Turbulence is a problem for several reasons. We all know that if we can keep something out of mind, it won't upset us. Thus, one commonly used strategy for flight anxiety is to get on the plane and keep the mind focused on other things. That isn't possible during takeoff, because takeoff is so dynamic. But at least that is brief. And once it is over, it is over and the person can get back to focusing on something other than the fact that they are in a situation where they have no control and no escape.

But turbulence also can intrude. When it does, again the person has to confront where they are and don't want to be. If the only way a person knows to deal with anxiety is to keep something out of mind, obviously turbulence is going to be a major problem, particularly because the person doesn't know how long it will last.

Even when a flight is smooth, a person could worry whether it will remain smooth.

The other problem is that emotions are triggered by mental processes on the right side of the mind. The right side is very visual in its orientation, and is involved in mental processes that involve intuitive logic, not sequential logic. The left brain, which does sequential logic, can understand Bernoulli's theorum which is about a sequence of events that causes the wing to produce lift.

Meanwhile, the right brain simply sees nothing holding the plane up; intuition says it is going to fall, and that alarms the amygdala (the part of the brain that triggers the release of stress hormones). If the right brain could grasp the Bernoulli information, anxiety might not develop, but the left brain may not be able to balance out the right brain's alarm.

What I've found works for my fear of flying clients is to teach them a way of conceptualizing Bernoulli that is visual, and also to have them train the amygdala - behaviorally through association of flight with a moment of empathic attunement with another person (which the amygdala recognizes as safe) - to not react to the various things that happen during flight.

Hi all, first post here, its SO nice to find like minded people all with similar worries!

I was always a frequent flyer from the age of 1 - 24 until I was in a decompression coming home from Ibiza 3 years ago, I still find this extremely hard to talk about, and still have nightmares and flashbacks of the incident even now. (At the time of the decompression, the tannoy didnt work on the plane to let us now what was happening so we basically sat there with the oxygen masks on rapidly descending into the unknown!)... Of course, the pilot handled the situation perfectly and we were safe!

However, this incident has changed my whole life - but recently I have realised it cant do that. I managed to fly to the Maldives last year for our honeymoon - I was a mess! I cried for 10 hours solid there and back...!

I have recently been promoted and my new job means that I have to fly a fair bit - to Europe, Canada, and around the UK - gggggreat! I was flying back from Portugal a few months ago alone and had a HUGE panic attack as we began to descend - I basically started screaming and the stewardess had to come and drag me out of my sit and got me to sit in the back with them - I was so embarassed!!

I am prescribed 5mg Diazepam but am so on edge that although they put me in a different state of mind, I am always worried. I am determined to conquer my fear this year - I am going to Turkey a week today - Canada alone in 7 weeks - Spain in 11 weeks and down to Southampton a few times also... I can only hope that the more I fly without incident, then the more likely I am to understand that I am in a safe place - I have now got sweaty palms after writing this post! Sorry its so long!

welcome to HT After a bit of scare one flight we had, I suddenly began to panic badly on my next flights. I am a frequent flyer and I knew that I had no need to panic, but you just can't help it. I was recommended Bachs Rescue Remedy. It worked I was never sure if it had actually cured me, or if it was psychological though. A year or so ago I recommended it to someone who had not flown in years, and not even the thought that she could visit her daugher and grandchildren in Ireland could make her fly. When I told her about Rescue Remedy she decided to try to fly. I have to say she was a bit of a wreck leading up to the flight- but she got through the flight with no worries and has never looked back.

Thanks Linsi and Darren for your replies - which only just read! Sorry.

I'm gonna definitely have to look into some kind of counselling/hypnotherapy or something -
really would love to fly again and feel I'm losing out on so much.

Will have to so some searching online - unless anyone has any websites/contacts
I could look into?? Any help would be appreciated.

Oh, and glad you managed to overcome your fear Linsi - well done. Hope I can too.It helps having someone there to help/support you - but unfortunately not lucky enough to have that at mo.

