Does the aircraft brace position actually work

Commercial airline flying is statistically amongst the safest modes of transport today and according to IATA figures, the accident rate for western built jets has seen a 77% improvement in the accident rate over the past 10 years [Source: IATA Safety Fact Sheet 2012] but the brace position, a fundamental part of a passenger safety program for emergencies, remains a top of conversation today; Does the brace position actually work?

A modern jet airliner cabin can consists of many different class sections, each having their own different seating and seat layout, as well as the flight attendant jump seats, which more often than not face in the opposite direction to the passenger seating.

In the cabin itself, every member of the cabin crew is trained and regular retrained to a very high level in emergency procedures specific to the aircraft and emergency equipment carried onboard. Statistically, very few will ever have to use it outside of a controlled training environment.

So, to answer the question we need a typical airliner fitted out with Economy seating, First Class seating and Flight Attendant seating. And we need these to be independently evaluated under crash conditions. Hmmn...

While Cabin Crew Safety has a stock of aircraft seats in its inventory and training cabin mock ups too, it is fortunate that the US television programme 'Mythbusters' undertook this experiment in Episode 33, which also featured an FAA/Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. Lucky for us as our R&D budget for this year would not even stretch to a single Mythbusters episode budget!

For those unfamiliar with the program (which is circulated worldwide), Mythbusters looks to apply science and experiment to popular urban myths and present this in an entertainment format. In this case constructing a test rig, complete with crash test dummies, dropped from a height to give an equal speed to that of an aircraft.

No aircraft (or people) were harmed in their experiments :)

The outcome of the tests showed that for the experiments conducted the brace position was indeed safer than remaining in an upright seated position and that the flight attendant seat was statistically safest, followed by the First Class and then the Economy seating.

The test dummies in either class of seat sustained less serious injuries by adopting the brace position than those that did not, with injuries being non-fatal upon impact.

It should also be noted that flight attendant seats generally face the crew backwards (towards the tail of the aircraft) and that the human body can survive more impact in this position. It did however not take into account objects in the cabin moving forward towards these seats.

The FAA/Civil Aerospace Medical Institute concurred, stating that the brace position is around three times safer than remaining seated upright.