In the United Kingdom, following the Kegworth air disaster in 1989, the UK Civil Aviation Authority contracted an engineering consultancy, Hawtal Whiting Structures, to perform computer based analytical investigation to optimise the brace for impact position for forward-facing passengers. This was supported by medical information from the University of Nottingham and testing at the Institute of Aviation Medicine.
I think I'd go along with that, and:
I
n one accident, passengers were asleep on an aircraft that was about to collide with trees. One passenger, out of the sixteen, awoke and adopted the procedure, and he was the only survivor.[5] All passengers aboard Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751, which crashed, survived: an outcome which it has been suggested was largely thanks to the passengers' universal adoption of the brace position.[6]
During the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight on January 15, 2009, there were fewer than three minutes to land U.S. Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River[7] and the only words the passengers heard from the pilot were "Brace for Impact". Flight attendants chanted, "Brace! Brace! Heads down! Stay down!" [8] and all 155 people on board survived with no life-threatening injuries.
also seems pretty convincing. Other more recent studies have backed this up. I read a report a few weeks ago but can't find it at the moment. If I do, I'll post it.
For me, if I'm ever asked to do so, I'll adopt the brace position. I always listen to the safety briefing and take note of exits and emergency lighting. I suppose I'm extra careful because my Dad was a London firefighter. Flashovers happen very quickly but the real killer is smoke. You should crawl on the floor in smoke conditions, which is why the emergency lighting is low down. People reaching upward for their cabin bags in the overhead lockers would be the first to be overcome by smoke fumes. I hope I'm never in the situation but if I am I know exactly what I'll do.