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Claim that airlines suggest crash brace to 'make sure you die' is nonsense | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles   Paste BN
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The claim: Airlines instruct passengers to brace 'to make sure they die'

A Nov. 11 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows comedian Matt Rife on an episode of the BFFs Podcast, talking about a conspiracy theory.

Rife, who drew controversy in November over a standup joke about domestic abuse, claims in the video that airlines instruct passengers in the event of a crash to bend forward and put their heads down, not to protect them, but to ensure they die on impact.

"So the theory is, that they have you get in that position to make sure you die," says Rife. "Cause the lawsuit if you survive a commercial plane crash is, like, ridiculous."

The video was shared over 10,000 times in more than a month. 

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Our rating: False

Federal agencies recommend the brace position to protect, not kill, passengers. Laboratory testing found it to be the most effective way to keep airplane passengers alive.

‘Miracle on the Hudson’ led agencies to update guidance on crash safety

Rife's conspiracy theory centers around airlines with nefarious intent, but airlines don't determine the best brace position in a crash. That's up to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The brace position for passengers is the most effective way to protect from death in a crash, according to a bulletin from the FAA, which is the nation's aviation regulator. Passengers are instructed to bend over, place their hands behind their legs and keep their heads down. This protects the person's body from flailing forward and reduces secondary impact, the bulletin states.

The recommendation changed after the historic emergency plane landing on Jan. 15, 2009, known as the Miracle on the Hudson.

That day, US Airways Flight 1549 departing from New York City collided with a flock of birds, which incapacitated both of the plane’s engines. To avoid crashing, the pilot and first officer landed the plane on the Hudson River. All 150 passengers and five crew members survived.

The brace position at that time was to put one’s head against the seat back in front of them with their hands on top of that seat back, according to an FAA report. However, some of the passengers and crew aboard the US Airways flight sustained injuries in this position.

That prompted the NTSB to have the FAA research "the most beneficial passenger brace position in airplanes," said NTSB spokesperson Peter Knudson.

The FAA reevaluated the position using crash dummies and sleds to test how well certain brace positions worked in a crash. The agency found that while the previously recommended position of putting one's head and hands against the seat back in front of them provided safety up to a point, bending forward facedown and placing hands down by the lower legs led to better outcomes.

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BBC Earth Science used a similar testing method with crash dummies, illustrating how the brace position would protect a passenger from flailing forward. Furthermore, Flight Safety Australia reported real-life instances in which passengers from around the world who used the brace position survived deadly plane crashes.

Paste BN reached out to Rife and the BFFs Podcast but did not immediately receive a response.

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