Originally Posted by
MADPhil
On a related topic, the pitch of coach seats makes it impossible to adopt the pose pictured on the safety cards for emergency landings. The pose that most people will be able to adopt seems likely to result in neck injuries plus a risk of having your head smashed by flying luggage. I don't know if this has been discussed elsewhere on FT, in which case I apologize for hijacking the thread, but it doesn't seem to be addressed in safety videos. Does anyone know what has happened in real life incidents? It doesn't seem to have come up as a problem in any recent incidents.
I don't have a reference I can cite, but I do recall hearing that there were quite a few spinal injuries after the Asiana SFO crash. That may have been due to the nature of the crash or the inability of most pax to assume the traditional crash position.
I've always found it interesting that the safety videos include instructions on preparations for a water landing but no mention of the safest position to (try) to assume in the event of a crash. It's annoying to see seat cards demonstrating a position that is virtually impossible for most adults on the plane to assume.