Does anyone here have fear of flying? Has anyone successfully overcome that fear, if so, how?
I know it is irrational, but I have fear of flying in the airplane due to the combination of fear or height, airplane developing technical problems (like engine failure), accident with another airplane etc.
I can fly only if absolutely necessary, but if it is a vacation or something, then I drive and take a vacation at a closer destination.
I am determined to overcome this fear. Do you guys think, initially I should drink some alcohol, or take some meds (anti-anxiety meds) to help me? Not too long ago a had very bad anxiety in regards to approaching girls but I have improved tremendously in that department in a short period of time (still room to improve further). I hope I can fight the fear of flying as well.

this is something i never really understood. i guess in some way its normal due to evolutionary psychology to be scared when you are 30k feet above ground but air travel is about the safest mode of transportation out there.

Good luck finding a solution

Book an introduction flight/lesson at your local flightschool. You may be shitting yourself while bouncing around the sky in a little Cesna 150, but after that no commercial jet flight will ever faze you again.

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Has anyone successfully overcome that fear, if so, how?

Accept that you may very crash and die on your flight. There's no guarantee you won't die. Imagine plane crashes until you're bored with it. Then get on the plane anyway and hope for the best.

Fear of flying is nothing more than fear of death.

I don't really have a fear of flying, it's more like anxiety. It's not the airliner at 30k+ feet up, it's the crammed in close confines that makes me agitated. I'm a frequent flyer between Houston and Rio. 300+ people crammed into a flying tube for 9 hours will make anybody nuts. What I do is pop a couple of Advil PM's have a couple of Bacardi and cokes, and fall asleep. Those 9 hours pass pretty quickly when you're sleeping. On another note, you have a better chance of getting killed driving down the interstate then flying in a commercial airliner.

Quote: (09-12-2011 11:13 PM)Gilgamesh Wrote:  

Does anyone here have fear of flying? Has anyone successfully overcome that fear, if so, how?
I know it is irrational, but I have fear of flying in the airplane due to the combination of fear or height, airplane developing technical problems (like engine failure), accident with another airplane etc.
I can fly only if absolutely necessary, but if it is a vacation or something, then I drive and take a vacation at a closer destination.
I am determined to overcome this fear. Do you guys think, initially I should drink some alcohol, or take some meds (anti-anxiety meds) to help me? Not too long ago a had very bad anxiety in regards to approaching girls but I have improved tremendously in that department in a short period of time (still room to improve further). I hope I can fight the fear of flying as well.

Go to your doctor and ask him for a med that can relax you. I used klonopin the first few times I flew and now I don't even need it.

Air travel is about the safest thing you can in your life.

Your likelihood of dying in a commercial airliner is about the same as the likelihood of banging Charlize Theron.

Less than zero.

I've done consulting work for aircraft manufacturers. There is not enough time or space to describe to you how much intelligence and skill goes into creating these airplanes, how much the engineers know about systems and safety and backups. There's a reason your average commercial plane costs from $60 million to $300 million apiece. They don't build them to crash, trust me.

Moreover, since the problem with most crashes happens because humans are controlling them, and humans, as we know, fuck up, the redundancy of systems, and the automation built in, are designed to minimize those mistakes.

Have a couple shots of bourbon, get some eye shades, and sleep.

Quote: (09-13-2011 09:42 AM)Pete Wrote:  

Quote: (09-12-2011 11:13 PM)Gilgamesh Wrote:  

Does anyone here have fear of flying? Has anyone successfully overcome that fear, if so, how?
I know it is irrational, but I have fear of flying in the airplane due to the combination of fear or height, airplane developing technical problems (like engine failure), accident with another airplane etc.
I can fly only if absolutely necessary, but if it is a vacation or something, then I drive and take a vacation at a closer destination.
I am determined to overcome this fear. Do you guys think, initially I should drink some alcohol, or take some meds (anti-anxiety meds) to help me? Not too long ago a had very bad anxiety in regards to approaching girls but I have improved tremendously in that department in a short period of time (still room to improve further). I hope I can fight the fear of flying as well.

