Crash Test Dummies Shown Breaking Seat-Back Video Screens In Simulated Accidents

Passenger advocate group Flyers Rights is calling attention to an investigative report published last week by the Daily Beast revealed that economy-class seats are so tight that crash test dummies were consistently breaking seatback video screens with their heads during simulations. This troubling report also noted that no coach seats today comply with Department of Transportation regulations for the brace position.

FlyersRights has been raising the alarm for years about shrinking seats, leg room and airlines' relentless mission to cram in as many people onboard as possible.

Back in the early 2000s, the average seat depth or pitch was about 35 inches. Today, it's down to 31 inches at best, and in some cases, as small as 28 inches. So, the group says that it takes some consolation that, at last, tight pitch is getting the attention it deserves regarding compromised safety during an evacuation.

This new-found attention comes after FlyersRights' win in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia back in July, 2017. The three-judge panel ruled that the amount of space given to some passengers in coach now constitutes "a plausible life-and-death safety concern."  The court also determined that the FAA's tests for safe exit in an emergency are not up-to-date regarding the smaller space between rows.

For years FlyersRights has contended that the densification of airline seats has rendered the "brace for impact" position, as depicted in airline safety manuals, unachievable.  Currently, passengers are not able to lean forward to hold the brace position and would hit their heads on the seatback in front of them during a crash, resulting in traumatic head and neck injuries.

The report also revealed that neither the FAA nor Boeing knows how long it takes to evacuate a full 737 - the most common aircraft, with the tightest coach accommodations.

Flyers Rights says that while this is about flight safety, but also points to a larger issue involving Senators and members of Congress likely knowing the evacuation certification test process is a charade that is basically rigged and doesn't represent a real cabin configuration or a real evacuation.

(Image provided with Flyers Rights news release)

FMI: www.flyersrights.org