SAFER PLANES | Why?
The crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco highlights how improvements in aviation safety have made it more likely that passengers will survive a crash. The major improvements made since the 1980s include:
Stronger seats. Today’s airplane seats — and the bolts holding them into the floor — are designed to withstand forces up to 16 times that of gravity. That prevents rows of seats from pancaking together during a crash, crushing passengers.
Fire retardant materials. Carpeting and seat cushions are made of materials that burn slower.
Improved exits. Doors on planes are much simpler to open and swing out of the way.
Better training. Flight attendants at airlines now train in full-size models of planes that fill with smoke in crash simulations.
Stronger planes. Aircraft engineers have looked at structural weaknesses from past crashes and reinforced those sections of the plane.