Okay, so yes, I’ll admit it.  Airplanes do crash.  But the likelihood of it happening to the one you’re on is pretty slim.  The latest airplane crash statistics show that your kid has a better chance of growing up to be President of the United States than you have of dying in a plane crash.

So let’s talk for a moment about fearful flyers’ dwelling on the, shall we say, negative side of flying.

Show fearful flyers two newspaper stories–one about safety statistics and another one about a plane crash–and I can bet they’ll read the one about the plane crash and ignore the other one.

Perhaps you want more concrete evidence of their negative flying bias.  Here are two.  The traffic on our crash statistics page gets the most visitors…because of  fearful flyers and their crashing mentality.

My blog titles that are negative about flying get more readers than those with positive-sounding titles. Like the title of this post–did you decide to read it because of that dreaded “crash” word in the title?

Like I said, fearful flyers like to dwell on the bad side of flying–crashing and dying.

In our fear of flying classes, we tell fearful flyers that they have to do something different.  In other words, stop dwelling on the plane crashing and remember about how safe it is.  Capt. Ron is fond of saying, “Flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.”

So how do you change the channel of the airline crash channel that plays continually in your mind? If you need some reinforcement about the good parts about flying–the soaring and the safe takeoffs and landings, then I have just the place for you.

It’s called Flight Level 350. The best way to describe this site is that it’s like a YouTube of Aviation.  Video after video of planes doing what planes do best.  Planes of all sizes and shapes.

I just watched a video of a huge Qantas plane, certainly the biggest I’ve ever seen, takeoff.  It was a beautiful site.  As I watched the takeoff roll, I thought of all the times I’ve heard fearful flyers say, “How can that big piece of metal possibly get off the ground?”  This Qantas plane just gently lifts up off the ground and points skyward.   Without any hesitation or being like the Little Engine That Could “I think I can I think I can.”  This huge mass of an airplane just lifts up and off it goes.

If you have a trip planned and find yourself dwelling on crashing, dying, and turbulence, do something different.  Bring up this site and watch a few videos.  Marvel at the marvelous machines.  Then visualize your flight floating and soaring like the airplanes you’re watching.

And then repeat this mantra over and over: “I think I can, I think I can” and pretty soon you WILL become a fearless flyer!

Related posts:

1. Planes and Fear of Flying the Hollywood Way
2. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!
3. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly

Like maybe all those tears and all that anxiety qualified you for an academy award or something.

Well, fear of flying is very real I’ve discovered in the four years I’ve been working with fearful flyers.  So when a former fearful flyer sent me the link to a Wall Street Journal video clip below, I wanted to share it with you.  Because in the movies, those airplanes you see aren’t real.  Not at all.  The airplanes may very well have been the work of the movie studio in this video link.

Too bad they aren’t looking for fear of flying extras.  And, too bad they don’t rent out their studio for fearful flyers to come in and crawl all over those fake planes in an attempt to become familiar with what scares them.

Going on an airplane that doesn’t go anywhere is what we do in our twice yearly Plane Truth class.  We board a stationary aircraft and give fearful flyers an opportunity to sit on a plane for an extended period, ask questions, and see the cockpit up close.  This is especially helpful for people who haven’t ever flown, someone with claustrophobia, or a fearful flyer who hasn’t been on a plane in several years.

Fear of flying isn’t a made-in-the-movies story.  It’s very real.  But it can also be overcome so that you can have a happy-ever-after lifetime of traveling by airplane.

Related posts:

1. The Crashing Side of Flying
2. Can Planes Crash from Turbulence?
3. Fear of Flying–No Men Allowed!

1/16/10 Saturday morning from 10:00 to noon

Go here for Cleared for Takeoff class details and the sign-up page.

Need Help Getting to the Gates?

Related posts:

1. Next Basic Fear of Flying Class 10/24/09
2. Announcing Advanced Fear of Flying Class
3. Piloting the Cleared for Takeoff Class

Our monthly Cleared for Takeoff class met this weekend at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.  For two hours, fearful flyers shared, learned, and asked Capt. Ron about fear of flying, takeoffs, turbulence, and landings.

Capt. Ron  patiently answered questions and made new fear of flying fans  with jokes like these:  “Turbulence bothers me in the cockpit because I have to put down my copy of USA Today!”  One woman told Capt. Ron he should be on Oprah because he’s so “caring and compassionate.”

During class, I always remain in the background, listening to students’ questions, jotting down blog ideas.  Fearful flyer questions are good writing fodder.  But during this Cleared for Takeoff class, I asked my own questions: “Where are all the men?  Are women the only ones afraid to fly?”  The majority of fearful flyers who come to class are women.  Is fear of flying a female problem?  Should we blame fear of flying on the fact that we’re the weaker, fairer sex?  Could it be related to hormones??

