Fear of flying?
With summer fast approaching I thought it was time to write an article about the fear of flying and the myths behind this phobia.
Basically, the fear of flying is one of the most common phobias around. This fear/phobia can be difficult for people to overcome. This is because of the numerous factors that can cause fear, these fears all come into play together. The phobia makes people feel claustrophobic during the flight, people fear about being “trapped” in the plane. There is the anxiety about the possibility of a panic attack whilst on board. Ultimately, you may fear crashing. Some of these fears may not have a basis in reality at all and are just the result of myths that people have wrongly come to believe as truth.
Commonly, people that have a fear of flying will mainly be concerned about “air pockets”. These “air pockets” are about as real as the tooth fairy or father christmas! The myth about these “air pockets” is that if a plane is unlucky enough to fly into one it can suddenly fall hundreds of feet, basically making it appear to be crashing. Despite all these myths this simply isn’t possible. There could be no place within the sky that is a “pocket” without air.
A second fear is that planes are really very fragile and that turbulence could cause them great damage, this is a threat to both the safety of the passengers and crew (so do you think the crew would want to fly on them if they knew they were unsafe), or the wings of the plane could fall off. In a world full of common sense, commercial airplanes are built to withstand far more turbulence than you would ever experience on a normal flight. No amount of turbulence that you would normally encounter could damage the plane at all. Turbulence is more of an annoyance than a danger to flights. The planes strength is within it’s flexibility. The wings of an airplane are actually built to be extremely pliable, and will bend and flex with the wind. Turbulence is basically a comfort issue and not an issue for the safety of the plane.
The fears that the plane would just fall from the sky if the engines were to stop working is absolute tripe. If the engines of a plane were to cut out when it was flying at the cruise altitude then it would glide for about 100 miles. Planes will not just simply ‘fall’ from the sky sometimes they glide into land without the power oif the engines to save fuel and people never know.
There are lots more myths about flying that could cause more unnecessary fear and anxiety about flying. But the best way to enjoy flying is by getting more and more information about flight and how planes work. This will make you less afraid.
