KLM has been criticised for a tweet in which it explained where on the plane passengers were least likely to die if the plane crashed.
In a now-deleted post, @KLMIndia published information about the likelihood of death based on where passengers were seated.
“According to data studies by Time, the fatality rate for the seats in the middle of the plane is the highest," it read.
“However, the fatality rate for the seats in the front is marginally lesser and is least for seats at the rear third of a plane." It was followed by the hashtags #TuesdayTrivia #Aircraft and #Facts.
An image of a KLM airline seat suspended in clouds accompanied the tweet with the words “Seats at the back of a plane are the safest!”
Twitter users were quick to condemn the tweet, which was posted on the fifth anniversary of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 killing all 298 passengers and crew onboard.
The doomed flight also had a KLM flight number – KL4103 – and was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The post was soon replaced with an apology.
“We would like to sincerely apologise for a recent update,” it read.
“The post was based on a publicly available aviation fact, and isn’t a @KLM opinion. It was never our intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The post has since been deleted.”
A spokesperson for KLM told The Independent: “The post of our team in India was based on a publicly available aviation fact and isn’t a KLM opinion. KLM apologises for any distress the tweet may have caused.
“We will be reviewing our Twitter protocol to better ensure appropriate content. The post has since been deleted.”
The blunder came after a KLM spokesperson said that breastfeeding mothers could be asked to "cover up" when feeding their babies during a flight.