Last time I flew 5 year ago (when had partner) I like you had to just sit and close eyes
as would panick massively when aisle was blocked. Could never cope with a 3 hr sit on the plane though! Aaaarrrrgggh. The thought of it.

Hi all.

I am, obviously a fearful flyer. Never really liked it, and this has worsened as I have gotten older. Due to to an unfortunate incident, although not flight related, in 2006 where we were caught up in forest fires in Halkidiki - me being 10 weeks pregnant at time, and having to be flown home on an emergency flight, I have become even more nervous about flying, guess its the whole control thing, and one thing I want to be after Greece 2006 is "in control".....
We did go to Majorca in 08 as a way of "getting back on the horse" took our 16 month old little "forest fire survivor" with us, nice flight with Thomson, no probs on holiday, even managed the flight without a couple of stiff drinks beforehand, but it hasnt really boosted my morale.
I am flying at 7.20am with TC tomorrow from LBA . Now some info in this thread has been invaluable, like the explanation as to why the engines cut back once a certain altitude has been reached etc (in fact I'm printing that post out and taking it on the plane so I can read it and remember why that happens) but I hate the noises on Airbuses, it seems to be unique to them rather than Boeings - like a whirring/buzzing sound that is pronounced on take off - can anyone explain what that is? I'm also fairly worried about the whole Ash thing. I guess what really concerns me is how come the levels of acceptability in regards to the ash keep changing, have they really had the time to do proper tests and investigations into the tolerance level amendments, I of course fear that these amendments are born out of commercial pressure rather than science theory.

Any advice appreciated!!!!!!

izzy23,

Welcome onboard
I'm glad you've found this thread useful. The sound at take off is simply the noise the engines make when running at that particular power setting. It's nothing to worry about. There are several different manufacturers of aero engines and many different models. Each one makes a slightly different noise. I'll put my anorak on for a second, I can usual tell the aircraft type from the sound of the engine alone as some are very distinctive and it's that noise you are hearing at take off. Anorak off again! There's nothing to worry about with regards to ash. The ash levels are low at the moment, but even if they weren't, there's been a lot of research carried out by engine and aircraft manufacturures, the Civil Aviation Authority and many others to assess the risk of flying at the moment. The research has shown there is little risk from the ash cloud. If the risk was too great, aircraft would be grounded again. Strict regulations for assessing engines and airframes was put in place in order to make sure aircraft were 100% servicable and there are many checks done before a flight by the flight crew to ensure the aircraft and the route being flown is perfectly safe.

Have a great holiday

Darren

I watched a show on BBC the other week there about the AirFrance plane that 'disappeared' over the atlantic. They were discussing various reasons why it might of disappeared. One thing I want to ask about is what does it mean by the wings stalling?? I thought a plane couldn't fall out of the sky but apparently it can and quite quickly if the wings stall. Can anyone explain this to me?
Thanks

greenshoes,

A stall in it's basic form is a situation where air flowing over the wing(s) is interupted and therefore they don't generate enough lift to maintain flight. This mainly happens when the aircraft is flying too slow. I'll not go in to angle of attack etc to keep things simple. The theory with the AF477 incident is the aircraft had a problem with it's pitot tubes meaning the aircraft wouldn't know how fast it was going, or recorded an incorrect speed. There's little margin for error in the thin air at altitude so the theory is the aircraft was flying slower than it was required to maintain flight and it stalled, ie the aircraft slowed to a level where the wings didn't generate the required lift.

greenshoes wrote:

I thought a plane couldn't fall out of the sky

The laws of physics suggest otherwise unfortunately when something goes wrong.

Darren

Thank you, so this is pretty rare then? It was a very interesting tv show

greenshoes,

In commercial aviation, very. AF447 was the first loss of an A330. No one knows the cause as yet, everything is just theory based on the little information that is known. Investigation is ongoing and until the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are recovered, assuming the data is recoverable, it'll remain a theory.

