Dealing With The Fear of Flying

Hi there,

It’s so good to be with you again. I can’t tell you how much am beginning to enjoy running this blog. It is like watching a baby grow! So let’s dive in

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that not everyone loves to fly like I do. Many people have a deep and morbid fear of getting on an airplane. I have an uncle who lives in Southern Europe and who hates flying with a passion. According to him, his greatest wish is that someone sets up a bus company which operates on the route to West Africa, he says he knows many people who would happily patronize the service even though it would likely take several days and involve crossing the vast, barren expanse of the formidable Sahara desert. He talks with envy about Algerians and other immigrants from North Africa who due to the proximity of their home countries, can visit their home countries frequently by bus without going through the “terror” of flying. I also have a close friend who has put off several holidays as well as business trips simply because they required a few hours of flight. He describes the sheer terror he feels in the days leading up to any flights he has to take. According to him, once he purchases his flight tickets and confirms his travel plans, his sense of anxiety begins to grow and in the hours leading up to the flight, the anxiety rapidly transforms to panic – a debilitating, almost uncontrollable panic which makes it extremely difficult to complete boarding formalities. His terror and panic persist throughout the flight and only ebbs away once the aircraft has touched down at its destination. I also know other persons who can only get through the “ordeal” of flying by popping sleeping pills or throwing back large amounts of alcohol.

I look at them with a mixture of pity and amusement, their irrational fear has robbed them of the pleasure of experiencing the wonder of one of humanity’s greatest achievements. But I realize that the fear of flying is a very real thing.

If you are afraid of flying, this post is for you. So pay close attention and note the following tips.

1.      Learn about how an aircraft works and how it is able to take off and remain aloft. Note that the airplane is one of mankind’s greatest inventions till date. Airplanes are built with multiple redundancies which means that in the event of a failure of any component(s), there is always a backup which will ensure that the aircraft can continue to operate safely.

2.      Turbulence!! Ah yes, that spine chilling bumping and rocking motion which feels like an invisible giant has grabbed the aircraft in its large paws and is shaking it violently in order to tear it apart. Turbulence is caused by differences in air pressure, much like a boat passing through rough waters or a car passing through bumpy spots on the road. If you’ve flown a couple of times you’re likely to have experienced it, I remember once I was aboard a British Airways overnight flight from London Heathrow to Abuja, Nigeria. It’s a 6hour flight but about two hours into the flight and (am guessing) somewhere over the Mediterranean, we encountered considerable turbulence which lasted for about two hours. As the aircraft was tossed and buffeted high up in the night sky, an elderly lady seated next to me literally fell apart, highly distraught; she was convinced that we would crash, she beseeched God and begged for mercy, wailing and blaming her children who persuaded her to visit them in the United Kingdom despite her well known dislike for flying. I found it amusing but I did my best to comfort and reassure her. but honestly, I wasn’t bothered one bit (I mean by the turbulence and not by her discomfort), I focused on my inflight movie with my only annoyance being the fact that my drink kept spilling everywhere!!  Lol, you all need to relax because the truth is there have only been very few instances of an aircraft running into any serious problems due to turbulence. Yes, those babies are extremely well built!! They are designed to withstand forces that you will likely never see in an entire lifetime of flying. The turbulence cannot snap off the wings, I know it often feels like that especially when you sit by the windows near the wings and watch in horror as the plane is tossed around like a ship on stormy seas with the wings flexing and bending, but you must know that the major danger posed by turbulence is that passengers might spill their drinks or get tossed around the cabin! Yes! However, it is important to note that due to the tossing movements which occur during episodes of turbulence, it is possible for passengers who are unfastened to be thrown around and injured. This is however not a regular occurrence. Statistics show that of the roughly 800 million passengers who fly in the United States each year, only about 20 suffer injuries related to turbulence. This is why the “fasten seatbelts” signs are turned on and passengers encouraged to remain in their seats during bouts of turbulence. So next time you’re seated on an airplane, fasten your seat belt and relax, enjoy the flight and if you can, observe the changing scenery as it unfolds beneath you.

3.      Talk to the Cabin Crew! Cabin crew are usually trained to reassure and support nervous travelers. Flight attendants are not just there to dispense refreshments and ensure that passengers stow away their tray tables and place their seats in the upright position. Don’t be afraid to confide in the flight attendant about your fear of flying – its nothing to be ashamed of, really. They will usually be happy to come by during the flight to reassure you that the strange noises you hear are part of the aircraft’s normal operations.

4.      Avoid Alcohol! I know of several nervous flyers who down copious amounts of alcohol before a flight hoping to pass the time of flight in a semi drunken haze. Don’t do it!! At high altitudes with lower oxygen levels and different humidity levels than are obtainable on the ground, alcohol is twice as potent, meaning that you get drunk more easily. If you need to catch a connecting flight midway and your connection time is very short, there is a very real danger of missing your connecting flight due to impaired awareness – that’s a nightmare you really, honestly don’t want to be facing! Also, alcohol worsens dehydration which will leave you overall feeling crappy. On top of all this, if your destination is on a different time zone than your point of origin, the Alcohol will most likely worsen your jetlag and exhaustion. Now you really don’t want to battle excessive jetlag and additional exhaustion, so don’t do it! It would be more helpful if you practiced relaxation techniques such as slow breathing and meditation.

5.      Your fear really is irrational!! If you can, get a handle on it! Flying is one of the safest means of transport. Statistics show that you are far more likely to be involved in a fatal accident on your way to the airport than to die in a plane crash. You would also have to fly everyday for 22,000 years to be involved in an air crash. Conversely, there are an average of 5,000 deaths annually by drowning in swimming pools and beaches and 1,000 deaths annually due to bicycle accidents yet, these are activities most of us embark on regularly without missing a single heartbeat. If the fact that you are not in control of the aircraft is a major source of anxiety for you, consider the fact that it takes several years of expensive and rigorous flight training to obtain a Commercial Pilot’s license while it takes just a few weeks of practice and testing to obtain a driver’s licence. Additionally, all aircraft in the sky are constantly monitored via radio and radar and by flight control staff throughout the duration of the flight while car drivers can simply get behind the wheel and do whatever. Logically, you should far more afraid of driving or being driven in a car than flying in an airplane.

My personal tip for dealing with a fear of flying is simply to remember that once the airplane is airborne, everything is totally out of your control, all the worrying and fretting in all the entire galaxy will not make even a slight change to this simple fact. I reassure myself that behind the controls are highly trained professionals operating an extremely well – built piece of machinery and finally, If it’s a long haul flight, I dive into the inflight entertainment. Try it, and I hope it works for you!

If after all this, you’re still afraid of flying, then you might wish to seek professional counseling from a therapist. But hopefully, you’ve begun to kick off your irrational fear of flying. So go ahead and take that trip! There’s a whole wide world waiting for you to explore and discover.

So sound off in the comments box and tell us how you deal with your fear of flying.

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