When it comes to boarding a flight, a lot of people have specific preferences on where they want to sit, while others simply leave it up to chance.
The next time you’re looking for your seat on your next flight, pay close attention to the row numbers and see if you notice anything strange.
According to EuroNews, a lot of aircrafts have been known to skip over rows, specifically rows 13, 14 and 17.
The skipping of these numbers stems largely from superstitious passengers, with the number 13 being widely considered as “unlucky”.
The superstition around the number originates largely from Christia scripture, as the disciple who betrayed Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot, was the 13th guest at the last supper.
The number 14 is considered unlucky in Chinese culture, as it phonetically sounds like the words “will die”.
As for the number 17, Italian culture often steers clear of the number due to its Roman meaning.
“This fear stems from the fact that the number 17’s Roman numeral, XVII, is an anagram of VIXI, which means ‘I have lived’ in Latin. Some consider this a bad omen as it implies that death is just around the corner,” explains Abode Italy.
According to EuroNews, there are a few airlines that avoid the unlucky rows altogether.
Ryanair, Air France, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airlines, Lufthansa, and Emirates have been known to skip over the three unlucky numbers.
So the next time you’re boarding a flight, check to see if your chosen airline has indulged the superstitions or if any brave passengers have chosen to risk flying in the “dangerous” rows.
Image credits: Getty Images
This article first appeared on Over60.