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WATCH — Is seat 11A really the safest seat on an airplane?
Flying is still the safest mode of transport, experts say
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains information about people dying in plane crashes. Consider reading it with a trusted adult. It's common to have an emotional reaction to the news.
Is there really a 'safest seat' on an airplane?
On June 12, an Air India flight crashed minutes after takeoff in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Several people on the ground died, along with 241 on board. One passenger survived.
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Vishwashkumar Ramesh was that sole survivor, and was sitting in seat 11A.
He jumped through a nearby emergency exit after the crash.
So why has seat 11A gone viral online?
Turns out Thai singer and actor James Ruangsak Loychusak — who was one of the survivors of a deadly 1998 Thai Airways plane crash — sat in the same seat.
'That was an uncanny coincidence,' he told India's The Telegraph Online after the crash. 'The kind that gives you goosebumps.'
CBC Kids News was not able to confirm that he was actually sitting in seat 11A, but it turns out it may not really matter.
Check the video below to find out more about seat 11A from CBC Kids News contributor Ainara Alleyne. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Why your seat choice doesn't really matter
Aviation experts say plane crashes are random, and any seat can improve your survivability depending on the unique aspects of a crash.
These include things like the way the aircraft breaks apart, the type of impact, where someone is sitting and timing, for example.
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'Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location,' Mitchell Fox, a director at Flight Safety Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit, told Reuters.
Two men in plane crashes more than 20 years apart both survived sitting in seat 11A. On the left is the recent crash involving a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft in Ahmedabad, India. The image on the right depicts the 1998 crash of a Thai Airways Airbus A310 in Surat Thani, Thailand. Image credit: (Adnan Abidi/Reuters, and Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Also, seat 11A isn't in the same spot on every airplane and may not always be as close to an emergency exit.
That being said, experts say sitting near an emergency exit can improve chances of evacuation in less severe crashes.
In any case, don't let all this talk of crashes scare you — flying is still by far the safest mode of transportation.
You're more likely to be struck by lightning than end up in a plane crash, experts say.
Have more questions? Want to tell us how we're doing? Use the 'send us feedback' link below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
With files from Natalie Stechyson/CBC News
