FEAR OF FLYING
Many people have missed travel opportunities because of their fear of flying and most people do not know the reason why they have this fear. Understanding of some of the possible causes such as how does a large and heavy aeroplane manage to stay in the sky will help, or a fear of being closed in and unable to get out. Evidence states that you do not inherit your fear of flying from your parents but over anxious people can pass the problem to others.

Some people have a fear of flying because of problems they have encountered, a turbulent previous flight or technical problems causing delays before the flight. Air travel exposes you to sounds and experiences not encountered on the ground. Flying means travelling at 600 miles an hour but experiencing no feeling of speed whatsoever together with vertical and horizontal movements in turbulence.

Travelling at a height of 36,000 feet can cause severe anxiety if a person is scared of heights or is agoraphobic The situation in which we pass control to an unseen and unknown person can increase a fear of flying particularly in people used to being in control. Claustrophobics are scared of enclosed places and sitting in the cabin of an aeroplane with compact seating, narrow isles and sealed windows can make them feel trapped.

The media play a serious part in peoples fear of flying. There are so many television documentaries about crowded skies, overworked pilots and air traffic controllers, and graphically terrifying coverage of major air disasters. Even so, most people who have a fear of flying confess to watching every problem and disaster there is and even searching it out on the Internet.

Fear of flying is also caused by the actions of the crew once on board. The fact that they are required to demonstrate safety procedures gives the impression that flying is dangerous. Many people can’t cope with take-off at the point when lift-off is imminent and unavoidable. There is the roar of the engines and the noise of the undercarriage retracting and flaps being lifted but they may be surprised to know that take-off time is less than a minute. After take-off, fear of flying is increased when the pilot lowers the noise and decreases the power because it feels as though the engines have stopped and the aeroplane is floating.

If you are worried about flying, the following links may also be of interest to you:

After take-off some people that suffer from flying phobias can relax but for others the fear of aeroplanes continues. The sound of flight crew call bells can strike terror into people who imagine this to be a private signal to the crew that there are problems. In fact, one ding means the ‘Fasten seat belt’ sign going on or off and two dings means the crew need to talk to each other within the cabin through the internal telephone. There is nothing sinister about this, just normal procedures.

In fact flying is still the safest way to travel and statistically safer than crossing the road. The flight crew are subject to both regular and rigorous health checks and are highly trained in their profession.

Aircraft Maintenance Engineers first priority is safety and when a flight lands they are given the Technical Log so that any problems can be rectified, this could be something as small as a blocked sink. They also carry out a series of pre-flight checks before the aeroplane flies again.

So many competent people are involved in every flight, safety their prime concern. One aeroplane is taking off or landing every two seconds and millions of people are carried safely all over the world, every day of the year.

Try searching on the Internet for "fear of flying" and you will be amazed just how many pages are on offer. Try it for yourself by hitting the search button below!