Darren

Hey,

I'm scared of flying but am due to fly from Manchester to Palma on Saturday ......does anyone have an idea about the route? I'm getting very nervous about the prospect of turbulence if we fly over the Alps....will this be the case? :-s

Thanks!

clairestadz,

Your flight won't be routed over the Alps, that's out of the way realy. You may have been meaning the Pyrenees? Your flight will pass over this mountain range and you may experience an odd bump in the transit, but it's nothing to worry about and the flight crew will do what they can to minimise any turbulance onroute. You may not feel a thing depending on the weather on the day.

Darren

Hi Darren,

Thanks for your reply - yes I did mean the Pyrenees (talking about turbulence must have got my geography jumbled up!)

Do you know if pilots steer round any turbulence (if they can see it!) or just go through and ride out the bumps :-s

I'm on an A321 - are they generally quiet, 'nice' planes? With sturdy wings?! lol

Thanks again!

clairestadz,

Turbulance isn't something that can be seen and can happen at any time, however pilots will often know areas that are turbulant and avoid them if they can. This may simply be climbing or descend a little, but they'll do their best to give as smooth a ride as possible. Don't worry too much about it though. Even though it can feel a little uncomfortable, aircraft are designed to cope with the worst turbulance nature can thrown at them. The A321 is a very modern airliner, I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride. The wings are British designed and built, they won't fall off!

Darren

To Dazbo,

You have helped me many times in the past. We are flying to Sharm el Sheik on Tuesday with Thomsons and would really like to know what flight to expect, i.e. any turbulence etc.. Will we be flying over the alps? Would like to know what route please. Also I have been given a medical seat behind the righthand exit (row 13 I think?) apparently with no seat in front, can you advise what these seats are like please? I wanted to purchase an exit seat as like the space in front of me but was told I couldnt as nervous flyer - wish I hadnt said anything now!! Although I am still a nervous flyer, I am not so bad as in previous years - think I am getting used to it a bit now! I am usually biting my fingernails by now but seem ok. Many thanks for any info you can provide. Sue

suebar,

Apart from transiting the Alps, I wouldn't expect you to have any turbulance onroute. That of course depends on prevailing weather conditions on the day, but I would expect a pretty smooth flight down to Egypt. I went down to Luxor in March and other than the Alps where a little turbulance is normal, it was clear as a whistle all the way. The routing will normally be down to Greece, over Athens then out over the Mediterranean, over Crete down in to Egyption airspace then across the desert to the Sinai Peninsula. Pretty straightforward really. You'll be in seat 13F on the Boeing 757-200. As the exit row in front only has 2 seats, seat 13F gives plenty of room. If you have a look at our What Aircraft? guide (link below), go to the Thomson Airways section and click on Boeing 757-200, you'll find lots of aircraft photos including cabin photos so you can see what to expect. Seating is nice enough. It's nothing specail, but if I can cope with 6.5 hours on one, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Darren

Hello

My soon to be mother in law has a fear of flying, but is desperate to overcome it as her son and I are getting married in Greece in September of next year.

Have you got any ideas or recommendations that can help her.

Someone suggested that before our trip that we take her on a UK flight which will be very short to show her that shes got nothing to worry about, but knowing my luck this might put her off even more

thanks

if you tear yourself away from Rhodes and weddings for a short while take a look back through this thread [i know its long] and copy and print the post with information [why this why that answers] and give to her to read [make sure you have read them first] this will be the first step to informing her that there is nothing to worry about, if she has a particular problem you can ask further questions, taking her on a flight without firstly identifieing and addressing the problem could make things worse.....

wizard

Flying is not my favourite way to travel, I get very anxious and cannot relax prior to a flight and certainly not whilst flying especially landing. It doesn't stop me going on holiday but hate that part. We are going to Cancun Nov 4th 2010, I was pursuaded last year 'bigger plane more comfortable' etc etc but am now feeling the butterflies. It hasn't helped that I have been told ? joking? that the plane will do falls and dips on this journey...now probably a wind up but anxious mind needing reassuring please!!!