If it's too stormy to land then I would assume the plane will be directed to a safer airport. Transport should then be provided to get you to your destination.

Yes I'm a very nervous flyer, and to make matters worse I've just found out I'm flying back from Cuba on a night flight on Friday 13th November!

Mdollar,

Mdollar wrote:

I'm flying back from Cuba on a night flight on Friday 13th November!

Thats Only If You Are Superstitious, Please Dont Say You Are

Your Flight Will Operated The Same Whether It Is Friday 12th, Friday 13th Or Friday 31st

Gower

Thats Only If You Are Superstitious, Please Dont Say You Are

Your Flight Will Operated The Same Whether It Is Friday 12th, Friday 13th Or Friday 31st

Gower

Ha ha no I'm not really superstitious, I just thought it was typical I'm scared of flying and it happens to be on one of the unluckiest days of the year supposedly.

Very cross right now! I tried to post and poured my heart out for nearly half an hour typing about my fear of flying and then because I had put a link in, it rejected and wouldn't take me back to my original post so now I have to type all over again. I think rather than waffling on, just to explain that I am a bad flyer. A terrible flyer. I have been in 2 bad flights and for all the good ones I have been on, I have not got better. For the bad ones I have been on, I have been made worse.

Ive probably mentioned this before, but Ive got ever such a little (HUGE) fear of flying. I am just wanting to know if anyone here can give me any ideas on top of what I have already tried, or if you could make any recommendations then that would also be appreciated!

SoOoooOOooo in the past, Ive tried:

"¢Hypnotherapy 1 on 1 (did nothing but I did only go once - very expensive!) and earphone hynoptherapy which I have been listening to for about 4 weeks now.
"¢Getting blind drunk on a night out before going straight to the airport (turned me into a drama queen and made things worse not better)
"¢Taking cocktails of drugs to knock myself out. (this has been the most successful method yet but on my last flight in 2006 it consisted of tamazepam (that my insomniac cousin gave me), diazepam and 2 bottles of vodka (complimentary)- I dont want to mix drugs etc because I am aware I could end up overdosing and be in an awful position if something did go wrong!
"¢Doing nothing at all and cross my fingers and toes to feel better (Probably the worst thing I could do nowadays as I feel as though it is my will alone keeping the aeroplane in the sky!)
"¢Tried relaxation breathing methods (How are you meant to control your breathing when you cant even think straight!?)
"¢Taken online self help online classes - (one of which did make me slightly better for one of the flights that we went on but then on the way back we flew into Manchester and straight into a thunderstorm at the last 10 minutes of the flight... thats karma for you! and I know that it is not legal to fly into a thunderstorm but it definitely felt like we did as it went very dark and when the lightning went off there was a LOT of turbulance and "zappy tinny" sounds everytime it lightened outside...This also happened to me on an internal fluight from Phuket to Bangkok)
"¢Viewed around about 10,000 websites and statistics to try and ease my own mind!
"¢Even tried looking at the actual crashes/information etc so I can see how they ensured that wouldn't happen again etc.

I have read that statistics say 1 in 14 million chance of dying on a uk airline (I would be interested in other websites with positive facts such as these!). I was wondering if anyone would happen to have any links to any self help online classes as I fly from gatwick on Thursday to Mexico. I also know there are a lot of thunderstorms abroad and made sure we flew in a less thundery season. However, I was just wondering what would happen if there was a thunderstorm when we were due to fly from the caribbean as it seems they always have them around 4pm and thats the time we are flying home. I dont want to be looking out of my window every day and predicting the likelyhood of their been a storm when we fly! Lol

Ok, Ive rambled again... I had alot more to say but if you want any more info please please assk.

I know im never going to be skipping onto a plane but I just want it to be the beginning of my holiday and no the ruining of it like it is at the moemnt.

(I should mention I have not flown for 3 years and am only flying now because it is my honeymoon and I thought it unffair to stop my partner from travelling anymore!)

p.s. I do have my diazepam prescribed by the docs if you cant help!

phoenix2k,

It looks as though you've tried everything out there! You might want to have a look at; Fear of Flying Help Course and Fear of Flying DVD. I helped produce that one with contributing photos and video for the DVD while Capt Stacey Chance wrote and narrated it. There are also Fear Of Flying courses held at many airports around the country.

Remember flying is statistically the safest form or transport. The most dangerous part of any flight is the drive to and from the airport. I can understand your fears as it's normaly the fear of not being in control, stuck in a metal tube with no way out. I think the main thing to remember is the two, sometimes three people at the controls at the front of the aircraft are hightly qualified and experienced individuals who've seen pretty much everything there is to know about flying before. Before they sign for the aircraft to operate the flight, they'll check everything is working and fully servicable. They won't risk their own necks by taking an aircraft that isn't in perfect mechanical order. That's why air travel is so safe. If you were going to Mexico in a couple of weeks, I could have got a copy of the DVD to you as it might explain things more clearly and put your mind at rest, but it's a bit late now. I think the main thing to remember is air travel is the safest form of transport and crews wouldn't be there if it wasn't safe. Try and think of the journey as a long, fast bus or trail ride. You'll only know you're in the air if you look out of the window!

