>>>However you often hear about a hundred or so deaths and just as many survivors. Remember the hijacked plane that ran out of fuel and ditched into the ocean near a resort beach? <<<<br><br>That was just off the coast of Cameroon, if I remember correctly. It seems to me that most survivable jet airliner crashes are at take off or landing at or near an airport. Remember the Iowa crash in a cornfield adjacent to an airport the pilot where the pilot flew the disabled plane. And in crashes such as that, the key factor was escaping from the burning wreckage.<br><br>To that end:<br><br>1. Make sure you know where all of the exits on the plane are, not just the nearest. The nearest exit may not be accessible following a crash. Whenever I fly, which is not often, I make a point to locate all of the exits as well as read the instructions on how to operate the door. I usually do that while I'm standing in in line at the doorway upon entry.<br><br>2. If the flight goes over water, one or more of the overhead bins will have an inflatable raft. Locate that bin.<br><br>3. A pocket knife to remove seat belt should the latch get stuck.<br><br>4. Some type of breathing protection (maybe?). If a bandana is not useful, what would be a good replacement, short of the hood mentioned earlier.<br><br>5. Photon LED light on a key chain or lanyard.<br><br>6. A little luck. :-)<br><br>Of course the advice on natural materials and seating over the wings still stand. I've tried to get exit row seating, but that's reserved for better customers who value the extra leg room and I don't fly enough miles to qualify. I suspect that an aisle seat would be better than a window seat as well.<br><br>The odds may be stacked against surviving such a crash, but there's nothing wrong with trying to improve the odds.<br><br>I would also carry the other, allowable survival items, especially if I know the flight was to be over remote terrain. There was that one flight in the Andes where several passengers survived a crash in the mountains. So it is possible.<br><br><br>Willie Vannerson<br>McHenry, IL