Fear of Flying
 

I have a fear of flying in airplanes mostly because of crashing and terrorists. I won't go in them, even in my dreams I will scream when I'm put on a plane =p Does anyone (hopefully someone who had this fear) know how to overcome it? Any stories? I would like to because my dad is overseas... and I can possibly go to Japan this Xmas if I can overcome it (major shopping :D)

>>sorry if this is in the wrong place... not sure if it would be here or quiet place<<

Take some music, and fall asleep. Don't even think about it.

It's also best to not think about the snakes.

I agree, but I'm not sure if electronic equipment such as CD players or Ipods will be allowed on planes by then. Maybe you could bring a book with you or a piece of paper and pen and write/doodle. My mom is afraid of flying and she's only flown once, but she's scared half to death of my trip to England next semester because of the terrorists attacks. Statistically, it's much safer to fly by plane than it is to drive a car.



Point is, life is full or risks and if you want to see your dad and do some major shopping, then go for it. It's probably safer flying to Asia and shopping than it is to hop in your car and drive an hour through traffic to visit a mall you've been to dozens of times. Who knows, maybe your fear will lessen by actually confronting it. Or, at least you'll know that you did something and survived and realize that terrorists are not as powerful as they think.

Besides, they usually do the same thing over and over again with small changes here and there. They know that Britain is allied with America and that Canada...well, they are nearby. Who knows if they even want to mess with Asian countries since they are very close and some very powerful.

Why did you have to make the same comment I was about to make?

Bright side, though, is that you don't have to worry about that on too many flights.

To be frank though, I'm not all that comfortable with flying, probably has something to do with my dad giving me some less-than-perfect rides in his plane when I was a kid. Still, though, the best way to do it is to simply ignore that you have to fly until you're in the plane itself. At that point it'll just be a matter of waiting. And depending on what airline you're taking they might provide some nice distraction. I believe Singapore Airline was one of the last airline I flew on which made it possible to play SNES or watch movie on a small LCD screen on the back of the seat in front of you. Don't expect that kind of stuff on short flights though, but then the good news is that you won't have to wait as long.

One of my friends recommened the first flight I take be a short one so I can listen to a few songs or watch a movie and it'll be done before I know it and I have that little experience and will know if I can handle one of those 7 hour flights like my dad. But I'm so afraid of hopping on that plane. I think if a certain guy friend of mine was on it I'd feel more comfortable... hell even if my dad was on it I might feel better.

I never really had a fear of flying when I was younger. This past March though, I flew to Vegas and I realized that as I get older, I get a lot more chickenshit about things.

Take off used to be the most exhilarating thing I could imagine. I used to love to stare down at the ground while flying into the air so fast and high. Until I flew to Vegas, wherein I did nothing but clutch the seats VERY TIGHTLY and almost started crying. I have no idea why I got so frightened.

It bothers me as well when I am 30,000 ft above the Earth's surface. I have to STOP myself from thinking about how humans aren't supposed to be that high up, and how if something were to happen in the air way the hell up in the heavens that we're pretty much fucked. We're all going to die.

I have no idea how to overcome it - the only thing I can suggest is bring something that you can be distracted with. Denial is a great medication. ^_^

I don't recall much of a fear of flying, I usually focus on the smaller scale things, like how good the chicken and spanish rice will taste, or what inflight movies might be showing (seeing Legend of Bagger Vance twice, both ways, and switching between Spanish, English, and German gets boring very quickly, and will they ever show Pacific Air Flight 121? Gee.)
Perhaps fears that command more attention would be either seeing the engine falling apart and stalling, or some idiot opening the airlock door because they "want to get some fresh air". But the biggest fear is someone barging into my personal get-happy time with a nice magazine in the restroom, with silly me forgetting to lock the door - caught red (or white) handed. Too bad.

Having flown in airplanes quite a few times (several times overseas too, a flight to Korea once took 14 hours bleh), and being scared of heights myself, I have to say that it wasn't easy for me.

