! The back of the aircraft, we're told, is safer than the front. Which means? Flying Economy is actually safer than flying First Class. (Time to rethink that First Class upgrade?)

The safest seats, according to Time? The middle seats in the rear third of the plane have the lowest fatality rate (28%, compared with 32% for a window or aisle seat).

In fact, middle seats in general are safer than aisle or window seats.

Which means that the least popular seats -- middle seats -- are also the safest. Ironic, huh? (Maybe the airlines can re-brand that hated middle seat. They could start calling it the "lucky middle seat" and charge extra!)

Is enduring a middle seat worth that extra margin of safety? When I asked my Facebook pals (mostly window flyers, with a smattering of folks who prefer the aisle) if knowing the stats would cause them to switch to a middle seat, the answer was a resounding No.

"I'm sticking with the window. If I'm gonna go, I want to see where I'm going."

"Nope. When your number is up, it's up. Why not go with comfort?"

"My legs are so long I'd have to stand up in the middle seat."

"The only way I'm sitting in the middle seat is if the Olsen twins are sitting on either side of me."

So what have I learned from all this? The next time I fly, I'm going to play the odds and ask for an aisle seat in the back of the plane. But actually choose to fly in a middle seat?

No way.

Since the lifetime odds of dying in a plane crash are just one in 8,015, I'll take that tiny extra chance. (Who says librarians aren't risk takers?)

Still, someone has to fly in those middle seats. Sometimes, if you book at the last minute, they are all that's left. But now, thanks to Time, there's a silver lining.

The next time you're stuck in the middle, squeezed in between a overly friendly chatterbox in the window seat and a stinky sandwich eater on the aisle, you'll be able to take some consolation, as you struggle to claim an armrest, from the fact that if the plane goes down, you're just a tiny bit more likely to make it out alive than they are.

After which you can order a couple of Bloody Marys, fall asleep and dream that you're sitting in First Class.

(Roz Warren is the author of OUR BODIES, OUR SHELVES: A COLLECTION OF LIBRARY HUMOR. This piece first appeared on Zestnow.)