Go to your doctor and ask him for a med that can relax you. I used klonopin the first few times I flew and now I don't even need it.

My brother was prescribed klonopin, it whacked him out and made him suicidal. He is better now, he hasn't taken them for a few years now.

I recently took a 25 minute flight from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas....scariest 25 minutes of my life on that "crop duster" jet.

On the other hand....

Been on about 10 flights from DC or NYC or Miami to Brazil and a few flights to Heathrow (London) and just about all of them had long stretches of time (I am talking hours) where the pilots turned off the seat belt lights and we were free to walk around and talk to others. The flights were that steady.

Quote: (09-13-2011 01:01 PM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

I recently took a 25 minute flight from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas....scariest 25 minutes of my life on that "crop duster" jet.

On the other hand....

Been on about 10 flights from DC or NYC or Miami to Brazil and a few flights to Heathrow (London) and just about all of them had long stretches of time (I am talking hours) where the pilots turned off the seat belt lights and we were free to walk around and talk to others. The flights were that steady.

How long is the flight from Miami to Brazil?

I was on a flight from Dallas to Houston and that shyt was choppy as fcuk.

Longer flights are generally, a piece of piss...

Piece of piss = Cool, no sweat, no worries.

Quote: (09-13-2011 02:22 PM)Moma Wrote:  

Quote: (09-13-2011 01:01 PM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

I recently took a 25 minute flight from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas....scariest 25 minutes of my life on that "crop duster" jet.

On the other hand....

Been on about 10 flights from DC or NYC or Miami to Brazil and a few flights to Heathrow (London) and just about all of them had long stretches of time (I am talking hours) where the pilots turned off the seat belt lights and we were free to walk around and talk to others. The flights were that steady.

How long is the flight from Miami to Brazil?

I was on a flight from Dallas to Houston and that shyt was choppy as fcuk.

Longer flights are generally, a piece of piss...

Piece of piss = Cool, no sweat, no worries.

Miami to Brazil (Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador) = 8.5 hours

Sometimes to get to Rio or Salvador, you HAVE to stop in Sao Paulo for 1 to 2 hours. Sao Paulo to Rio is 45 minutes and Sao Paulo to Salvador is about 2 hours

Quote: (09-12-2011 11:13 PM)Gilgamesh Wrote:  

Does anyone here have fear of flying? Has anyone successfully overcome that fear, if so, how?

My wife does. Same as with any other fear, it takes practice.

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I know it is irrational, but I have fear of flying in the airplane due to the combination of fear or height, airplane developing technical problems (like engine failure), accident with another airplane etc.

- Assuming it happening in a full flight, every certified airplane here is able to land safely (without structural damage) with ALL engines failed, and every airline pilot can do it. This is called "deadstick landing" and is part of getting the commercial pilot license. In fact you can buy MS Flight Simulator and try it yourself; you'll be surprised how quite easy it is.

- Every airplane I know can continue the flight with one engine failed (some won't be able to gain altitude though).

- Statistically the most dangerous part of your flight is first 90 seconds during the takeoff. Once you're in the sky, you're much safer than driving in your car. An engine failure during the takeoff may be fatal if the pilot doesn't react properly (however this is kind of situation which the pilots are being trained VERY extensively on simulators)

- A functional airplane will fly, approach, and (at some airport) even land on its own. Basically the pilot's job there is to take off, turn on the GPS and talk to ATC until the flight is over (at some airports they'd have to flare the plane too). Now when someone goes broken, then it is when the pilot's experience is needed and may be the difference between life and death.

I was wondering about this too, because I have such a huge irrational fear of flying (and dying a painful death) that whenever I fly I hyperventilate. I can read all the statistics in the world but the fact is when driving I'm in control, and the chances of me surviving a car crash are a lot higher than of surviving a plane crash. I've survived two car crashes. One I totally wrecked my car doing 100mph. In a plane, I'm not in control.