While I'm not to the point of refusing to get on a plane, I do feel a lot of anxiety until we're at the flight altitude. I usually just bypass this by thinking about a lot of different things, or the feelings I'm currently going through. For instance, when I first left Korea to go home on leave after being there for 8 months, I kept thinking about how nice it would be to be back in the US. And I joked to myself and others about how I was going to kiss the ground once I got to LAX in Los Angeles. Sure enough, I almost did lol, and thinking about that stuff got me through the scariest part for me, the takeoff. But I have to admit, it was kind of nice seeing myself leave Korea (it was okay for me, but not knowing the language kind of sucked for going out and meeting hot girls lol :D).

As you can see, just think about different stuff, and try not to think about the fact that you're flying. If nothing else, just arrive at the airplane tired, and then take a nap ASAP. Before long, you'll forget you're even flying, and it'll feel like a long bus ride or something (so long as you're not constantly looking out the window), and think instead of how cramped it is in the plane, and how you can't wait to get off and stretch hehe.

And since you're going to Japan, hope you don't see Godzilla down there, unless he's fighting another monster :tpg:. The Japanese military sucks when fighting Godzilla, unless they're helping him fight an alien monster hehe. Just think about anything else, and before long, you'll be back on the ground in your destination.

Planes kind of freak me out. I can never just fall asleeep. I have the most negative thoughts of anything, and I scare myself with them.

I was so scared the time I was in the plane flying to Bolivia, and there was a lightning storm and I could see all the lightning bolts in the clouds lighting up the sky.
I said a prayer and hoped for the best.

Since my dad was in the military, I sometimes go with him and my family in the military planes. I feel safer in those planes for some reason.

But I'm kind of scared of heights...but I LOVE Roller coasters!

I flew alone when I was 13, and I was freaking out. Thankfully, though, I was sitting next to some friendly people, so they just talked to me for almost the entire flight. That stopped my overactive imagination and I remained calm for the flight. If you can, take a nap or read a good book that will take your mind off of the fact that you're flying.

I took my first (admittedly short, from Spain to England) plane flight recently. I hated the first flight, but the second was ok. Well, actually we ended up travelling back on the 11th of August, a day after the terrorist scare. Splendid. -_-

Honestly, I'd be more worried about snakes on my plane then terrorists. I've flown several times and enjoyed it (other than all the ear popping).

Bring some good tunes and a pack of gum and you'll be fine.

(And statistically, the chances of a plane crashing are less than a car crashing, but you only hear more about the former because of the # of people involved compared to the latter.)

Well you could always do what a few friends do which include the following: take sleeping pills, take Vicadin, get pissy drunk.

This way you'll be doing it, but not quite. At least you'll know subconsciously you went through it (although all of your senses may not have been in tact at the time).

Double Post:
Well you could do what a few of my friends do which include the following: take sleeping pills, take Vicadin, get pissy drunk.

This way you will have had the experience, although all of your faculties wont be quite in tact. Maybe that would help on some subconscious level.

You could do this in addition to taking a short pre-flight as flying to Japan is around 22 hours if I remember correctly.

I used to be fairly frightened of planes when I was 8-13 or so, but now, 3 years later, I just enjoy them. I suppose pretending that I wasn't scared helped me a lot. Good luck to you.

LOL terrorists.

My first airplane trip was last year from Portugal to London then Glasgow, it was fun to feel the airplane lift off, look down and see thing getting smaller or the ocean. From London to Glasgow it was kind of fun to see the city lights.
In my way back to Portugal I haven't even looked out of the window, it was just too boring and I slept most of the time. So much for the exitment of flying...

Oh and BTW: terrorists LOL

Xanax! Go to a psychiatrist and explain your situation; you should be able to get a couple of pills for the flight there and a couple for the flight back. They really knock ya out/make ya calm. That's what I take on flights.

I enjoy flying, but only if I can get a window seat. The difference in your perspecitve of the world can change a lot when you can cruise at 30,000 feet on a clear day, or when you can skim through the rolling hills and valleys of soft white clouds.

If you get bored, you can request a pair of headphones and listen to the flight crew as they jockey for position in the sky and request hand offs to new flight traffic controllers.

Otherwise, flying is pretty boring. I don't see it that risky, either. Human error aside, it takes a lot to bring a plane out of the sky. You can put a bullet hole through a window, and it will still fly. You can peel back 6 feet of the fuselage and it will still fly. You can lose an engine (sometimes even two) and it will still fly. You can lose the primary hydraulic system and it will still fly.

