Many people have a fear of flying and I feel some are justified and some are just silly. There are people who are afraid of heights, claustrophobic, have panic attacks, stomach issues (or other medical issues), or merely had a traumatic issue on a previous flight which can make them nervous about flying again. These are all understandable and legitimate reasons to have a fear of flying.
However, there is another who group of people who are afraid to fly based on hearing about other people’s bad flights. Heck, it might not even be the actual flight that was the issue on their trip. It could be that they got stuck overnight like we did in Dallas without even a change of clothes during a Horrible 24 Hour Experience on American Airlines.
Yes, it’s annoying and inconvenient to be delayed or have a flight cancelled, but to be afraid that something bad might happen to me seems like a senseless reason to not fly. Sorry, but that is just my opinion. If something happens, you just deal with it. It’s part of the experience of flying and a risk you take. Just try to be as well prepared as you can.
We always try to make sure we have extra snacks, water, reading materials etc. Since we usually have carry-on luggage, we have our clothes and toiletries with us. Saves us a lot of worry. If you do check your bags, just make sure to have extra clothes and toiletries with you. You may be unconvinced, but fine. We learned this from the above mentioned nightmare trip.
The other thing I hear a lot is “What is the plane crashes?” Well, I can understand that fear but in actuality, plane crashes are extremely rare, and so they usually get an enormous amount of media coverage. Many people developed a fear of flying, at least temporarily, in response to the terrorism of September, 2001. However, based on statistics, we are safer in a plane than we are in a car driving to and from work every day. I’ll take that chance, plus no chance of road rage, lol.
Again I feel that you can’t live your life in fear of what might happen. I know 9/11 was horrible and it instilled a fear of flying in many people. Maybe I just have a different take on it. The way I see it is, if we were to crash mid-flight as we were off heading to some fun destination or returning from a great vacation, we were doing something fun. Either way, it also means it was our time. It just happened to come with a few hundred other people.
I am not trying to make light of the situation, I just don’t want to let fear of flying stop me from seeing some of the amazing places I want to see. I don’t want it to keep me from doing things I want to do. We are not here forever, and I want to see and do as much as I can before we “Kick the Bucket” so to speak.
Don’t let fear hold you back. Sorry if this offends someone out there, but I think if you are on this site you are probably not afraid to fly. Either way, these are just my opinions. Enjoy traveling however you get from point A to point B,
Happy Travels. I know we won’t stop anytime soon!
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Wow George, that sounds like a LOT. I can see why it can create anxiety and fear. So many scary instances. So crazy, but like you said, when you’re military, you have to get on those planes. I’ve had a few scary instances myself but nothing like any of that. We did miss a landing strip once in Ontario, CA due to crazy high winds. Had to pull up and try 3 times before we landed. Wasn’t real scary, just weird and wondering what would happen if we skidded off and hit a building, etc. It’s amazing what those pilots deal with every day. I also hear there are some airports they refuse to land at. Not sure if this is true, but something I heard once. Anyway, safe travels on future adventures.
In my younger days, I always enjoyed flying and even strong turbulence never bothered me, but my fear of flying developed over time for a number of scary instances. Taking off in a jet from a Caribbean island, one of the engines failed and we ran off the runway into a field nearly ditching in the ocean. The plane was brought back, maintenance worked on it and after reboarding the captain said he was going to give it another try. Then on a military 12 passenger fixed wing plane, we encountered a severe storm and the plane’s engines stalled and we descended with warning horns blaring until the pilot was able to restart the engines once more and we regained altitude. Another trip was in a helicopter when the pilot told us over the ear phones that there light went on indicating a fuel leak and told us to look around on the floor for any fuel leakage. We made an emergency landing to be told it was a warning light malfunction. Another plane landing we hit a wind shear turning the plane and we danced around from one wheel to another until the pilot got us stabilized before running out of runway. The copilot admitted to me that is was real dicey. Lastly, on another military plane we were flying in fog and at the last minute went into a very steep climb and through a little clearing we saw a mountain side coming up fast that we narrowly avoided. After those encounters and a few others, I always started thinking about what was going to happen on my next flight and fear grew each time, but with the military you just have to get on those planes.
I don’t know about pilots refusing, but there are a few airports here and there where only pilots with special training are allowed to land or take off, places with narrow margins of ocean and mountain or special wind conditions. My general thought is that I’d just as soon go somewhere else…
I’m not really afraid of flying—just skeptical. For all the times I’ve flown, there is always that moment, heading down the runway, when I’m sure that this huge thing simply cannot get off the ground, that no plane can really fly, and in a minute we’re going to be headed back to the terminal….and then I look down and realize we DID get off the ground…