Fear Of flying ...

[Easy 10]

Given my experience with OnurAir last night, I could happily never take another flight.

 

[pasty]

Try and get a seat above the black box.

Thats another thing. If the black box is supposedly indestructable, why don't they make aeroplanes out of the same stuff eh ?

 

[Easy 10]

Because black airplanes would look menacing.

 

[Domsdad]

Can anyone explain to me why - when seats have already been allocated - people rush to be at the front of the queue to board a plane?

Because most of them have hand luggage big enough to hold a family of Albanians and they know they need to get to the overhead lockers first.

 

[METALMICKY]

Got back from New York on Sunday and the other half has a serious fear of flying. Bottom line is that not that many people totally get over their fear but people have varying coping strategies.

For my girlfriend it was Diazepam (3 x 10mg) doses over the course of the 6-7 hour flight. It worked pretty well but you have to time your ingestion periods and it may be different for different people. Booze should be avoided and it just makes you a little spaced for 5 mins after taking but it does not knock you out and just relaxes you.

Some doctors also precribe Beta blockers or even very small doses of sleeeping tablets for short 2-3 hours trips.

For the long term girlfriend is having hypnotherapy but at this stage i can't really givev an assessment as to how effective that might be.

For me, my biggest problem is boredom and the fact that i just can't sleep on a plane.

 

[pasty]

Because black airplanes would look menacing.

 

[Yorkie]

Got back from New York on Sunday and the other half has a serious fear of flying. Bottom line is that not that many people totally get over their fear but people have varying coping strategies.

For my girlfriend it was Diazepam (3 x 10mg) doses over the course of the 6-7 hour flight. It worked pretty well but you have to time your ingestion periods and it may be different for different people. Booze should be avoided and it just makes you a little spaced for 5 mins after taking but it does not knock you out and just relaxes you.

Some doctors also precribe Beta blockers or even very small doses of sleeeping tablets for short 2-3 hours trips.

For the long term girlfriend is having hypnotherapy but at this stage i can't really givev an assessment as to how effective that might be.

For me, my biggest problem is boredom and the fact that i just can't sleep on a plane.

That's a high dose of Valium. I take 3 x 2mg. No wonder I still get the jitters with turbulence. Maybe I should ask the doctor to up the dose.

 

[Adam Virgo's Shirt]

What I want to know is why does turbulence only happen just when they have served you with tea/coffee which they have filled to the brim of the cup??!!

Either you get burned when you inevitably spill it or you get burned trying to drink it quick

 

[Easy 10]

Pasty - they should launch one of those babys and bomb the entire Onur Air fleet before it ever gets off the ground again. Hideous airline.

 

[bhaexpress]

Because black airplanes would look menacing.

Hugh Hefner's personal Boeing 727 known as 'The Big Bunny' was black save the Playboy logo on the tail, that didn't look very scary. Anyway Black Boxes are bBright orange (hence fly Easyjet).

 

[Gazwag]

Can anyone explain to me why - when seats have already been allocated - people rush to be at the front of the queue to board a plane? All that happens is that you get to your seat in time for dozens of people to be milling around you, looking for their seats, or leaning over you, looking for space in an overhead locker.

And why do people stand up and start retrieving their hand baggage from the overhead racks as soon as the plane comes to a standstill after landing? Does this make your bag reach the carousel any earlier?

Last on, last off is my watchword. It's so much calmer.

and, despite being told not to switch on mobile phones until inside the terminal 75% of people have to do so as they are standing up to do the above, after hours of non contact surely they can wait ten more minutes.

