KLM India suggested to their followers on Twitter that seats in the back of airplanes would be the safest in the event of a crash. In the since-deleted tweet, the regional account for Dutch airline KLM said, “According to data studies by Time, the fatality rate for the seats in the middle of the plane is the highest. However, the fatality rate for the seats in the front is marginally lesser and is least for seats at the rear third of a plane.”
The tweet was deleted 12 hours after its initial posting along with an apology from the airline that said, “We would like to sincerely apologise for a recent update. The post was based on a publically [sic] available aviation fact, and isn’t a @KLM opinion. It was never our intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The post has since been deleted.”
We would like to sincerely apologise for a recent update. The post was based on a publically available aviation fact, and isn’t a @KLM opinion. It was never our intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The post has since been deleted.
— KLM India (@KLMIndia) July 17, 2019
The original post from KLM seemingly sourced a 2015 Time magazine article which provided data that showed seats in the rear of an aircraft had a higher survival rate in crashes dating back to 1985.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration disputed the information provided by KLM saying, “Since February 2009, over 90 million miles, and about 8 billion passengers have been carried in U.S. commercial aviation without a single crash fatality — an exemplary safety record. As compared to any other human activity, the safest place to be is in a U.S. commercial airliner — regardless of seat.”
