Passenger plane airbags - GIF

[tachetailleur]

There's an interesting AAIB report about this (Kegworth air disaster, UK, 1989, 39+8 fatalities and 79 survivors), see para 1.17.13 on page 89 (101 in the pdf):
https://humanfactors101.com/wp-conte...400-g-obme.pdf
Rear facing seats were/are used on most RAF transports, but I suppose "customers" don't have much of a say in the matter. I used a rear facing seat on a US commercial flight in the late 90's and apart from take off (where you have a feeling of sliding out of your seat) I don't recall any other real problems.
It's interesting to note that in the Kegworth crash all the overhead storage bins broke free...