I think I'm going to try some meds or hypnosis. As an international poon hound I can't afford to be driving 14 hours everywhere for some ass. I'm trying to go to Sweden this year and flying is pretty much the only sensible way.

Was your dad a stewardess?

Am I the only one who loves turbulence in the air?

I love it when the plane flies through thunderstorms, in fact I hope for it. Nothing like some turbulence to liven up a boring flight.

Quote: (05-30-2012 01:42 AM)torontokid Wrote:  

Am I the only one who loves turbulence in the air?

I love it when the plane flies through thunderstorms, in fact I hope for it. Nothing like some turbulence to liven up a boring flight.

I don't consider myself afraid of flying, but I can never fully relax in planes either. The thought that I'm in a tin can filled with explosive fuel 35k feet above the ground moving at 600mph just won't allow me to fully unwind.

And I hate turbulence. As many times as I've flown I never really get used to it. In fact if I'm flying in the summer when there's a lot of afternoon thunderstorms over much of America, I purposely pick the earliest flight I can so I get to my destination before the storms crop up.

Commercial airline safety in the US these days is absurdly good. Absurd. Just think about how many flights are happening all day over the country in hundreds of different cities. There hasn't been a major incident in years.

Also, even catastrophic engine failure doesn't mean everybody dies. There are even incidents of both engines failing (one was bad conversion of units so they only had 1/10th the fuel) that still resulted in non-fatal landings.

Maybe I'm strange but if you have to go young, I'd rather it be a plane crash than cancer or a car accident. Seriously, who dies in a plane crash? If the plane crashes and you survive, that's a hell of a bar story.

My problem is hangovers on airplanes. I never learn. I'll be out partying on vacation for three-four days and like clock-work I feel absolutely miserable at the airport and in the flying sardine can.

I have/had a fear of flying.. the 17 flight to asia was a long one ha

im pretty good as long as i can keep my mind occupied, watching the movies or reading or something

if im just sitting there doing nothing my mind starts to wander to much

Quote: (05-30-2012 01:42 AM)torontokid Wrote:  

Am I the only one who loves turbulence in the air?

I love it when the plane flies through thunderstorms, in fact I hope for it. Nothing like some turbulence to liven up a boring flight.

I'm like this too. I get a sadistic thrill of these types of things like rank turbulence or being in a car that rolls over from black ice on a highway. While people scream and clench I just laugh and go "WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"


I realized I just don't like flying more than it ever being a fear. I appreciate the convenience and time shaving it offers but planes just irritate the fuck out of me since I have always been stuck in dumpy coach and you don't have the ability to stretch and relax like on a bus.

If there is a 12hr or less Bus equivalent I will take it. Ideally the Train trumps them all plus I enjoy looking at scenery when I travel I find it soothing. Clouds get old quick. And so do crying babies on planes... holy shit that gets Kosko livid.

Oh yeah. I developed a fear of flying after two consecutive flights with very heavy turbulence that lasted almost the whole flight (things were flying around, stewardess was looking quite worried, the coffee out of my cup splashed all over after a sudden drop of altitude, etc.)..

I just realized the other day that it is gone now. All I did was just fly nevertheless, again and again, and after 6 flights or so I felt completely safe again, despite turbulence.

Some thoughts:

- Planes are built with insane amounts of checks and quality controls, they are very stable.

- A plane flying maneuvers that seem extreme to passengers is still far away from the limits. Limits = what it could actually do if passenger convenience wasn't an issue.

- Planes flying in different directions (N,S,W,E) fly at different heights.

- Full engine failure is not the end. A plane can sail down and land. The Space Shuttle is much less suited for flight than an Airbus, yet it can safely land on return without an engine.

- Turbulence never caused a plane to crash. It can kill you though if it is heavy and you are walking around to the toilet, and some bag falls on your head or something similar. But it doesn't break the plane.

- The most dangerous phase is take-off, but it's very short, and turns out fine in 99,999999% of all cases.

- Every day many thousands of airplanes depart. And arrive.

.. and so forth.

