(A) "The number of deaths that occurred in theater fires because theater patrons could not escape was greatly reduced when theaters were required to have aisles leading to each exit."Option (A) provides support for the proposal through analogy. It compares the situation in theaters, where requiring aisles leading to each exit reduced deaths in fires, to the proposal to remove seats that block access to emergency exits on aircraft. The analogy suggests that implementing safety measures (removing barriers to exits) can lead to a reduction in fatalities, which supports the proposal.
(B) "Removing the seats that block emergency exits on aircraft will require a costly refitting of aircraft cabins."
Option (B) weakens the proposal because it introduces a potential downside, which is the cost associated with refitting aircraft cabins. While this information might be important for considering the feasibility of the proposal, it doesn't directly support the idea of removing seats to improve safety.
(C) "In the event of fire, public buildings equipped with smoke detectors have fewer fatalities than do public buildings not so equipped."
Option (C) discusses the effectiveness of smoke detectors in public buildings, which is not directly related to the proposal to remove seats blocking access to emergency exits on aircraft. It doesn't provide relevant support for the proposal.
(D) "In the event of collision, passengers on planes with a smaller passenger capacity generally suffer more serious injury than do passengers on planes with a larger passenger capacity."
Option (D) is not supportive of the proposal because it talks about passenger capacity and injury severity, which is different from the main concern of removing seats to improve emergency exit access and reduce fatalities.
(E) "The safety belts attached to aircraft seats function to protect passengers from the full force of impact in the event of a collision."
Option (E) discusses the function of safety belts but doesn't directly address the proposal to remove seats that restrict access to emergency exits. It focuses on a different aspect of safety.
Upon reevaluation, option (A) indeed provides the most relevant support for the proposal by drawing an analogy to another context where a similar safety measure was effective in reducing deaths.