WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.042 --> 00:00:06.787
One hundred and twenty three of the 307 people on board the Asiana Airlines flight walked away uninjured.

2
00:00:07.370 --> 00:00:12.718
Aviation experts say that ahas a lot to do with improved airplane design, including stronger seats.

3
00:00:13.180 --> 00:00:14.509
Pamela Brown has more.

4
00:00:16.124 --> 00:00:17.018
Oh, it's an accident.

5
00:00:17.353 --> 00:00:22.090
After seeing this shocking video of Asiana flight 214 crash landing,

6
00:00:22.449 --> 00:00:26.492
it's remarkable how many passengers exited the aircraft unharmed.

7
00:00:26.517 --> 00:00:27.800
Oh, my god.

8
00:00:27.985 --> 00:00:33.174
But did the location of passenger seats on board the airplane leave some safer than others?

9
00:00:33.630 --> 00:00:38.325
In an analysis done on 20 crashes between 1971 and 2007,

10
00:00:38.673 --> 00:00:45.000
data showed those sitting closest to the cockpit are the least safe with a survival rate of 49 percent;

11
00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:52.473
56 percent in the middle section of the plane survive; and the rear cabin had a 69 percent survival rate.

12
00:00:52.852 --> 00:00:56.422
In this case, the plane landed short of the runway, ripping off the tail.

13
00:00:56.785 --> 00:01:01.898
Authorities say the two Chinese teens killed in the crash were sitting in the back half of the plane.

14
00:01:01.952 --> 00:01:06.051
I would love to say that you could sit in the tail of the aircraft and you might be safer,

15
00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:10.389
but we've seen now in this particular event the tail struck on the arrival.

16
00:01:10.769 --> 00:01:16.972
We've seen the first class section of aircraft get hit. We've seen fire erupt in the middle part of the cabin.

17
00:01:17.418 --> 00:01:21.319
Really, there's no specific safest place to sit in the aircraft.

18
00:01:21.977 --> 00:01:27.010
Your best bet, according to aviation experts, sit as close to the exit row as possible.

19
00:01:30.259 --> 00:01:34.738
Last year, the Discovery Channel crashed a jetliner in a remote area on purpose,

20
00:01:35.071 --> 00:01:39.572
rigging it with cameras so that scientists could learn how to improve flight safety even further.

21
00:01:40.141 --> 00:01:43.364
One big improvement over the last decade -- stronger seats.

22
00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:50.401
The seats have gone from a 9G to a 16G rating, which means 16 times the strength of gravity.

23
00:01:50.749 --> 00:01:56.961
When the seats don't move around inside the aircraft when it comes upon an impact, the survivability is much greater.