Don't worry, enjoy the free drinks and food, and the nice view if you have a window seat. If you get dizzy easily sit in the aisle near the wings. Don't forget to approach any cute girls that might be sitting next to you.

It's like approaching. Do it despite your fear.

Quote: (09-13-2011 07:33 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

- Assuming it happening in a full flight, every certified airplane here is able to land safely (without structural damage) with ALL engines failed, and every airline pilot can do it. This is called "deadstick landing" and is part of getting the commercial pilot license. In fact you can buy MS Flight Simulator and try it yourself; you'll be surprised how quite easy it is.

yes and no. It depends on the aircrafts location at the event of complete engine failure and its glide ratio. A glide ratio is the function of how far a plane can go glide from a certain altitude. For example: Without pulling up stats for specific aircraft a 20:1 glide ratio would be good. It would be able to glide for 200km for every 10,000 feet of altitude. So assuming a cruise altitude of 30,000 with a complete engine failure, a pilot would have a 600km radius for landing options.

He would announce the emergency to Air Traffic Control and they would vector him into the most suitable airport.

However the loss of engine power can cause the hydraulics to fail due to not being powered. In these cases back-up systems (either back-up pumps or an auxillary power unit/ram-air turbine) will take over.

So It really becomes an issue of altitude. Complete engine failure at 200' on takeoff and your fucked. At 30,000 feet you are in better shape.

Complete engine failures are extremely rare. The normal cause would either be lack of fuel or bad fuel (dirty fuel clogging injection ports causing engine to flameoute). The former is prevented by computer software, performance calculations prior to every flight, and in flight fuel checks. The latter is prevented by mandatory fuel sampling and inspection prior to flight.

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- Every airplane I know can continue the flight with one engine failed (some won't be able to gain altitude though)

This time it is a function of airspeed and gross weight (temperature and pressure altitude also play a factor). The pilots will know what their maximum gross weight for single engine flight is prior to takeoff.

So what happens if the aircraft does not have single engine capability (defined as able to maintain current flight conditions on one engine)? It simply just increases the glide distance. It will be a slower controlled descent.

Not an issue or real cause for alarm.

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- Statistically the most dangerous part of your flight is first 90 seconds during the takeoff. Once you're in the sky, you're much safer than driving in your car. An engine failure during the takeoff may be fatal if the pilot doesn't react properly (however this is kind of situation which the pilots are being trained VERY extensively on simulators)

Right on. Wind your watch, when you feel the wheels come off start counting. once your about two minutes you will be set. Contrary to the fear of heights, the higher a plane is the safer you are. No one has ever died from colliding with the ski.

About the final two minutes of landing are also dangerous. If it is a clear blue ski and the winds are calm, you have nothing to worry about. If the weather is real shitty and winds are gusting then it becomes more dangerous. Just remember how many times that pilot has landed, if he is not comfortable he will perform a go around.

A go around is nothing more than pulling full power, initiating a climb, and aborting the landing to come around for a second try. These are trained constantly and are one of the easiest maneuver a pilot could perform.

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- A functional airplane will fly, approach, and (at some airport) even land on its own. Basically the pilot's job there is to take off, turn on the GPS and talk to ATC until the flight is over (at some airports they'd have to flare the plane too). Now when someone goes broken, then it is when the pilot's experience is needed and may be the difference between life and death.

Yeah commercial airplanes are ridiculously easy to fly. Pilots rarely have to even touch the controls. Altitude and Headings are input into a computer, automated flight control systems make sure the it remains where it supposed to be, and GPS has full control authority.


There are very few emergency procedures that require immediate "oh-shit" style actions. Those are trained constantly.

All others are normally "well crap, we got a master caution light, bust out the checklist." And then you take your time and go step by step by the checklist.

Good input nemesis, I just wanted to expand on it a bit.

So lets address your three main fears you posted

1.Fear of height: During an emergency time is precious. The more time a pilot has the better he can correctly assess the situation and perform the appropriate actions. Time is your friend. Altitude is time, so altitude is your friend. First 90-120 seconds of take off is the only time to be concerned.