By contrast, I read about fatal car accidents in the local paper every day.

Fear of flying?

Completly unfounded. You've got a better chance of dying while driving your car than you do flying in an aeroplane... And I bet that's not going to change your position on driving.

Airplanes arn't flying deathtraps either - they're more-or-less powered gliders, and will glide for miles without engine power, just look at the affectionatly called "Gimli Glider" or the Air Transat A330 (I think it was a 330, but it may have been a 320) that landed in the Azores.

Hell, even in the case of terrorism, look at the DHL airbus that got hit with a fucking missle, and still managed to turn back and land at Baghdad.

Airliners are remarkable pieces of technology - and you couldn't be safer in your own home.

Exactly. I'm far more concerned with my luggage being at the airport I'm headed to than any kind of bomb or terrorist.

My general attitude is that if airport security doesn't catch anything, oh well. If I'm really wanting to fly somewhere, I'm going to be flying regardless of something beyond my control. I'm pretty relaxed at airport and flying.

I'm not a big fan of flying either, so my advice is to take as many things to take your mind off of being in the air. I had my DS with me and a book as well for a 4 hour flight recently. Don't sit in the window seat if you can help it, and ask the person sitting there if they wouldn't mind closing it. The worst part is when the plane is taking off; once in the air it really doesn't feel any different than riding in a bus.

Yet far more people die as a result of car crashes. You hear more about the former because it happens to rarely. A big fucking plane falling out of the sky HOLY SHIT! 14 people wrapping their civics around a pole? Saw that last week.

I'm the exact same way. Flew to Disneyworld twice as a kid. Fine. It was the best thing ever and I fought my dad for the window seat, face plastered against the glass. Flew to France on high school. Not a problem, wasnt scared at all. Flew back to Florida last year. Nervous wreck. Couldn't sleep,couldn't really eat, couldn't relax at all. Had my left hand on the seat so tight I thought I was going to snap it and my right hand on my girlfriends hand so hard I think I was hurting her. Then we hit some turbulance. I was convinced I was going to die.

The worst part about it was that I was completely aware of how irrational I was being. I know the statistics of dying in a crash, I know that every other plane flying out of the same airport is hitting the same turbluance, and is not crashing down. I know that the pilot has probably done this before. But you can't help it, and start to freak out.

My mother used to be really bad with flying. The last time she flew she went to the doctor, got some kind of medication, and actually went to talk to a professional. She was fine. Reading a book calmly as her son, the former airplane lover, was making his piece with God.

Next trip I take, I'm going to see a Doctor and get something to calm me down. And maybe some anti-venom.

I know the stats on airplanes being safer than cars... but look at it this way... I could be in a car accident tomorrow and live... I could get in a plane in December and if it crashes I'm as good as dead. Point being you can live in a car accident... NOT an airplane.

Can someone explain the lift off and the landing? Also I heard you chew gum for the ear popping thing... I don't chew gum, so what do I do?

You might need to pop your ears. You can do it by pressing your nose shut and gently blowing through your nose until your ears 'pop', like when you go swimming or whatever.

What do you mean by 'explain'?

Take-off is pretty strait-forward. Full trust until the pilot has enough airspeed, and then he pulls back gently on the stick. After gaining a bit of altitude and speed, the gears come up. After that its just a matter of climbing to cruising altitude, setting the autopilot, and then sitting back making sure nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

Landing is more involved. I pilot needs to get an approach vector, get clearance to land, and then starts the descent. You'll feel the plane slowing down and descending. As the aircraft gets slower, the pilot gives 1/4 flaps (flaps increase the lift that the wings generate). Slower still, the landing gear come down and the pilot gives 1/2 flaps. Before landing, the pilot will give full flaps and bring the nose up so that the plane can touch down on the rear wheels first. This whole time the pilot will also be making minor course corrections to line up with the runway. I imagine that while it might seem spectacular to a passenger, its not that hard with modern ILS system. A laser beam is projected out of the runway along a vector representing the perfect approach. All a pilot has to do is line up a horizontal and vertical bar on his instrument panel, keep the correct speed, and touchdown should be perfect. This isn't always the case, since headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds can affect the plane's approach. Once down, airbrakes and reverse thrust are used to slown the craft down quickly.

