Fear of Flying

RCB28

I know exactly how you feel, to a lesser extent. It has to do with control and lack of it. I have grown more fearful of flying as I've gotten older, had children etc...I used to go flying with a pilot friend in a 2 seater plane no probs - but I could see the controls and he talked me through what he was doing. A big plane, with no view of the pilot is a different concept altogether. Takeoff is especially bad as I always feel that as the engine slows we are about to drop out of the sky (sorry - not helping) but I fly every year and just grin and bear it. My friend had hypnotherapy and it didn't work btw!
My only recommendation, which may be too late for this flight, would be to google the following name 'Captain Pablo Mason' who is a fantastic pilot who last I heard was running a course for nervous fliers - he was the best pilot I ever flew with on a commercial airline and is now semi retired (actually I think he was wrongly dismissed for allowing a nervous football celeb to view the cockpit to put him at ease contrary to new regulations and despite it being a private flight?!). Failing that I would make yourself known to the airline/crew and ask to sit near to one of them so that they might talk you through the aircraft noises. I always look at their faces - if they look nervous I worry - but they never do! I also read a book on takeoff to distract myself and so that my kids can't see my nerves. I also dislike being a passenger in a car!
It is fear that can grow if you let it so during the flight give yourself a good talking to (in your head ofcourse) and try to remain calm, at least outwardly!
Best of luck!;)

alared

A lot of the time it`s not the actual fear that MAY take place whilst actually flying but the build up over the days to the flight and the thinking about what may or may not happen.
Once airbourne and watching the antics of others onboard and reading a book or trying to sleep or taking an MP3 player with relaxing music it probably wont be half as bad as imagined.

But like ALL fears and phobias,the only way to overcome them is to do what you`re afraid of using any means that help.

ilikedrawing

Yeah i'm usually fine once we're up there, its leaving the ground i don't like. I've decided to go on another flight with my friend, it does mean theres 2 take-offs though!

Ive been looking at the plane we'll be on and which seat i'm going to get and its made me feel a bit better.

I will definatley be reading a book when we're taking off, then i'll try and sleep!

WiseInvestor_2

So you're automatically doubling your chances of encountering an 'incident'?! I'm not saying it's wrong to take a friend on a short flight first (as I've no doubt that will go smoothly too), merely attempting to highlight the affects of irrational thinking - and that's BEFORE you've had a drink!

RCB28 wrote: »

'Captain Pablo Mason' who is a fantastic pilot who last I heard was running a course for nervous fliers - he was the best pilot I ever flew with on a commercial airline and is now semi retired (actually I think he was wrongly dismissed for allowing a nervous football celeb to view the cockpit to put him at ease contrary to new regulations

Out of interest, what are your criteria for best versus worst Pilot? I'm confused why you've rated someone who knowingly contravened a Department for Transport mandate as your best???

bargainbasement

OP I completely understand how you feel I hate flying I stopped going on holiday abroad for four years once I developed the phobia. Then I realised I had to start flying again, and I have but only with the help of medication. I take betablockers a couple of days before the flight (stops the palpitations which then would lead me to a panic attack) and I take diazepam. I understand not everyone will agree with my methods but it works for me. As for being drowsy unfortunately much as I would like I have never fell asleep on a flight and am completely coherent.

I also took a look at a fear of flying forum, and bought the book it helped me.
http://www.flyingwithoutfear.com/

HTH

(Oh and I donot beleive these people who say they love flying - they must be insane!!);)

musehead

I have a mild fear of flying. Last year I flew on the worlds only 1-star airline according to Skytrax:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/JS.htm

It is also banned in the EU over safety concerns.

Even so, nobody has ever died on their watch. I was very nervous though!

PAUL7331

Im a frequent flyer but absolutely TERRIFIED of take off. I just cant understand how soemthing that big can get in to the air! My fear will never be cured of the plane taking off about 500 feet and then suddenly dropping or something down to earth! I tend to drink before the flight but if the drink wears off it can make u worse!

sarah_elton

OP - let us know how you get on after the flight.

I was exactly the same - flew every year as a kid and during my teens I got increasingly scared. I haven't flown since I was 18 (now 28). I didn't have a bad flight experience - I simply got scared.

With me it's both control and claustrophobia. I always say, I'd be fine if I was flying the plane. No-one else would be as I don't know how to fly lol.

I am claustrophobic, or rather, I have a phobia about being trapped. I had a full blown panic attack in Stratford station once - There was a problem at Liverpool Street, all the trains from Essex and Herts were terminating at Stratford and everyone was trying to get onto the Central Line. After about 20 mins stuck in a ridiculous crowd that wasn't moving far at all, I started hyperventilating uncontrollably and crying and a TFL staff member had to pull me out. It sounds stupid, but I prefer the old trains on my commute where you can open the windows, as opposed to the new ones where you can't. Also, I slept in a tent once and I had to unzip the flap just a bit, so I wasn't completely sealed in. It's that thing that kicks in when I think of flying.

Since the incident at Stratford - the only time I've actually had a panic attack - it's worse, because I think what if it happens on a plane? It didn't subside till I got outside the station. I'm scared that I'll have an attack and I don't know what'd happen as I can't get off the plane obviously.

It's got to the point now where I want to get over it though - there's too much of the world I want to see. I've only ever been to Europe and north Africa. I want to go to Asia, South America, Hawaii and New Zealand! So I'm determined to book something and go with my OH in the next year or so when we've worked out our plans. For me, I need to be going somewhere so amazing, that I want to visit so much, that it'll make it worth getting on the plane.

