I'll say it: I'm afraid of flying. And I'm not the only one. Up to 1 in 6 adults are afraid of flying in some way. I don't think it's a reasonable thing to be afraid of. When I think about getting on a commercial plane, all of my analytical and logical skills go right out the window. The most amazing thing is that I've always been able to fly. My dad has a small plane, and every weekend we would fly it.
I was a preteen when I had an aborted takeoff on a commercial flight. It didn't scare me at the time, but when I found out it had been in the local news, I thought it might have been a bigger deal than I thought (it wasn't, but I was a preteen). I also started to realise that I wouldn't live forever and that I'm a control freak who doesn't like putting my life in the hands of pilots I don't know.
But I'm slowly getting over my fears and back to a place in my mind where I'm not afraid. It's taking me a long time, but every day I get better.
The first thing I do is get a big picture of the inside of a commercial plane (preferably one I'll be flying in soon) and put it as the background on my computer desktop. So, every time I turn on my computer, I look forward as if I were a passenger on an aeroplane. At first, this worked so well that it would make my heart beat faster and my breathing faster. I'm now used to seeing that picture, so it doesn't bother me anymore.
I also like to watch videos of planes taking off and landing that I find on the Internet. My favourite videos are the ones shot from inside the plane, looking out the window at the wing, hearing the roar of the engines, and seeing the ground disappear beneath the plane as it takes off. By watching these videos while sitting in my recliner with headphones on, I can feel like I'm on a plane taking off without actually being on it. I can get used to the sights and sounds that I usually see and hear.
I've found a few helpful online courses for people who are afraid of flying. As my flight gets closer, I use them a lot, and I've bought every book I could find on how to get over a fear of flying. I always have them with me and often read them.
I don't watch news clips or specials about plane crashes. Plane crashes get a lot of attention in the news because they don't happen very often. That also means they tell that horrible story over and over again to scare people who don't know what's going on.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that your chances of dying in a plane crash range from 1 in 400,000 to 1 in 10 million, depending on the airline you're flying. When you're locked in a steel tube with no way to get out until AFTER you've gone through takeoff, landing, and turbulence, those numbers don't mean anything to someone who has a real fear of flying.
I know I need help, and I'm trying to look at flying again in a way that makes sense. I hope to get a little better with each trip. If you have a similar fear, I recommend that you look at the different online resources and get more professional help if your fears are so strong that you can't get over them on your own. It's ok. We can get through this and learn to enjoy (or at least put up with) this way of getting around so that we can go on that awesome trip, visit family, or do the work for that great job.