The worst thing you are likely to experience on a flight is wind sheer on landing. Wind sheer is a sudden burst of crosswind that stall a plane (disrupition of lift generated by the wings). For the unwary pilot, this can be a shock and he might end up dropping the craft on the runway like a giant sack of bricks. Wind sheer like that is reported by the tower upon approach, so pilots know what they are flying into.

I just came home on a flight out of Detroit, and I sat next to this Hispanic looking girl. Now, we were on a small plane, so I expected it to be a little rougher than a normal flight, but she seemed scared from the moment she sat down. As soon as I sat down next to her she asked me if that's as far as the plane went back, referring to the tenth row. I said yes, and she quickly rebutted that this was the smallest plane she had ever been on. I said there was nothing to worry about, and that I've safely flown on much smaller planes than this. That seemed to calm her down a bit, but as soon as the engines really started blasting, she reached down into her carry-on bag and pulled out a set of rosary beads. From there on out, every couple minutes she would cross herself and mutter some prayer, maybe a Hail Mary or whatever. I'm not Catholic, obviously.

It turned out to be a great flight, much smoother than I had anticipated. When we landed she let out a big sigh of relief and immediately called her parents. She must have been around 21, as she said she was going to be a senior at Pitt. I have no idea why she was so scared, and I found it pretty funny. I see absolutely no reason for anyone to be scared. I mean, if you're going to be safe, that's fine, but if you're going to crash there's nothing you can do about it, so you may as well make it a pleasant a flight as possible.

I've only flown twice, back when airtravel was viable & you didn't even need to remove your shoes for the security checkpoints, and I had a decent experience.

For all of the times you see disaster movies about Planes, be the threat a terrorist, pilot dozing off/heart attack, or snakes, the actual chances are slim to none. If you're traveling more then 500 miles I think its safer then a car, and a car being safer less then 500 miles, don't quote me on that or nothin but that's what I heard.

The popping ears thing annoyed me though :mad:

The actual statistic isn't that you are more likely to be in a car crash, it's that you're more likely to DIE in a car crash than in a plane crash.

So yeah, not only are you more likely to be in a fender-bender, you're also more likely to be in a fatal crash than a plane crash.

Fear of flying seems based largely on the fear of death. Lose that, and you'll be golden.

Damn straight!

Well if I knew that when the plane crashed that I wouldn't die necessarily, then I wouldn't mind crashing :p I drive cause I know I'm not a bad driver and if I am hit I'll be hurt to severly hurt but I may not be killed (considering I've been in a lot of accidents but not with me driving)

If you're gonna die then why should you care? It's not like you're going to know or anything.

Try taking some sleeping drugs, you will pass out as soon and you sit down on the plane and wake up when you land!

I tend to have a constant uneasy feeling when in flights and I've been through some really bad ones. I've gone through a few 24hr flights and that's simply just too much time to kill by yourself. My advise...

-Bring gum. Even if you don't chew gum just bring it anyways. Many people go through the whole ear pain crap but can tolerate it. Unlike most people though I can't simply just pop my ears and I'm ok to go. For me the pain is enough to almost bring me to tears. Chewing gum and popping my ears like others have explained, help enough to get through the landing. Is not likely you might get it as bad as me but there's always a chance.
-Bring books magazines or anything else to keep you occupied just as everyone mentioned.
-Entirely up to you but I tend to take sleeping pills for flights.
-If at all possible get sitting for the front of the plane where you feel less turbulence if any.

I've flown a number of times, mainly inter pacific flights, but a few domestic ones too. A few things can help out, most have been mentioned so far, but I'll run through them anyway;

* Bring things to do. A gameboy, books, magazines, iPod etc will do wonders to kill time, especially on the long 14 hour flights. Magazines however aren't going to last you more than an hour or so, so if you're unable to sleep you'll need more than just those to keep you busy.

* If you're unless you really want to sit against the window, as for a aisle seat or one of the ones at the front of the rows so you have an easy time getting out of your seat.

