Intentional Plane Crash Reveals Secrets of Airplane Safety

What would you do if you were on an airplane and learned it was going to crash?  To answer that question a team of experts has done the extraordinary, crashing a passenger jet.. hoping to learn how to save lives. It is one of the most ambitious tests ever in the name of airline safety.

It's a part of a project airing on the Discovery Channel to show you what happens when a plane goes down. As part of the experiment, a Boeing 727 full of more than a half million dollars worth of crash test dummies, cameras, sensors and a crew of real pilots wearing parachutes, was deliberately crash into the desert.
 
Minutes before impact the pilots bailed out. The purpose of crash is to better understand what really happens to people onboard. One thing learned is that     bracing for impact can be a lifesaver.

Those who were not in the brace position suffered spinal injuries from being jerked forward. Sitting in the front of the plane is not the place to be during a crash. They say anyone sitting in rows seven and forward would have been killed.
 
They also found anyone holding an infant on their lap would not have been able to keep their grip on their child in that kind of an impact. According to experiment findings, several people would have likely died from flying debris alone.