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Comment by Qem | Hacker News Reader

I wish they had modelled the effects of installing the passenger seats facing backwards. Passengers have no need to see forward in a plane, different from pilots, and in the event of sudden deceleration the seat would help cushion the impact, what I believe would probably improve safety in most survivable crash scenarios.

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I think it would absolutely improve safety. Except for some very contrived scenarios, deceleration in a crash approaches infinity (mitigated only by the elasticity of the fuselage and whatever it impacts). Better to experience that spread out across a soft seat cushion than concentrated into an inelastic lap and shoulder belt.

Unfortunately, the psyche of the average passenger can't handle riding backwards. I've never understood it. Remove visual stimuli and it's impossible to tell the difference. Maybe we just need to close the window shades on takeoff and landing?

Belts are actually elastic. They just are not that easy to stretch, which is exactly what you want.

Many trains have backward facing seats. It's not common for people to have a problem sitting in them, certainly a minority. And train windows are usually several times larger than plane windows.

I get car sick almost immediately if I don't face forward.

Ditto amusement park rides that move backwards (eg The Mummy). This includes when there is no visual indicator (in the dark)

Wouldn't it make some people feel sick? Not sure if there's any science to back people preferring to sit forward facing in trains

Trains accelerate and decelerate relatively often compared to planes where you only really notice changes in velocity at take-off and landing so I don't think it would make a difference

Japanese limited express trains and the bullet train have very few stops (or none, depending), and the ride is very smooth.. still, my wife (Japanese) can't sit backwards-facing without getting sick. Not sure what causes this.

It would not surprise if there was something about human physiology that thinks it’s unnatural to go backwards. Our eyes are in front of our head for a reason.

I don't know for sure, but is very common to see parents carrying children facing backwards in their arms, while walking, with no ill effects. No big deal.

Sure, but there’s a speed limit to that, and you sort of trust the person holding you implicitly.

Not really applicable to an aircraft hurtling along at 300m/s

But you don't notice that speed.. (ref. Newton and Einstein and others). I agree with those saying it must be psychological.. well, mostly. Sometimes you do physically notice that you're facing backwards. At takeoff, for example. And, to some extent, landing. Maybe when banking too. I haven't tried, obviously (the backwards-facing unfolding seats for the crew would be the place to test this).

Tangentially related: The seats on Shinkansen trains can be rotated to adapt to the needs of the passengers.

Many US commuter-rail trains also have reversible seats. The train crew generally orient these to be forward-facing for the direction of travel, possibly excepting the first seat in a car.

(The trainsets reverse directions without being turned around themselves. Those using locomotives rather than electric traction operate in "pusher" mode for half their trips. There's an operator cab in the end car for such trips.)

They can be rotated, but that's supposed to be done by train personnel when changing directions. That's the primary purpose. The only time you're allowed to rotate them yourselves is when you're e.g. a group of four - then you can have two sets of seats face each other.

A few seats could be left facing forward, for people who would feel sick, but backward facing probably should be default. It's hard to believe smashing your face against the hard back surface from the seat in front of you is better than being pushed hard against the soft cushion from your own seat. Also the load would be more evenly distributed across the whole body.

I thought about that, but then I realized that the acceleration is going to be (more or less) equal and opposite for take-off and landing, so it's more about which one you want first, no?

The angle of descent is of about 3 degrees, that's far less than the angle at which the aircraft is taking off. Thus the rear facing passengers would be facing down quite steeply on takeoff, and thus likely to vomit the airport lounge food they just had :)

Military troop transports frequently utilise rear-facing seats, and I suspect there's enough incident data to arrive at useful conclusions.

I suspect recruits susceptible to motion sickness don’t make it through basic training

Or would be forced to walk ;-)

Fair point that the military can choose its subjects, or compel them.

There are some planes with a few backward facing seats. Takeoff is more comfortable in a forward facing seat

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