* Generally most of the larger non-domestics will have a fairly large area towards the rear of the plane near the toilets, which you're able to stand around and chat to other passengers if you get tired of sitting down. Also, you'll be where the stewards serve drinks, so help yourself to one if you're thirsty. Which leads to the next one...

* The air is much drier in the cabin area because of the height you're flying at. Be sure to drink often to prevent yourself from getting dehydrated, especially before you go to sleep. Raiding the alchohol card when it comes around is also highly recommended. Those long flights are much more bearable after a few drinks. Alternately, you're going to get hammered by jet lag after disembarking, so don't worry about hang overs too much.

* If you're planning to have sex in one of the bathrooms, a warning in advance. They're small enough with just one person, it gets a lot smaller with two and the stewards have eyes like a hawk when it comes to passengers attemping to join the mile high club.

Also, if you're looking to try and get rid of your fear of flying/heights, try going sky diving once. Jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet should deal with it rather quickly. The view is incredible and much better than you'd get out of the window of a plane.

Well I'm getting over my fear of crashing slowly, thanks to this thread. Now I have the fear of ear pain. TY Weapon! :p

The pain in your ears from the pressure doesn't happen to everyone. Some peoples ears naturally just adjust to it, so it may be you won't even notice it. At any rate, don't let it stop you from going. International travel is something everyone should do and you'd be missing out if you avoided going because of your ears. Just breathe deeply during take off and touch down and you should be fine, if that doesn't work, you simply clamp down on your nose with your thumb and index finger, and try to blow through it.

Then my job is done here.... :D

I doubt you'll have to worry about that though. I think this only implies to very few people. How long is your flight anyways and where are you going?

If I may ask....

Close... but a few clarifications should be made in the name of accuracy:

In a commercial airliner you'll (most of the time) line up on the runway, and apply power against brakes to make sure the engines are spooling up right - after those quick (really quick) checks are done, the brakes get released and the throttles advance to Takeoff/Go-Aroud thrust (not full thrust as that will cause the engines to burn out and need replacing ($$$$$$$$$$$)). At speed called V1 the pilot will make the final go/nogo descision - as above this speed there is no guarantee that the plane will stop on the runway/be able to make it airborne in the case of a critical engine failure. At a slightly faster speed, known as V2 plane will 'rotate' and pitch up, transferring the weight of the aircraft from the wheels onto the wings. As soon as the aircraft lifts off the runway - and there is insufficiant runway available to land - the gear will come up (definatly not before, and most definatly not after this point), and the flap retraction wil occur as per the local noise abatement procedures - usually retracting flaps and setting climb power (again, not full thrust) through 2-3000' above ground.

The landing description above is pretty good - but there arn't just 1/4 or 1/2 flap settings on large aircraft - most airlines have 6-8 different settings for flaps (marked in degrees, not 1/2 or 1/4, the fractions are only really used in small, general aviation aircraft). The landing gear will come down when landing is assured (the gear is an important thing to note - if the gear is down on an airplane and it has an engine failure - it won't climb - it may not even be able to hold altitude. That's why it's selected up immediatly after insufficient runway is availbe to land on takeoff, and not selected down until a landing is assured - the same applies for full flaps).

And the ILS isn't quite laser beams :P It's actually an interference pattern created by two different radio signals. The instrument on board determines where you are in location to the 'centre' of the localizer and glideslope (horizonal and vertical position respectivly).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lustration.jpg

And you don't need your airbrake license to operate airliners - 99% of them are hydraulic :P The aircraft may also use other lift-destroying devices such as spoilers (Spoilers are the panels that lift up on the top of the wing after landing to 'spoil' the lift and transfer the weight of the aircraft onto the wheels). Thrust reverse is usually only used in the case of slippery runway conditions - and does not decrease landing distance on dry pavement.

And just to clarify - wind shear is when the wind is producing turbulence by two layers shearing (example: layer at 1000' above ground is blowing from the north at 30 knots, while layer at 500' is blowing south, there will be heavy turbulence due to windshear between those two layers). The most dangerous part of windshear isn't the crosswind - but rather the sudden changes in head and tailwinds.

Hope this helps, I'm going to bed. PM me if you have any other questions.