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Old Feb 21, 2019, 5:22 pm
  #58  
s0ssos
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
Originally Posted by PHLGovFlyer
I think you're missing a key point in the overall discussion. Crash survivability depends on a large number of factors where small differences can matter greatly. For example, a small difference in lap belt position (low and tight against the pelvic bone versus higher on the abdomen) can make a large difference in injuries sustained and survivability (higher on the abdomen results in more internal organ damage - see the docs I linked earlier). What this thread is discussing is using a seat with a lap belt designed to be used with the pax in a seated position, but with the pax lying flat. That combination obviously puts the restraining belt in the wrong position for maximizing survival in a crash. The risk of injury or death from being improperly positioned relative to the lap belt in a seat likely far exceeds that from flying debris.
If you think about plane crashes, they are usually a direction that involves the plane hitting the ground from above. That means you may fly up. A seatbelt even when you are lying down in a bed still keeps you from flying up (plus I presume you wouldn't fly up very much anyway).
In terms of the forward direction, unless you crash into a wall or a mountain, it is unlikely. If it were a mountain you wouldn't survive anyway. For a wall, well, that shouldn't have happened in the first place. The slow-motion crashes when planes slide off the runway and end up running in something are not actually high-speed. The only one I can recall is the Asiana one at SFO, and that was unfortunate, and I think being thrown forward is the real concern there. But I don't think those are very common.
If you are flying at full speed and crashing into the ocean it is a moot point, almost everybody dies, because the plane just breaks apart. Or when planes break apart in midair, it doesn't really matter if you have a seatbelt.
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