Darren

Hi Darren,

Thank you very much for your help. That was the site that I have visited before and the only thing that I felt has helped me in the past. I think Ill enroll and maybe print it off to read over the next few nights. Hopefully, its been that long that it may have the desired effect!

Thanks again!
Adrian
P.S. If anything does happen, I want "I told you so" on my gravestone.

Hi everyone, like the rest of you I am absolutely terrified of flying, I get myself into a right state, from the changes in the engine noise to wondering how the plane stays in the air, its just a nightmare. However, I still go on my holidays and on the flight coming home saying the same thing "never again", a few weeks later its forgotten about and a holiday is booked for the next year and its fine as it seems so long away.

The furthest I have went was to Egypt and dont know how I managed it. My husband and I have been persuaded to go with friends to Goa, this was booked last year and we are leaving on the 14th February. I am in a right panic at the minute, not sleeping, when I do get to sleep I wake up thinking about it. My family and friends must actually think I am being ungrateful as I am in no way excited at all about my holiday, its just dreading the time coming. My husband loves flying, so to him he cant wait for the holiday. Just wish I could have the same feeling of looking forward to it. I just keep thinking "will I get there" "will I get home again". Its just so awful.

Jemx

jemajo,

It sounds like you have you own way of dealing with your fear, but just remember you aren't on your own. The main reason for most fears is not being in control of your situation, you're just there for the ride and can't do anything about what's going on around you. The main thing to remember is the two people up front flying the aircraft will have checked, double checked and checked again to make sure the aircraft is 100% servicable and there are no reasons to doubt you getting to your destination. If there was, they wouldn't accept the aircraft for the flight. To answer both your questions, "will I get there" and "will I get home again", then just remind yourself that yes, you will. Flying is statistically the safest form or travel and the most dangerous part of any flight is the drive to and from the airport. If we can help with and fears such as noises or sensations during the flight that may have caused some aprehension in the past, let us know as we can reassure you.

Darren

Who are you flying to Goa with meaning airline.

Hi thanks very much for your replies. I know it sounds silly, just something that I cant help. I think of a helicopter and you can see the propellers twirling around and I know that is keeping the helicopter up, when you look at that massive plane and all the people and luggage on board, I think how on earth does that stay up there. I feel so stupid but the fear is real. I am flying with Thomas Cook Airlines.

Thanks again.

Jemx

jemajo,

It never ceases to amaze me either how an aircraft weighing as much as 400 tons can stay in the air and cruise with a ground speed in excess of 500mph or in the case of Concorde 1350mph! Your standard commercial aircraft actually have two pairs of wings, not just one. Wixed wing aircraft produce their lift by propelling the wings forwards by the engines. The aerofoil shape makes the air on the upper side of the wing accelorate as it has to travel further than the air on the underside. The faster air travels, the lower it's pressure. That's called the Bernoulli effect and is how aircraft wings produce lift; the higher pressure air tries to reduce it's pressure by moving to the lower pressure air, and lifts the wing (in simple terms). A way to test this theory is to get a strip of newspaper and hold it on your bottom lip. Now blow as hard as you can over the top of it (to make the air move quickly) and see what happens to the paper. You'll see it rises. That's the Bernoulli effect in action. The actual forward motion and deflection of air by the wing also produces lift (of sorts). The next time you are in a car as a passenger, put your hand out of the window so it glides through the air (with fingers close together), then tilt it upwards slightly and feel what happens. The upwards deflection will produce lift. If you look at the size of aircraft wings, they produce tremendous amouts of lift when they have enough air flowing over them. Because you'll be travelling on an Airbus A330-200 that have quite flexible wings, you'll notice that at rest, they are strait and you can sometimes see they even droop slightly when they are full of fuel. Watch them as you accelorate down the runway, you'll see them raise slightly as they start to produce lift. Once you're airbourne, you'll see how they flex upwards as they producing lift. They are only subtle signs, but you can see them working. It's not much different to how helicopter rotar blades work, but they obviously have to make lift when the helicopter is static so they spin around a shaft and produce their lift by passing the blades through the air, rather than by propelling the wings forwards. They are essentially doing the same thing though.

Aircraft wings are incredably strong and have to meet strict standards of strength. They have to be able to withstand a minimum of 1.5x the anticipated maximum structural load of a normal flight. Wing strength tests are quite spectacular and it's amazing how far they can bend and the punishment they can take before failing. The wings on the aircraft you're travelling on are Briitish designed and engineered, as are the engines so there's certainly nothing to worry about.

The second pair of wings on the aircraft are on the tail, known as horizontal stablizers. These wings produce lift, but generally in a downward rather than upward direction as the aircrafts centre of gravity is just forward of the wings. This pushes the tail downwards in order to equalise things and give the aircraft stability and lift the nose. Elevators on the rear of the stabilizers then control pitch, to give the aircraft up / down directional control.