Men do go online to order our FearlessFlight Harmonizer. They order downloads of our downloadable Cleared 4 Takeoff class. But by and large, they don’t go public with their fear of flying.

Why not?  That four-letter word they don’t like to use:  FEAR.  And I’m not talking about flying fear.  A lot of men are scared to admit they’re scared to fly.  It’s about being brave. Being MANLY!  It’s a macho thing not to be seen as a “wuss” about flying.  So many men suffer in silence.  They creatively disguise their flying fear by saying things like:  “I’m bothered by flying” or ”I’m not a very good flyer” or ”I really hate to fly.”

So all you fearful flyer guys, as Dr. Phil says, “It’s time to get real.”  It’s time to bring your fear of flying out of your carry-on baggage.  Again to use Dr. Phil’s words of wisdom, “You can’t get over what you can’t acknowledge.”  And there’s nobody better man than Capt. Ron to help you overcome it once you do admit it.  He gets what it’s like to be a fearful flyer.  He’s been there!  He always begins class with the story of his first flight, which made a fearful flyer out of him until he finally overcame it to become a pilot.

We at Fearlessflight.com aren’t going to laugh at you or embarrass you or shame you.  We recognize that flying scares the #@)?!#! out of you.  You’re actually allowed to be afraid.  And we don’t care whether you’re a man or a woman.  You just have to want to become a better flyer.

About the Author:  Diane Owens has been helping people overcome their fear of flying since 2005.  She writes about fear of flying for Fearless Flight.com and assists Capt. Ron Nielsen in spreading the message that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.

Related posts:

1. Planes and Fear of Flying the Hollywood Way
2. The Crashing Side of Flying
3. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly

I came across this column called Feeding the Fear of Flying about the writer’s fearful flyer husband.  The couple’s solution to cure fear of flying made me smile and reminded me of what we advise fearful flyers to do.

The writer described her own fear of heights (which doesn’t bother her in an airplane) and told how her husband has tried everything to get over his fear of flying.  Well, not everything, because he hasn’t come to Fearless Flight.com for help to my knowledge!

The one thing that made him feel better was to fly in one of those small twin-prop planes, the ones that scare the pants off me.  Give me a big solid commercial airliner and I’m great.  Put me in one of those little tiny cans, and I suddenly remember MY fear of heights.

The writer guessed that her husband’s fear of flying was less in a smaller plane because he felt more in control.  He could see the pilot.  Not being in control seems to bother 90% of the fearful flyers I work with.  I just spoke with someone earlier today who realized that this was a large part of his fear.

The writer and her husband have read that some airlines are considering putting on one of the radio channels a live voice feed from the cockpit to calm the passengers. Pilots can choose to speak on the PA system when they want, but with this live feed, the passengers would sample everything that goes on in the cockpit.  Meet the pilots…up close, personal, uncensored.

Until that day comes with the Pilots’ Cockpit Radio Show, I’d suggest doing something else to Meet the Pilots.  Ask to pre-board because you’re a fearful flyer.  Tell the flight attendants that you’re afraid to fly and that it really helps you to connect with the pilots.

I just spoke with a woman who followed this advice, and it made a huge difference.  She had flown only twice in 38 years when she decided to tackle her fear. She bought the Fearless Flight Harmonizer, then came to the Cleared for Takeoff class and heard our advice:  Meet the pilots.  She said the pilot was very kind and even took her into the cockpit for a few minutes.  During the flight, she kept her eyes closed, listened to the Flight Harmonizer, and visualized being a cork on the water.  It worked!  Now she’s looking forward to many more trips to make up for all that lost time.

You CAN overcome fear of flying by doing something different.  OR you think of all the things the airlines can do to make you feel better about flying.  I’ve learned the answer is inside you, not inside the cockpit.

About the Author:  Diane Owens has been helping people overcome their fear of flying since 2005.  She writes about fear of flying for Fearless Flight.com and assists Capt. Ron Nielsen in spreading the message that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.

Related posts:

1. Pill-Popping Pilots–Are You Kidding Me?
2. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly
3. The Crashing Side of Flying

My friend Windy is flying tomorrow, and I’m afraid for her.  I’m not afraid that her plane will crash.  No, I know that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.  I’m afraid she’ll have a horrible flight because she’s flying with a friend who has a fear of flying.

Windy and I have had a few conversations about this friend.  And Windy has had a few conversations with her friend about me, Capt. Ron, and Fearlessflight.com. Windy is looking forward to a girlfriend weekend get-away, but this friend’s fear of flying makes her wonder about this trip. Windy has assured her friend that I really want to help her, that our free class here in Phoenix is very helpful, that she should at least consider talking to me on the phone.

