Fear of Flying

[Fogducker]

Here's an anomaly I love flying and have a pilot's license, (Floats, wheels, skis and gliders) but I hate heights or even seeing high stuff on TV like that guy changing a light bulb on top of that 1/4 mile high TV antenna really bothers me. I guess it takes all kinds to make a world. Oh yeah, lots of good advice in prior posts!

Fog

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Could you trade your tickets for Amtrak tickets?

If only it worked that way..... I don't like flying any more (more than 900K worth of business and personal travel logged). A few years ago my brother had a medical crisis in Michigan and needed help. Flying was out of the question, due to the open-ended schedule. I tried hard to make Amtrak work. The best I could do was driving five hours either north or south to catch the train, leave my car parked for weeks, and then take 38 hours to get from Idaho to Detroit. All for about $1400 each way.

I drove 30 hours in three days, and spent less than half of that $$ amount round trip, including hotels, gas and meals on the road. Plus I had MY car (and stuff) with me on the other end, saving a rental.

[DoryDavis]

I've never thought the statistic is completely accurate, saying flying is safer than driving. Yes, if you choose to drive or fly between Point A to point B, flying is safer. But how many trips do we take by airplane, that we would never have taken were the only choice a car.
My point is though airplanes are safe (I do believe this, though safe doesn't preclude scary), most people travel miles on airplanes they wouldn't have traveled at all, if not for that option. That tilts the "safer" statistic.
Anyway I worked for years at a job where I flew 2-3 times per month. No more flying for me. Driving lets me keep my own schedule, not rent a car a the other end, bring my guitar safely, etc..

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by DoryDavis

I've never thought the statistic is completely accurate, saying flying is safer than driving. Yes, if you choose to drive or fly between Point A to point B, flying is safer. But how many trips do we take by airplane, that we would never have taken were the only choice a car.
My point is though airplanes are safe (I do believe this, though safe doesn't preclude scary), most people travel miles on airplanes they wouldn't have traveled at all, if not for that option. That tilts the "safer" statistic.
Anyway I worked for years at a job where I flew 2-3 times per month. No more flying for me. Driving lets me keep my own schedule, not rent a car a the other end, bring my guitar safely, etc..

Probably not. “Safety” is more precisely calculated per mile travelled; so even though we laypeople talk in a generic way about number of deaths per year for each mode of travel, articles that are intended for a professional audience (like insurance actuaries) use death and/or injuries per miles travelled, and they make use of numbers in aggregate. And I am pretty sure that such articles and such statistics are the original basis for the claim that flying is safer than driving. What does this mean in terms of actual application? If you and 9 of your friends drive a total of 1000 mikes in a particular week and I fly 500 miles each way (1000 miles round trip) to go to a conference for that week, you or one of your friends is more likely to die that week. Sure, all of us could stay at home and reduce the risk further; we could also take only one shower each week and reduce our risk of death by falling. And i could throw away my coffeemaker and just pop No Doze, thereby reducing my risk of dying in a fire in my home.

I think you get my drift: we all do things that are unnecessary that increase our risk of death. But most of our decisions are not driven by risk data and an appreciation of actual risk. We usually do things without much regard for risk. But if we have a fear (often exaggerated for reasons that, again, don’t pertain to risk), we avoid doing it...and then justify the avoidance by discussing risk (often, in ways that are inaccurate).

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

Here's an anomaly I love flying and have a pilot's license, (Floats, wheels, skis and gliders) but I hate heights or even seeing high stuff on TV like that guy changing a light bulb on top of that 1/4 mile high TV antenna really bothers me. I guess it takes all kinds to make a world. Oh yeah, lots of good advice in prior posts!
Fog

Heights with sheer drops make my toes curl. What have I done about it? I took up technical rock climbingI My toes still curl when I look over a cliff, but I came to grips with heights.

Flying is another matter. I flew a plane before I drove a car.

Bob

[rmoretti49]

I am a psychologist who treats anxiety disorders. The treatment of choice for a phobia, which is what you have, is a therapy called systematic desensitization. Look it up. It is pretty straightforward.

Some of the major airlines also used to offer programs. Don't know if they still do.


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[raysachs]

I more or less got over this fear 30 plus years ago when I was stuck at O’Hare airport for a few hours once. Where I was sitting I had a perfect view of both incoming and outgoing flights as they landed and took off. After a couple hours of seeing SO FREAKING MANY planes coming in and going out, all right in a line and in an orderly fashion, I was cured. At that point I sort of internalized the idea that even if there was a major air disaster EVERY DAY, my odds of getting caught in one would be infinitesimally small. And obviously there are very very few air disasters even every decade.

Since then it just doesn’t phase me. I mean, fear of flying is quite rational and it’s probably in the back of my mind, but that’s pretty much where it stays now.

[dekutree64]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I more or less got over this fear 30 plus years ago when I was stuck at O’Hare airport for a few hours once. Where I was sitting I had a perfect view of both incoming and outgoing flights as they landed and took off. After a couple hours of seeing SO FREAKING MANY planes coming in and going out, all right in a line and in an orderly fashion, I was cured. At that point I sort of internalized the idea that even if there was a major air disaster EVERY DAY, my odds of getting caught in one would be infinitesimally small. And obviously there are very very few air disasters even every decade.

Since then it just doesn’t phase me. I mean, fear of flying is quite rational and it’s probably in the back of my mind, but that’s pretty much where it stays now.

Exactly. There are many layers of safety in commercial aviation. Not everyone has to do their job perfectly. It takes several failures all at once to actually cause a crash. Obviously it can happen, but if you keep it in perspective, it should be a relatively small concern.

But phobias aren't really about rationality. Either you choose to suffer through the panic attack, or you take a land vehicle, or you stay home and miss out.

Rationality can help deal with the panic attack, though. Just think of it as being drugged by your own traitorous adrenal gland Unpleasant, but it's only a chemical effect and it will wear off later.

[RussL30]

Well I have my flight booked. It’s going to be on a Delta Airbus A320 flying into JFK. I would’ve much preferred going to Newark after doing research but I’m not having to pay so I don’t have any say so. I’m glad it’s not LaGuardia. The return flight I’m told will be on United and on some type of Boeing which I assume would be the 737.

The A320 seems to have a good safety record so hopefully it’ll be smooth. Now I have 3 and a half months to prepare myself.

[Kerbie]

Excellent! The 320 is a great plane and is very comfortable in the back. Hope you enjoy...

And JFK is a usually little easier for pilots than LGA... the runways are much longer.

[nacluth]

Saw this. Thought it might be helpful.

Overcoming fear of flying

[RussL30]

Well I’m gong to be flying out to NYC on Wednesday morning. Any last minute advice on surviving this? The closer I get the more anxiety I feel followed temporary moments of thinking it’s going to be ok

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by RussL30

Well I’m gong to be flying out to NYC on Wednesday morning. Any last minute advice on surviving this? The closer I get the more anxiety I feel followed temporary moments of thinking it’s going to be ok

Just keep reminding yourself of how many times you’ve mindlessly gotten in your call for some small errand in the time since you started worrying about this. And that the odds of something terrible happening are considerably higher in every one of those little car trips than on your flight. Little tricks like that probably won’t eliminate your phobia, but they can help you get through it.

Good luck...

[Kerbie]

Wishing you the best, Russ! The odds are overwhelmingly in your favor, so relax and enjoy the spectacular view!

[Ozzy the dog]

It's been about ten years since we were in NY but you might want to look into relaxing on the World Yacht Dinner Cruise from Pier 81. Great food, great scenery and excellent service (or at least it was then).