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The Boeing 737 Max Crisis Reignites Arguments Over Infant Safety on Planes
A midair blowout on a Boeing 737 Max 9 showed seatbelts matter, but infants under two still aren’t required to have their own seats. Experts say changing the rules would make flying safer for children—but, counterintuitively, would result in more deaths.
As terrible as that tradeoff is, it’s worth noting that the risk of death on a commercial airliner to anyone, lap-held infants included, remains vanishingly low—so let the pangs of guilt subside if you’ve flown holding your baby on your lap. “Commercial aircraft accidents are still extremely rare, and the logistics of having infants in specific seats, with the installation of a CRS for every flight, may outweigh the safety aspects,” notes Sarah Barry, deputy head of the School of Aviation and Security at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK. The aircraft’s systems cut out midair, and with a crash landing imminent, flight attendants told parents of lap-held babies to place them on the ground between their feet, surrounded by blankets, and hold them down as best they could.
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