Beaker99

I prefer education. My wife is terrified, but I work in Aerospace. I tell her exactly what is going on through the flight and this helps.


1. Turbulence
Remember Turbulence is normal, sometimes sudden, and planes can take everything that can be thrown at them. NASA even fly planes into the middle of storms to take measurements. I’ve seen videos of them doing this and they're literally holding on for all it's worth. Planes wings do flex during flight - they're designed to - otherwise they'd be rigid/brittle and that would be very bad. During tests wings are flexed to see what they can withstand, and don't quote me on this, but on a large aircraft can flex by as much as 11ft.
Just remember to always wear you seatbelt loosely fastened.

2. The engines.
Planes with 2 engines can fly well enough on 1 engine. There are ratings (ETOPS) that aircraft have to say how long they can be flown on one engine, and on some larger aircraft can be as long as 3 hrs. If you've got 4 engines than you can limp with 1 engine working, 2 will be fine. Again, don't quote me on this, but a Jumbo is licensed to fly on 3 engines, meaning if they get an engine shut down they (sometimes) continue to final destination – it’s that small a deal. (as was they case on one BA flight once, but I think they got in trouble) This brings me to a worst-case problem on take off - birdstrike or 'flame out'. The pilot will only take off when they're going fast enough to manage on one engine. meaning if they hit a bird and it knocks an engine out they'll be ok. - and this does happen. Obviously if you knock out both engines (as was they case with the recent US Airways flight ditching in the hudson) - but this is very, very rare. Birdstrike can cause a high vibration due to a bent fan blade (in which case the pilot will turn the engine off and return, or ina bad case go ‘bang’ bang bang’ with bursts of flame out of the back. This sounds and looks serious, but again, the pilot will just power down the engine and return.

3. Noises
On take off
When the engines start during 'push back' from the terminal you'll sometimes get a brief whiff of jet fuel - this is normal and is to do with a little amount of fumes getting into the air con systems.
A little whirring noise as your taxiing will be the flaps going out (The flaps extend from the wings to give more 'wing area' when flying slowly (as in take off and landing) look out at the trailing edge of the wing and you'll see this - and also a little bit on the front edge.
Once airborne, a thumping noise will be the wheels going up.
the ping-pong in the cabin.. it's how the pilot communicates to the cabin crew and is probably telling them they're released to go and flog you stuff, err sorry i mean attend to you.

On landing
More of the same whirring.. the flaps going out again, they'll do this a little bit..
then a lumping noise - The wheels going down
Then more whirring, the flaps going all the way out
remember when the flaps and wheels are out, you'll get more wind noise.



other things...
Sometimes it can seem like you're waiting forever to take off. This is either cause you're in a big queue, or can just be the pilot being told to hold because there's too much air traffic around. It means nothing.

On an airbus A319 you get a wierd 'starter motor whiring' noise when starting up. I've no idea what this is but is normal.

Weather
Planes can fly in almost any weather.

Crosswinds – The plane will have to come in pointing slightly into the wind to keep a straight trajectory, so it can effectively ‘crab’ towards the runway. If this is the case, when down, the pilot will need to straighten up – in which case you’ll feel the plane ‘lurch’ sideways. This is all the pilot’s doing. It’s normal.

Fog – No problem, most modern planes/runways are equipped with the equipment required to land in zero visibility. I’ve landed in Edinburgh before when you could only see the runway when you’re on it. Amazing how many people couldn’t believe the plane could actually do this. (for more info, google search ‘cat iii approach’ – some cool youtube clips) - try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigpqpDWIwE

Rain/cloud – again, no problem – however if there are thunder storms/heavy rain you can get some hairy turbulence. In this case the plane will detect ‘windshear’ and the plane will probably go around..

The go around – A ‘go around’ is what the pilot will do if for any reason he (or the air traffic controller) is not happy. On approach, you’ll hear the engines suddenly spool up to take off revs and you’ll pull up., (usually) followed by a right turn, although this is dependent on the airport, flaps will go back in and the pilot will join the circuit (the road in the sky around the airport) again. I’ve had this before when there was still traffic on the runway – believe it or not planes won’t actually land on each other – or in the last time this happened, there was some work equipment slow to leave the runway so the pilot went around to be on the safe side. ‘Go arounds’ do happen, so don’t be frightened if this happens to you.

Dual redundancy – If something is safety critical on a plane, there’ll be two of them. And they work at the same time.. for example the hydraulics. If one fails, there are other identical circuits working side by side that will automatically take over.

And finally, one thing that made my wife suddenly feel better, was when she realised ‘ the pilot doesn’t want to crash either’. It sounds silly, but she’d never really thought that before.

If anyone wants to know anything else, just shout.. and as a disclaimer, although I think I know a fair amount about aircraft, I can’t say I’m an authority – if you need to find something out, do your own research!!!

cjc3001

You described my exact feelings about flying in your OP ilikedrawing!

I too am a wreck for the few days before I take a flight, once I'm up in the air about 10 minutes into the flight I'm fine, and I LOVE landing, as it means I'm nearly off!

I always visit my doctor about a week before I fly, and get prescribed beta blockers - these accompanied with some rescue remedy & herbal travel sickness pills works for me - I've also read quite a few books on fear of flying which has entirely taken away my fear of turbulence & all of the rest - for me it's more about a loss of control & the worry that if I freak out I can't get off!

Which I would like to add, has never happened so I definitely worry less about this than I used to!

Good luck - just keep focussed on how much of an achievement it will feel when you get off at the other end!