Aircraft are very complex machines but very strong and well designed and engineered so you've nothing to worry about. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Darren

Hi Darren,

Thanks very much for that, it sounds like you have a vast knowledge of this, and you have made me feel at ease a bit, well a lot more than I have been anway. I think I will print it off and keep it with me and read when I am on the plane and start to get that dreadful feeling.

Thanks again.

Jemx

jemajo,

No worries, we're here to help. Don't try putting your hand out of an aircraft window though, it gets a bit drafty!!!!

A couple of photos for you of the aircraft you'll be travelling on. It's not easy to see, but look at the wing in this photo, then compare it to the wing in this photo. Can you see how in the first one the wing is strait, almost droopy but in the second one, you can clearly see how it bends upwards. That's the wing flexing as it's producing lift. Wing flex is even more obvious on the Boeing 747-400. You'll be able to tell everyone on the aircraft how it's staying in the air now! I think by knowing a little more about how an aircraft works, it should help your fears a little as you know a bit more about what's going on around you.

Darren

Well put by Dazbo. Just to add a couple of things. The wing on any commercial jet is designed to work most efficiently at high speed. As the aircraft slows the bits at the front of the wing (called slats) and the flaps at the rear of the wing extend to convert it into a pseudo low speed wing, The strange (?) whirring noise you hear on the ground, shortly after take off and before landing is these items being extended and retracted. Remember too that the aircraft has redundancy on all of the various systems so if one system fails there are usually two other options available. The aircraft is also certified to fly on one engine. Chances of encountering severe turbulence is pretty remote; I can only recall two instances of severe turbulence on all the flights I have been on Thomas cook are a good company and, as they say, relax and enjoy the flight.

The problems I have with flying is that for some reason,the older I get the more concerned I become about things like how old the aircraft is or,short runways or even will we encounter a storm at night when landing ect ect... It never bothered me when I first started flying but recently I always seem to think the worse will happen and its very unsettling for the rest of my family.

Rotterdam,

Aircraft age is almost irrelevant really. I've flow on aircrat from 1934 and they were in as good a conditions as they were when they left the assembly hangar. Aircraft are maintained to a far greater degree than cars for example and following a D-check (heavy maintenance), carried out every 4-5 depending on aircraft age, the airframe is stripped back to it's components parts and rebuild. They leave the hangar like new so age really is'nt all that much of an issue. Of course they have their structural limits and are limited so a certain number of cycles, but airlines have strict maintenance programmes to adhere to so it really is nothing to worry about.

We've discussed short runways above and onthe previous pages. Again, it's nothing to worry about because airports are only certified to accept aircraft up to a limited size based on the runway surface (strength) and it's length. A 747 can't land at Blackpool for example because the surface isn't strong enough and nowhere near long enough. It's therefore limited to Boeing 757's. Pilots also know what they are doing. The take off and landing (braking) distance is carefully calculated to ensure the runway is plenty long enough.

Airport and aircraft weather systems have improved greatly over the years with things like doppler radar present at many fields. If there was any weather to worry about, aircraft wouldn't be landing and would be diverted or kept in the hold until it was safe to land. Pilots are also trained in wind shear and other weather issues for example that weren't known about 20+ years ago and know exactly how to spot and anticipate it to prevent any problems.

Everyone gets aprehensive about flying, even frequent fliers but it's really nothing to worry about. Just think of it as a fast bus journey. Unless you look out of the window, its not really any different!

Darren

Really appreciate the information and re-assurance Dazbo however, if I told you that because of what I have read on here I'm now free of all fear, I would not be telling the truth. After 20 yrs and of travel around Europe I class myself as a experienced flyer now,but like I said before the fear always returns when it comes to the big day and boarding for people like myself is rarely free from worry. Without wanting to strike fear into anyone else,accidents still seem to happen,the fear of Airborn travel can be terrifying for some people Dazbo,yet very few will admit to it. Sometimes I have a stiff drink or 2 which helps and I never ever have a window seat,however,I still breath a sigh of relief when those wheels hit the concrete at the other end and I get off the damn thing!

I will think about whats been explained to me Dazbo,but with respect,I'm afraid my fear of flying runs deeper than statistics or probability,perhaps one day things will change,but until that day comes people like myself will always worry.

Never the less,you have been a great help Dazbo,so thanks once again.

Every item of maintenace on an aircraft has to be signed for by an engineer licenced to work on that particular type of aircraft. To be able to do this the engineer will have done an extensive ground school course on that particular aircraft type and passed exams on completion.Any defect, no matter how trivial, has to be recorded in the aircraft log to be resolved by the engineer prior to the next flight. Even items like an armrest or oven replacement have to be signed for and serial numbers of the replacement part noted. Important items are subject to an inspection (and signed for) by two engineers. In addition to the four year checks mentioned by Dazbo there are preflight, daily and weekly checks which all have to be signed for. The aircraft cannot depart if any of the relevant checks have not been carried out.