Archive for Airplane Crashes

Flying Cheap and Fear of Flying

PBS Frontline aired an excellent documentary recently called “Flying Cheap.” It highlighted the problems with regional airlines—those airlines that supplement major airlines by flying routes not profitable to fly with larger planes.  Frontline chose to air the program on the anniversary of the Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, NY.
I was surprised when I [...]

We’ve Come A Long Way Since Orville & Wilbur

Image via Wikipedia

December 17 is a historic day in aviation.
In 1903, 106 years ago, the Wright brothers made their first flight.
It was a monumental event then, but today their flight wouldn’t cover the distance from one wingtip on a Boeing 747 to the other.
Their feat was pretty amazing and we honor their achievement, but today’s [...]

The Crashing Side of Flying

People who are afraid to fly like to dwell on airplane crashes.  Imagine that!
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 [...]

Planes and Fear of Flying the Hollywood Way

If you’re a fearful flyer, maybe you’ve had someone who didn’t find your fear of flying real or believable.  Maybe they thought you are making this often debilitating fear up.
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 [...]

Fear of Flying–No Men Allowed!

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 [...]

Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!

Image by Rennett Stowe via Flickr

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 [...]

Quick But Strange Fear of Flying Cure

People constantly ask us what’s the best way to get over their fear of flying.  We always tell them that ultimately “you gotta fly to get over it.”
Well, one guy took that advice to heart..or rather to the air, over and over again.  Perhaps you heard of Mark Malkoff who decided to spend a month [...]

Do Fatality Rates Drive Your Fear of Flying?

Image by juicyrai via Flickr

People who are afraid to fly all have something in common, a fear of crashing.  They ask:  What’s my chance of dying?  When I saw an article about fatality rates on the front page of today’s Arizona Republic, I thought of all our FearlessFlight.com visitors who worry about crashes.
Here’s the headline [...]

Fear of Flying Worse Than Before?

Image by USACEpublicaffairs via Flickr

Is your fear of flying getting better or worse?  After the successful outcome of the Miracle on the Hudson Flight,  I posted a poll on Fearless Flight.com to take the fear of flying “temperature” of site visitors.   Presumably the visitors are fearful flyers.  Since I’ve posted the poll, there have been [...]

From Cockpit to Hotseat

As a fear of flying and aviation expert, the aftermath of the Miracle on the Hudson brought requests from the local media for my take on US Airways Flight 1549’s ditching in the Hudson River.  In one day, I appeared on one channel three times as an aviation expert and once for my fear of flying [...]

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