Why don't airline seats face backwards for safety reasons?
Answers:
Generally people do not like the sensation of facing backwards when in motion. On busses and subways, seats often face into the center, and most people will accept that, however that wastes a lot of precious seating space so the only workable solution for air or train travel is lateral rows of seats facing forward.
This is the old back to the engine problem , on trains. A lot of people appear to prefer the fact that they can see what is ahead - though in a plane it is normally just up and down
Because it would be bad press for the first airline to do it.
People would think 'Im not going with them they dont think their safe.'
It was the same reason car manufactures put off puting seatbelts in for so long.
So safer yes but not good PR
There So Dumb. Thats Why. Oh And Its Cheaper To Face Forward..
Or
Maybe They Think Its Embarasing For The Person Walking To The Toilet. I Mean Everyone will Be Staring At Them
As a veteran of 21+ years of AF service and many millions of miles logged facing the aft of the plane, I've often wondered that myself!
I suspect it's a psychological thing, though most folks would never know the difference once they were airborne.
If you crash you crash man, no matter what way your seat is facing. Make safer airplanes and smarter security checking.
cos when a 200 ton jumbo hits the deck at 300 mph it dont matta which way u face ur still gonna b splattered all ova the cu nt in front and bhind ya
I think that passengers would soon get used to it. There are usually a couple of seats facing the rear near the emergency exits. I have sat in them and it is no problem at all .
I completely agree - and why do we have to put up with lap-belts, when we know that in cars they're considered unsatisfactory and potentially dangerous?
Personally, I don't mind which way I face on a train or whatever. Maybe there should be some rows of seats without windows for those who don't like knowing they're moving backwards. Just so long as the pilot looks forwards, I'm happy!
If a plane fell 30 000 feet I'm pretty sure that the seat position wouldn't help. They only tell you to put your head between your legs so that you can kiss your *** goodbye.
Not flying at all might be a safer option although statistically more people have died in a single ship sinking than have died in a single air crash although Airbus are well on the way to fixing this with their new double decker airbus.
Lets face it the difference between forward facing and rear is irrelevant when the plane seperates into 3 seperate bits over Lockerbie, and crashes are statistically so rare that it just aint worth worrying about. a bigger worry is potential distress caused by passengers pitching forward on takeoff and landing not back, no probs for fit squaddies but for mr average joe could induce air sickness or even trigger a heart attack
Isle of Lucy is correct. It is purely a sales point for the airlines. People do not like to face backwards when travelling. Having seats facing rearwards is far safer, which is why the RAF have the seats in all their VC10 troop carriers facing towards the back of the aircraft.
Many private business aircraft have what is referred to as club seating where some of the seats face rearward. I've had many regular passengers that would not sit in the reward facing seats because they said they were either uncomfortable with the acceleration of take-off and climb out or that they feared it would induce air sickness. However en-route at a level cruising altitude they would switch to those seats to take advantage of the light from their window for reading or and take a nice afternoon nap? I think most prefer to face forward. I know my seat does!
the main reason is the comfort of "joe public" who don't like sitting backwards to the direction of travel(hence the easiest seats to find on a train are the back-facing seats) since "joe public" buys the tickets and spends the the money they get forward facing seats !in the military the seats still do face backwards (at least in the RAF don't know about others airforces policy) and yes it is the safest position for sears as you are already braced when you sit up and therefore can't go backwards anymore than you are already.
Actually, I found out it was due to takeoff.
Sitting back against a seat from a passenger point is easier.
You are not forcing yourself back against the forward motion.
You have back support. Simple physics.
Imagine if the seats on the shuttle were backwards.
more people would get sick sitting that way because it is not normal. I have been on military flights and have only sat sideways but have never sat facing backwards
These are all good reasons, but they forgot one. I saw on the mythbusters that the reason the planes don't have rear facing seats because they are worried about all the debris coming forward and hitting all the passengers. But for the impact, rear facing seats are the best because all the forward kinetic energy is being transferred into the seat and you're not being thrown around.
Danny o got it right.
The seat back protects everyone from all the crap in the overhead bins that comes rushing forward in a crash. How'd you like to be looking straight at that stuff as it approached your face at 100 mph?
There are some aircraft that did try this in conjunction with forward facing seats - the VC10 (which the UK - RAFand BAE1-111 Trident for example. The only reason is because of passenger comfort during takeoff/climb and landing more than anything else.
If a plane is falling from 35,000 ft , do you think it matters which way the seats are facing ?? . Even if the are bolted too the roof , you are splattered
Backward facing seats still do not protect against vertical G's which contribute to one of the more common injuries in a crash.a compression burst fracture of the vertebrae. I would still assume the "crash position" if not in a crash attentuating seat.
They are on some older vehicles. (Dominie, VC10) in the RAF.
I was told that they used to have the seats facing backwards years ago, but people complained, as it's not as aesthetically pleasing to face backwards, so the airlines decided to face the seats forward from then on, to sell more tickets.
I've flown in a VC10 several times and it is very strange taking off and landing backwards, but I'm not too bothered by it. I have a mate who is scared of flying (and she's in the RAF!). She says she prefers to face backwards, as she knows it's safer.
BTW, not all of our transports have backwards seats, the Tristar and hercules don't (Hercules has sideways facing seats!).
Tis phsycological.
Actually, there are rows of seats against the bulkhead of each section in a Southwest Airlines jet that face backward. As far as I know, it's the only airline that does it.
But, I think for practical purposes, if you had a planeload of people all facing backwards, you'd have a serious motion sickness epidemic. Something about the sensation of flying forward while facing the opposite direction has got to do a number on the inner ear.
I asked this question myself some time ago and got the same pointless answers. IT IS A GREAT IDEA! For those without a window seat it makes no diference at all. Why not have the centre seats backwards so passengers have a choice?
The answers post by the user, for information only, UKQnA.com does not guarantee the right.