There are plenty of rules we have to follow when going on holiday – particularly at the airport and on the plane. These include what you can bring on board, when to drink booze and what to do in case of an emergency.

Anyone who has flown before is used to some of the instructions being delivered by the flight attendants in their safety demonstration. Other advice is listed on the plastic instructions kept on the seat in front of you.

One of the main pieces of advice is to get into the brace position in the case of a crash – but most of us don’t really know why. Well, the world’s most experienced pilot has revealed the truth behind the common instruction.

READ MORE: 'I'm a travel expert – it's so easy to accidentally break plane etiquette rules'

The brace position requires you to bend down in your seat with your head over your knees. Your hands go on either side of your head and your elbows point to the floor – you’re supposed to assume the position when a plane is going to crash.

Nick Eades, hailed as the 'world's most experienced' 747 pilot, told LadBible: "What you're trying to do is to stop people breaking their necks in a big impact. You're just trying to get the body into a position that's going to suffer least damage. It's like whiplash. You're trying to avoid that sudden movement of the head, which can result in serious injury, if not death."

Vance Hilderman is an aviation expert, author, and CEO of AFuzion, backs up this idea. He told Daily Star: "If impact occurs, G-forces, created by the sudden deceleration of the aircraft due to impact, may cause severe injury or fatality to occupants, especially passengers who unlike flight crew do not have double shoulder harnesses. The brace position reduces the likelihood of injuries or fatalities."

Nick debunks the idea that the position is meant to kill passengers quickly during a crash so that passengers don’t feel much pain. Other rumours claim that it’s supposed to preserve dental records when you die so you can be identified.

Nick claims this is not true. He says it’s all about saving lives. However, he added that the instruction to "brace" isn’t very useful.

Any first time flyers or non-English speaking passengers may not know what the words mean. So he says that the crew will likely begin to say "head down, hands above your head" instead.

Makes sense to us! Vance also explained that there is a seat on the plane that is the safest to use. He also noted when most crashes occur.

Vince told the Daily Star: "In horrible crashes with many deaths, the rear of the plane has the most survivors, in the middle seat. However, in a less severe crash, sitting above the wing, which is structurally reinforced and affords ready aisle row escape, is safer. But remember that those wings are large ‘fuel containers,’ so they may explode in a very bad crash, especially early in the flight when the tanks are full."

Source: Read Full Article