Comments on: New Fears About ‘Flying the Friendly Skies’

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:52:48 +0000

It’s been several years ago that I was in a plane that prepared for a “crash landing”, we were given demos on how to prepare and we were told to get in position. for impact. It took 20 mins. to return to the original airport but we did land safely and it was the softest landing I had ever been in. We had to be pulled into the platform due to a malfunctioning landing gear. It took me 2 years before I flew again….. today, I turned around when I was half way to the airport because I was having a melt down. I could not bring myself to go to the airport let alone to think of flying and having to change flights. I had been anxious all week and just the thought of flying puts me makes me jittery. My physician prescribes Xanax for flying but it didn’t seem to help this time. I’ve heard all the arguments about how safe flying is and there is nothing to be scared of but when you have this fear it is so hard to overcome. I believe God is in control but I just cannot help this fear I have. I feel so guilty about it and so ashamed too.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:39:58 +0000

I have been a frequent flyer for many years and still I have anxiety, not because I’m scared of flying itself, but because I have a worked for a large corporations. Knowing how large corporations tend to act during economic downturns, they tend to exploit every possible financial situation to make their bottom lines appear as attractive as possible to their shareholders\investors. Airlines are no different and I know for a fact many if not most outsource critical maintenance functions to organizations and companies that claim they have all required certificates and maintenance personnel who are also certified. I cannot trust any company that thinks so little of their customers that they outsource such critical functions. This is a major contributor to my anxiety around flying. Also, you may have heard that some USA regional air carriers hire pilots at a starting wage as low as $20K per year. With that in mind – there is no way I can feel comfortable on a commuter airline or feeder that has that kind of pay plan nor can I feel good about who is up front. Would you want a surgeon to operate on you if you knew they made $20,000 a year and had a night job doing something else to make ends meet? Not to mention what I perceive is the rent-a-cop mentality of some of the TSA agents at the airport check in locations. It all adds up to me, a multi-million mile flyer not having any faith in the entire system from start to finish.

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:21:15 +0000

I am one of those fearful flyers. I really hate it. I am currently living in Belgium (my husband is on a military assignment) and don’t know if I’ll ever get back to the USA! I barely made it here. I hope there is a QM2 transatlantic crossing happening when we are due to leave. I honestly don’t know if I can get on a plane again, especially over the ocean. I pray there are no family emergencies in the next year that will require me to board a plane. I get sick and dizzy just thinking about it. It is causing me a great deal of stress

By: Vertilli

Vertilli — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:08:06 +0000

It’s silly to argue the odds of dying in a plane vs. a car. As with many issues facing people every day, they ignore the more pertinent details. In this case, survivability. Your chances of surviving an airline accident are far worse than your chances of survival of a car wreck. Thousands of people survive automobile accidents every day….not so for airline accidents…”Miracle on the Hudson” notwithstanding.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:57:22 +0000

I think another reason is because if you are involved in a plane crash, the likelihood of death is near 100%, whereas if you are involved in an car accident, the likelihood of death is less than 1%. Its not so much the crash, but the survivability of the crash that scary to some.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:33:50 +0000

The fear is real and uncontrollable. I am usually a xanax (or whever tranquilizer I can get from my doctor) and gin person as soon as I arrive at the airport and continue the gin in-flight. I have found that a little “herb” before leaving home helps quite a bit as well. However, I have not boarded an airplane since 2000. The turbulence, no matter how little it is, unnerves me. I have been on a few very, very turbulent flights, travel overseas and in the US, but I still can no longer put myself on an airplane.
This fear has now been reinforced and renewed even more…I have family and friends traveling from Sicily and Germany next week for a visit. Needless to say, all I do is worry about their flights.

By: turkeydance

turkeydance — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:22:12 +0000

realistic fear is not about loss of control. irrational fear is.
realistic fear is:
1. knowing that an accident in the air is Much Worse than one on the ground.
2. knowing that airplanes are a War Target. my car isn’t.
3. knowing that my really, really cheap ticket funds maintenance.
4. knowing that actuarial tables show “miles traveled” is an inadequate measure.
“minutes of exposure” is an apples-to-apples comparison. in other words….
how many minutes On The Highway vs. minutes In The Air? using that,
injuries are much higher with cars, deaths are just about equal for air.
5. finally, one should compare ticket-based ground travel to ticket-based air.
if one buys a ticket to ride or fly, then air travel, in terms of Death is Worse.

By: nperess

nperess — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:22:18 +0000

When will the bridge to Hawaii be completed?