2. Technical Problems: Every day an aircraft goes into maintenance for its "daily," topping off fluids and other basic maintenance functions. Prior to flight every aircraft must undergo a pre-flight inspection. A visual/mechanical check of all essential components. After landing a post-flight inspection is performed to check for any damage that occurred in flight. Aircraft are only allowed to fly a certain amount of hours before they go into a major maintenance period. The FAA and the airlines have certain no-go tests that are required prior to every flight (or first flight of day), if any of these tests are failed the aircraft is not allowed to fly.

Now on to emergency procedures. To maintain currency in an aircraft (be legal to fly) pilots must go through annual flights test, written tests, and no-notice periodic evaluations. Emergency procedures are ALWAYS tested in these. Most emergency procedures should hardly be called emergencies, they are simple "follow the checklist" procedures where one pilot will read the step out loud and the other pilot will perform it (manipulating switches, resetting circuit breakers, etc). In a commercial fixed wing aircraft there are really no "oh-shit, do it now" type procedures.

The majority of pilots go through their entire careers without facing a real emergency procedure. However, they are tested on them constantly.

3. MidAir collision - Every aircraft has a transponder that sends its location to ATC. To operate in an around major airports (Class-B airspace) you need an transponder with mode c (will report your altitude as well as position to ATC) and ATC clearance to enter. So within 30 nautical miles of a major airport everything is controlled from the ground and the pilots just follow commands.

MidAirs normally only occur with private pilots in uncontrolled airspace (which an airline will never fly in) in low visibility conditions. Id be more worried about the taliban sneaking terminator on board before I would worry about a Midair.

SO how do you overcome it?

1. Educate yourself. We tend to fear what we do not understand. Hopefully I cleared up a few things.

2. Drink. because it is fun and will loosen you up.

3. Watch movies or anything else to take your mind of it.

4. Take a couple flying lessons. See #1.

5. Do some NLP stuff if the above fails.

6. Hit on flight attendant, however they are rarely hot these days

Quote: (05-30-2012 01:42 AM)torontokid Wrote:  

Am I the only one who loves turbulence in the air?

I love it when the plane flies through thunderstorms, in fact I hope for it. Nothing like some turbulence to liven up a boring flight.

I'm exactly like this. Love turbulence, and also flying in small planes where you can actually "feel" the structure of the air around the plane. Exception being the extremely rare occasions were I've been able to travel Business/First on very long haul flights and wanted to sleep.

When I was a teenager my brother and I used to make a game out of making alarming comments to each other about the wing or some shit whenever we were flying through heavy turbulence. Like we knew what we were talking about. Just to scare skittish pasengers sitting nearby. Man, we were mean.

Quote: (05-30-2012 01:48 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  

Quote: (05-30-2012 01:42 AM)torontokid Wrote:  

Am I the only one who loves turbulence in the air?

I love it when the plane flies through thunderstorms, in fact I hope for it. Nothing like some turbulence to liven up a boring flight.

I'm exactly like this. Love turbulence, and also flying in small planes where you can actually "feel" the structure of the air around the plane. Exception being the extremely rare occasions were I've been able to travel Business/First on very long haul flights and wanted to sleep.

When I was a teenager my brother and I used to make a game out of making alarming comments to each other about the wing or some shit whenever we were flying through heavy turbulence. Like we knew what we were talking about. Just to scare skittish pasengers sitting nearby. Man, we were mean.

This reminds me of the time a father told his kids the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Being an engineer I really wanted to turn around and set him straight, but no need to embarrass him.

As most people with any knowledge of airplanes or flight mechanics know, the flaps come out during final approach to raise lift and thus lower the stall speed, allowing the plane to slow down for approach without dropping from the sky.

According to this dude though, it scares the birds off of the wing if they try to land.

Engine trouble is actually not the worse of your worries, you can make a controlled landing with no engine power. The worst of your worries is the damn wings snapping off! Metal cracks/fatigue I'm sure.