 

[Icy Gull]

Is anyone else stupid enough to stop watching the in flight entertainment or to stop reading their book/magazine and keep looking around and out the window to check that all is OK once a patch of turbulence is encountered. Can't help doing it and know it's fecking ridiculous. Like I can do anything about it anyway

 

[portlock seagull]

Jesus. I'm so with you on this one and boy do I sympathise. I'm in Canada on holiday currently and though flight over wasn't too bad, I dread them. I've got better with age but the fear is still there the minute the plane rises. I endure rather than enjoy flying; something I don't let prevent me going places (been to Australia, New Zealand, Far East and America) but it's never easy for me. Lots of advice will tell you not to, but I really do find a beer and a whisky calms me a bit; it's all part of my little pre-flight ritual these days. But really flying isn't RATIONALE so I've stopped bothering trying to tell myself 'there's nothing to fear' and concentrated on coping mechanisms like distractions (good film, book, the Daily Telegraph usually kills the 1st hour and a half etc). If you suffer from Vertigo like me then it's a double wammy. Don't get me wrong, I love depths and have done plenty of dives inc some big big sharks in places like Fiji which many people just can't understand me wanting to do. But y'day, going up the CN Tower in Toronto was possibly the most scary experience of my life. My t-shirt was literally soaking and I had to come straight back down I was shaking so much. Still I had a go, just wasn't for me. I guess we all have our fears and they're all different.

 

[Emily's Mum]

Up until 2003 I had a complete fear of flying. I would be dragged to majorca every year by the family & would have at least 10 panic attacks on the way there & on the way back. I had to be last on the plane, I had to supervise the door being shut & I had to be helped into my seat. I also had to be helped off at the other end.
However, in 2003 I booked a fear of flying course through Virgin & went to their training centre near gatwick one Sunday. The morning session was all about how a plane flies, what all the noises mean & why it doesn't just drop out of the sky. They also told us as much as they can about what they do to prevent terrorists getting on & what they do with 'naughty' passengers. You are allowed to ask as many questons as you like, no matter how silly you think they are.

The afternoon is taken up with a mind over matter session with a fully trained pysco sort of person. Through this session I realised that I felt the need to be in control - ie, I preferred to drive than be a passenger.

It cost £150, but it is the best £150 I have ever spent. That summer I went to Florida & in the August I flew with Emily to our game at Plymouth. before then my husband would never have allowed me to be in charge of a child on a plane. I can now fly on my own AND look out of the window!

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Flying is extremely safe. Right, i'm off to watch Aircrash Investigation on National Geographic now..............

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

My plane got hit by lightening (right by me!) and i'm still here!

A LOT has to go wrong for an accident to happen. I'm not the best with flying - especially with taking off / landing - but think to where you are going. I know it may sound really stupid - but close your eyes and visualise that place - you sitting in the sun etc. It really helps me with my fears.

 

[sunshine]

I am not bothered about flying whatsoever, infact i am flying to Cuba on tuesday and can't wait.

A lot of people are scared of flying and i know some people who refuse to get on a plane. One of my mates had some course thing to conquer the fear and it worked though they refuse to travel long haul but at least it helped.

 

[Questions]

That's a high dose of Valium. I take 3 x 2mg. No wonder I still get the jitters with turbulence. Maybe I should ask the doctor to up the dose.

Its always 3 x 10mg for me with a few pints and a couple of glasses of red on the flight. Am flying to the States this weekend and I could not get on a plane without a bit of help. Mind you I wont be driving or operating heavy machinery.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Interesting things, phobias. As others have said, they do not respond to rationality. All flying phobics must know that, per passenger km travelled, it's actually the safest way to get about.

My rationale? We are all going to die at some point anyway. Dying in an air crash is a wonderfully spectacular way to go. It guarantees you fame, horrorstruck sympathy from millions of more ordinary people following the guaranteed worldwide coverage, plus mega floral tributes at the crash site. And, it doesn't hurt either - well, not after the first three milliseconds. And, oh yeah, almost forgot - humungous insurance payouts for your grieving loved ones.

After all that, why would anyone choose instead to endure a long, lingering, painful, old-age death from some mundane illness that anyone can get? That's for losers, that's the death of a nobody. Air crash death is a privilege that's sadly granted only to a select one in several hundred million people.

So, don't shrink from flight. Be glad that you might finally, against all odds, achieve your 15 minutes of fame. Go fly! Embrace the Challenge!

[ But you'll probably only end up landing safely in Luton, just like everyone else does... ]

 

[Yorkie]

My plane got hit by lightening (right by me!) and i'm still here!

I had that in 82 flying back from Cyprus.