From a longer column by Salon’s Ask the pilot:
Conventional wisdom holds that airplane crashes are nonsurvivable. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard cynical fliers remark on the futility of fastening their seat belts. “After all,” the logic goes, “if there’s an accident, we’re all going to die anyway, right?”
In truth, most accidents have survivors, and relatively few are all-out catastrophes. Thus, a little pre-planning could save your life.
Part of that pre-planning is knowing exactly where the doors are — all of them, as smoke, fire or debris could render one or more exits unusable. You must also understand that should an evacuation be necessary, you will not be taking your carry-on luggage with you. Doing so could put yourself and others in considerable danger.
And this IMPORTANT point (emphasis mine):
This is the reason, by the way, for the litany of prohibitions during taxi, takeoff and landing: Tray tables need to be up, window shades open, laptops and iPods put away. It’s not about electronic interference, it’s about the need for a speedy egress and situational awareness should anything happen.
NewMexiKen is reminded of a flight a few years ago where I had the seat next to the window facing the bulkhead. A much inebriated fellow (we were two hours late leaving) boarded at the last minute and plopped himself into the middle seat. He neglected to buckle.
As we pulled away from the gate, I decided what the hell, and reminded him to buckle. He sneered and said something to the effect of why bother. I said, “Because when we’re rolling down the runway at 160 mph and the plane has an emergency stop, you’re going to keep going and hit that bulkhead at 160 mph, then bounce back and injure that nice lady next to you.”
He buckled.