The dangerous reason why you should NEVER swap seats on a plane

A PILOT has revealed why you should never change seats before a flight takes off – for a very dangerous reason.

Passengers who decide to move could cause the plane to make an emergency landing, due to the way weight is distributed.

Pilot Magnar Nordal explained on a Quora forum: “If the [systems are] set wrong, then the aircraft may crash at take-off.

“Four passengers seated themselves forward from their assigned seats before take-off.

“My first officer was flying, and he experienced problems when he rotated the aircraft: It was very heavy.

“This was a very critical situation, because the runway was very short, and we would not have been able to stop.”

Pilot Darren Patterson agreed, telling the that someone moving 10 rows of seats can have a “dramatic” effect on a plane’s balance.

Of course, passengers can ask flight attendants if they can move seats, so they are aware of the weight distribution.

They may ask you to wait until the plane has taken off, or will let you move straight away.

The best place to sit is actually the back of the plane, according to one flight attendant.

She revealed that this is more likely to get you bumped to first class for free, if the flight is quiet.

Earlier this month, a passenger divided opinion after he refused to move seats so a family could sit next to each other during a flight, because he had paid for extra legroom.

And we’ve previously revealed how to turn economy seats into first class with a series of nifty hacks.

Get travel-sick on planes? These are the seats to avoid if you often feel nauseous while flying.