‘I’ve never seen that’: Photo of banned plane seat baffles passengers

A photo of a banned plane seat has garnered a lot of attention online after a confused passenger took to Facebook to ask why the seat next to him was mysteriously off limits.

The middle seat in the back row of a Croatia Airlines Airbus A220-300 (seat 31E) has a stern message sewn into the fabric: “Do not take this seat.”

The passenger said a flight attendant on board informed him he was not wearing a seat belt.

“It didn’t make sense to me because the belt mount was there. It should have been easier to adjust the seat belt than to do that sewing job,” he wrote.

Social media users began to speculate the reason for the empty seat, suggesting it could be an extra seat for cabin crew or other airline employees, or to allow more space for passengers who request it.

“Hopefully someone knows what this is about because I’ve never seen this,” one person wrote.

“Can’t wait for someone to explain,” agreed another.

“I should know the answer,” said a third.

Croatia Airlines’ online seat map simply shows an empty space where 31E would fit.

It turns out that the seat cannot be used due to safety regulations.

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus told Croatian newspaper AvioRadar in August that only 149 seats could be used, because if the 150th seat were occupied, the plane would need two extra exits over the wings.

According to the seat map, the plane also passes row 13.

This is common in the industry as some cultures consider the number unlucky. Row 17 is another one you may notice is skipped on some planes.

German airline Lufthansa, which does not have rows 13 and 17, has previously explained that it was done to respect people with superstitions.

“That way no one who thinks the number 13 is unlucky has to sit in that row,” the airline said.

When 17 is written as the Roman numeral XVII, its anagram is VIXI – which roughly translates to “I have lived” in Latin, suggesting “my life is over.”

“In some countries, for example Italy and Brazil, the typical unlucky number is 17 and not 13,” Lufthansa said.