Is Seat 11A the Safest Seat on a Plane? 27 Years, 2 Crashes and 2 Survivors Who Were on Seat 11A. Here is What Aviation Experts Say

Unfortunately, Ramesh’s brother who was seated next to him on 11B did not survive the crash.

Is seat number 11A on an aircraft, the safest and the luckiest seat to defy death? Well, this is the big discussion and debate that is going on now after Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British National, walked out of the Air India plane crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad alive, becoming the lone survivor in the crash that killed all the other 241 on board including the 2 pilots and the 10 cabin crew members. He was on seat number 11A.

Twenty-seven years ago on December 11, 1998, 20-year-old Ransack Loychusak an actor from Thailand survived the Thai Airways Flight TG261 crash in southern Thailand that kill 101 of the 146 people on board. Ransack too was seated on seat number 11A.

So, should you get 11A everytime you book a flight ticket? Will seat 11A save you in case there is a crash?

Aviation experts say it is not so straightforward because aircraft vary widely in seat configurations, crashes are unique and survival often hinges on a complex interplay of factors.

“Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location,” said Mitchell Fox, a director at Flight Safety Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit.

“In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day. But it’s not always 11A, it’s just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787,” said Ron Bartsch, Chairman at Sydney-based AvLaw Aviation Consulting.

A 2007 Popular Mechanics study of crashes since 1971 found that passengers towards the back of the plane had better chances of survival. Some experts suggest the wing section offers more stability.

Sitting next to an exit door, like Ramesh, gave an opportunity to be one of the first to get out of the plane, although some exits don’t function after a crash. The opposite side of the Air India plane was blocked by the wall of a building it crashed into.

Ransack said he got goosebumps when he came to know about the lone survivor in the Air India crash. In a Facebook post written in Thai language, Ruangsak said, “Survivor of a plane crash in India. He sat in the same seat as me. 11A.”

After defying death, the actor has, on several occasions, openly addressed the trauma and survivor’s guilt he carried for years. According to reports, he did not fly again for a decade.

Ramesh saiid, “Even I can’t believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realized I was alive. I still can’t believe how I survived.”

Ramesh recounnted, “When the flight took off, within 5 to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white – then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there.When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to.I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people, I saw them eye…I walked out of the rubble.”

Unfortunately, Ramesh’s brother who was seated next to him on 11B did not survive the crash.

Presently investigations are underway to unravel the mystery behind the tragic crash of Air India flight A1-171.The black box of the aircraft, with both it’s components, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) have been recovered from the debris strewn over a huge area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The decoding of the Black Box, CVR and FDR is expected to reveal what happened during those few seconds leading to the crash, one of the worst airline disasters in Indian skies.

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