Scared stiff of flying!!!

Dimple said:
:confused:
I watched a documentary about planes and even played it back to a couple of friends where it said they were held on with special glue.
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certain carbon fire parts are now glues such as stringers but most things are still bolted and use special fasteners.

but just remember Boeing are built shoddily lol, they have fewer planes than us but require more maintenance staff to keep them up.

be sensible take an airbus :p
 
Diazepam, I suppose statistics about death don't really matter, it's the fact that a plane crash is the worst way to die. So many incidents where the plane stalls and falls out of the sky or sets on fire turning into a giant crematorium where people know of their impending doom and linger for many minutes. A car or train crash on the other hand is something that happens in an instant, no where near as bad. That's what creates the fear I think. Between a higher chance of instant death, and a lower chance of an horrific nightmare experience I know which I'd choose any day.
 
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No point in being scared, if anything happens to the plane mid flight then you're probably going to die regardless of whether you're scared or not. Might as well get a seat next to the window and enjoy the view, if the unlikely happens you can't do anything anyway so why worry.
 
OP, check your email.

No point in telling people not to be scared of flying. If you're scared of flying, you're scared of flying. It's a phobia, otherwise known as pteromerhanophobia.

You may as well tell an arachnophobic to stop being scared of spiders.
 
Really? One of the best way to combat fears is to face them is it not?

cm1179 said:
as a person who will be in the air for nearly 30 hours in total between this wednesday and friday. this is very reassuring. but **** it, if anything does go wrong, atleast it will be quick!
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Depends on how you crash land and if you're burning etc :p
 
Flying..Your scared of flying..Why?

Crashing..Now thats something to be scared of.

Actually it's the transition between flying and crashing thats the scary bit..

Falling
 
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mrk said:
Really? One of the best way to combat fears is to face them is it not?
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What I'm saying is you can't rationalise it.

I've been facing this fear I have for years, and it's done nothing to alleviate it. It's not like you can be scared of flying, force yourself on to a flight and then go "yes, I did it, cured, there was nothing to worry about!". No, you spend every moment in fear and when you finally land you swear to yourself that you'll never do it again.
 
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I used to hate flying and always had irrational fears about the wing breaking or some Muppet opening the emergency exit at 40,000ft.

1. watch this video of them testing the wings on a plane to breaking point, there is no way that could happen mid air.

2. Due to the differences in cabin pressure and the outside pressure it is physically impossible to open the doors unless at a safe height.

I still get anxious now and then on flights but those two things helped me immensely. I think the key is to find the underlying fear and then address it as two people could be scared of flying for two very different reasons so there is no universal cure.

Failing that get absolutely hammered on the free drinks and you wont remember to be afraid!
 
I really enjoy flying, but still get a few butterflies during takeoff/landing.

However the most nervous I've ever been on a flight (and landing) was this: we were flying back from Alicante to Leeds, and about 10mins after take-off, the pilot announced that we were going to divert to Manchester due to a fault. Apparently after takeoff there was an issue with the gear lights. The tower confirmed that the gear had gone up ok, so they were fine to fly at the correct altitude, but there were no guarantee's that the gear would come down!!! Pilot said that Manchester had a much longer runway and larger emergency services in case there was no landing gear. The next 2.5hrs were a little squeaky-bum.

Landed at Manchester without issue, spent 90mins with engineers boarding/leaving, then we took off for the 10min hop over to Leeds. The prep for landing at Leeds was horrendous - got caught in traffic and spent nearly an hour circling the inner markers, only time I've ever looked out the window and not been able to see any sky, we were banking that much.

Fear of flying is a difficult one. People can spout the safety statistics all they want and it won't make you feel better. Look at it this way, you're almost certain to be fine, but if anything goes wrong at least you'll make the news :)
 
I would have no fear of flying if I was allowed to service and inspect the aircraft before flight and allowed in the cockpit to monitor what is happening.

My fear is not of flying it is a fear of the uselessness of the engineers and aircrew that operate them.
 
Lysander said:
What I'm saying is you can't rationalise it.

I've been facing this fear I have for years, and it's done nothing to alleviate it. It's not like you can be scared of flying, force yourself on to a flight and then go "yes, I did it, cured, there was nothing to worry about!". No, you spend every moment in fear and when you finally land you swear to yourself that you'll never do it again.
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That's more a case of your own situation being the exception than the rule though. If it's like that then you need to seek alternative methods to help because it's something more deeply psychological.

MOOGLEYS said:
I would have no fear of flying if I was allowed to service and inspect the aircraft before flight and allowed in the cockpit to monitor what is happening.

My fear is not of flying it is a fear of the uselessness of the engineers and aircrew that operate them.
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I don't understand why, well I do but I don't understand why you'd feel this way because it doesn't make rational sense :p Aircraft undergo some of the strictest inspections and rigorous testing there is. Human error is inevitable and will happen everywhere but it's least likely to happen on an aircraft.
 
I don't understand why, well I do but I don't understand why you'd feel this way because it doesn't make rational sense Aircraft undergo some of the strictest inspections and rigorous testing there is. Human error is inevitable and will happen everywhere but it's least likely to happen on an aircraft.
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I spent 16 years as an Aircraft Engineer and have seen some of the people that Fix and Fly Aeroplanes and tbh would not trust some of them changing a wheel on my car. Civilian Aircraft also do not undergo the same routines as military aircraft and for me to feel safe they need to.
 
cm1179 said:
yeh cheers pal. i fly on wednesday. :(
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You will be fine. Flying is safe far safer than driving and even if by bad luck you do crash you have a good chance of surviving anyway. Just make sure you pay attention to the safety brief and make a mental note of where the exit is and the best way to get there.

Thousands of flights occur daily without incident.
 
On my second ever flight it was delayed for several hours on the ground before they announced that "Ladies and Gentlement we are delayed due to problems with the engine but hope to be taking off soon". I don't think it had quite the calming effect they were looking for... or perhaps it had exactly the effect they were looking for ;)

As has been pointed out flying is one of the safest forms of transport. Everytime there is an unfortunate accident it is analysed in minute detail and preventative measures put in place. So I'd highly recommend watching every episode of Aircrash Confidential just before taking off which will show you a huge range of failures and just how they think they have may have prevented them in the future **













** Don't do this :)
 
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