Nope.  No dice. Nada.  So Windy will be flying tomorrow with someone who acknowledges she has a fear of flying but is coping by avoiding the very thought of it prior to the trip.  Even if that thinking involves helping herself to become a better flyer.

Avoidance mode is a popular way fearful flyers cope.  Reminds me of the woman came to our fear of flying class AFTER it was over because she couldn’t bring herself to actually come into the classroom while Capt. Ron was conducting the class. Or another woman who had an extensive phone conversation with me about her fear of flying and how she could overcome it, yet she failed to show up for the class she had signed up for.

I have offered my help, and Windy has tried to be persuasive.  What’s a fear of flying coach like me to do when I can’t help someone overcome fear of flying?  I warned Windy that big trouble is ahead for someone who won’t even consider getting some help.

Then I realized  I had forgotten my own advice that I give to spouses, partners, friends, and mothers who email me all the time with “I have this ________ (son, husband, daughter-in-law, friend) who hates to fly.  What can I do?”

I’ve learned over the years that there is not a darn thing that can be done by non-fearful flyers, those well-meaning people who so want the fearful flyer to “get over it.”   However, all these interested parties can do is make gentle, loving suggestions and then back off.

I know, I know… being the one who wants to fly makes you want to scream, doesn’t it?  Why won’t my husband, wife, friend, partner, etc. work on this fear?  Why does flying with them have to be such an ordeal?  I’m tired of it!  Try not to scream.  Try to be patient and eventually the fearful flyer will be willing.

Here’s the deal:  Overcoming  fear of flying is about willingness.  Until the fearful flyer is willing to work on the problem, no amount of persuading, begging, pleading, ridiculing, or wheedling will work. It’s all up to the fearful flyer to decide when he or she is ready and WILLING to tackle fear of flying.

So, Windy, I wish you Happy Landings for your weekend girlfriend trip.  It won’t be a pretty flight with your friend, but I know that once you land, you’ll have a great time.  And you can always send her home via bus.

About the Author:  Diane Owens has been helping people overcome their fear of flying since 2005.  She writes about fear of flying for Fearless Flight.com and assists Capt. Ron Nielsen in spreading the message that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.

No related posts.

A woman called today to inquire if there was room in our January Cleared for Takeoff class for fear of flying.  Since last month’s Arizona Republic article, we’ve been flooded with calls and email enrollments for our Phoenix class taught by veteran pilot Capt. Ron Nielsen.  It’s great that people are seeking help now that they know about our program!

I explained to the woman that I had closed the internet enrollment, which is how most people sign up.  I asked if either she or her daughter are flying before the February class.  Her daughter would like to take a flight soon, she said.  Then I asked some critical questions, like just how bad either woman’s fear of flying is.

When the mother described her fear of flying, she sounded like what I call a “bad” flyer.  Doesn’t like it.  Will fly, but hates it.  However, her daughter, a grown woman with a family, is a true fearful flyer.  She doesn’t fly.  She takes a three-day train ride to the East Coast.  She won’t  go on trips with her husband if she has to fly.

“I see…and why isn’t your daughter calling me?”  I asked.  As a mother of four grown daughters, I know what it’s like to be a mom and want to help your kids no matter how old they are.  I also know fearful flyers, and if they aren’t ready to get over fear of flying, no coaxing, suggesting, or arm twisting by your mother is going to motivate you to get over it.

People tell me that the very act of calling me starts their fear of flying anxiety.  Signing up for the class does the same thing.  So does having to come to Phoenix Sky Harbor to take the Cleared for Takeoff class.

But these are necessary steps in overcoming fear of flying.  You must be willing to take a series of small steps.  And they’re not “Mother May I?” steps either.  The willingness to do the work to overcome fear of flying has to come from within YOU.

But once you’ve decided you’re ready, it’s time to begin.  Take one small step.  And then another.  Do it for you.  Not for your mother or your father or your spouse.  You deserve to live a life without limits, don’t you think?

About the Author:  Diane Owens has been helping people overcome their fear of flying since 2005.  She writes about fear of flying for Fearless Flight.com and assists Capt. Ron Nielsen in spreading the message that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.

Related posts:

1. Fear of Flying–No Men Allowed!

In a survey on Fearless Flight.com conducted a few months ago, 35% of the almost 5,000 who responded said they fly once a year.   I’m imagining that the majority of these flights take place over the holidays or for summer vacation.  As the holidays approach, many travelers will soon be faced with their once-yearly fear of flying.  But fear of flying makes them wish they could stay home and forget the family visit.  The rest of the year–no worries about flying if there’s nowhere to go.  Out of the sky, out of mind, so to speak.

Are you by any chance one of those once-yearly fearful flyers? How do you cope?

Put off thinking about it until a few days beforehand?

Or do you begin dwelling on it the moment you make your reservation?

Unfortunately neither are very good coping strategies.  It’s during the flying off-season that you need to work on your fear of flying.  Take action.  Be willing to do something  so you’ll be able to fly ALL year, any time you want.

One of the actions that you can take is to get some education.  Fearful flyers tend to have a lot of misinformation or not any information at all about airplanes and flying.  So their brains make up stories to explain what’s going on when they hear a sound…see something strange…feel that unusual sensation that takeoff can bring.   For a fearful flyer, a normal part of flight can fuel  what Capt. Ron calls “that can’t be good” thinking. They hear a normal sound and suddenly they’re thinking, “THAT can’t be good!”

Capt. Ron and Fearless Flyer Kathy

But don’t take my word for the power of education.  Follow the advice of Kathy, a recent graduate of our program.   Capt. Ron and I interviewed her about how she became a fearless flyer after 30 years of being a no-fly fearful flyer.  Yes…she was grounded for 30 years!  Can you imagine the enormous courage it took for Kathy to work on THAT kind of fear?

Last spring Kathy came to Capt. Ron’s Cleared for Takeoff class in Phoenix and bought a Fearless Flight Harmonizer.  All the information she learned in the class from Capt. Ron helped to calm much of her fearful thinking about what goes on up there.

She says the Fearless Flight Harmonizer was another important element in helping her fly fearlessly.  The CD helped distract her when she was flying even though her first reaction hearing it on the ground was, ”Wow, that’s a pretty weird CD!”  Now she won’t fly without it.  She even showed Capt. Ron and me the extra set of batteries she keeps in her little carryon bag–for Kathy the only worse thing than flying without her CD would be not having  the “juice” to play it.

Kathy has flown eight times since July!  I’d say she’s quickly making up for lost flying hours during those 30 years she was grounded, wouldn’t you?

Welcome to the friendly skies, Kathy!         

Related posts:

1. Planes and Fear of Flying the Hollywood Way
2. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!
3. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly

It turns out that this particular day was a good day to fly for this group of six fearful flyers.  Before the flight I had my doubts about Nancy who cried softly during the pre-flight visualization.  But she hung in there and completed the roundtrip flight.  And since then, Nancy has had other good days to fly, including one in which she flew bravely through a thunderstorm. (Capt. Ron just  reminded me planes go around storms, not through them!)  Nancy flew through that turbulent flight powered by her Flight Harmonizer CD.

The Power of Choice in Overcoming Fear of Flying

In working with fearful flyers, I’ve learned a lot.  I’ve learned that it’s about choice—not your spouse’s choice or your mother’s choice.  You have to choose to get over your fear of flying, and it has to be when you’re ready. I’ve also learned that fear of flying can be fairly easy to get over.  Some people purchase our online class or attend our live class or use the Flight Harmonizer, gaining enough tools to get them into the air and on their way to becoming better flyers.  With others, it’s not quite so easy.

Take Joanna.  She was scheduled on a flight from San Diego to Phoenix today.  After doing personal coaching sessions with Capt. Ron, she has previously flown three legs with him and then made her own successful solo flight back home.  Well, it was sort of solo.  She actually ended up between two dead-heading pilots.  Talk about personal coaching extraordinaire!  Every time she would ask something like, “What’s that sound?”  or  “Should I be worried about the weather ahead?” one of them would answer patiently and reassuringly.  She said it was so helpful to hear a pilot’s explanation instead of all the stuff she was used to hearing inside herself like:  “Holy crap, I don’t know what that noise is!!”

Fear of Flying: One Step Forward, Sometimes One Backward

It turned out that for Joanna, that particular day was a very good day to fly.

But not today.  She was experiencing too much anxiety today to get on the plane.  Capt. Ron and I spoke with her a few days ago, and she was doing very well, visualizing herself flying calmly.  Remembering the old days when she was a better flyer and was able to use self-soothing techniques.  Picturing herself flying successfully.  Recalling her flying successes rather than her failures.

A Good Day for Fearless Flying

But today wasn’t her day.  And that’s okay.  We’re hoping that another day will be.  We’re hoping that she keeps on walking this bumpy road to getting over fear of flying.  We’re reassuring her that today is just a small speedbump in the process.  We’re supporting her in any way we can as she works to become a fearless flyer.

And I can guarantee that for Joanna, another day in the very near future will be a good day to fly.

About the Author:  Diane Owens has been helping people overcome their fear of flying since 2005.  She writes about fear of flying for Fearless Flight.com and assists Capt. Ron Nielsen in spreading the message that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.

Related posts:

1. Fear of Flying–No Men Allowed!
2. Once a Year Fear of Flying
3. The Crashing Side of Flying