Capt. Ron’s Answer:

Antidepressants for pilots…I hate to tell you this but it’s long overdue.  I have been a proponent of the FAA allowing pilots to take certain medications for depression for years for two main reasons:  the first is that there are and have been pilots taking antidepressants for years, and this will bring the issue into the light and allow them to be properly administered and directed; the second reason is because some pilots NEED them.

The airline industry has been a leader (even over the medical profession) in drug and alcohol awareness and prevention.  The drug of choice for many pilots has always been alcohol.  Until the program was developed for a pilot to seek treatment and then enter an intense monitoring program, there were many pilots whose drinking was either unnoticed or ignored.  And not surprisingly, many had underlying depression as an accompanying malady.  Now the airline industry has the most successful record in any industry for returning pilots with the lowest recidivism (less than 1%).  The medical community has modeled their program for drug and alcohol abuse after ours.

The Delta crash at DFW in 1987 disclosed that the pilot had antidepressants in his blood in the post-crash autopsy.  When you listen to the cockpit voice recorder, there is a noticeable non-responsiveness on the part of the captain to his First Officer’s query about “lightning coming out of that one”:– the area of weather ahead of them resulting in the fateful windshear that proved fatal.

Thirty years ago we didn’t have any of the knowledge of brain science, depression, and the current vast array of treatments including the variety of medications that we have today.  Currently, if a pilot admits to being depressed and is formally diagnosed, he/she automatically loses his/her medical and career.  That is senseless when current medications exist (combined with mandatory counseling and monitoring) that would permit him/her to continue without cause for concern.  Think of the alternative where the fear of losing your livelihood and accompanying income results in either self-medicating with alcohol or medications obtained on the sly.

Despite the current policy of random screening for alcohol and drugs, some pilots will gamble out of fear and ignorance to preserve their jobs.

Yes ma’am, I’m a strong proponent of a program to provide for monitoring pilots with depression issues keeping the problem “in the Light” and out of the shadows where it has been for years.

Finally, let me speak to the issue of pilots taking antidepressants to which I have alluded.  The randomness of the problem combined with the ever-increasing technological advances in aviation minimize the possibility of a “perfect storm” of circumstances coming together is such a way where a pilot on antidepressants contributed in the slightest to an accident.  But, that should never serve to excuse our failure to be vigilant in this area.

When we know better, we do better.  And we have known for a long time that identifying pilots with depression and treating them appropriately is not only the right thing to do, but the safest thing.

Keep your eye on the ball…the problem with fear of flying is obsessive thinking as a means of feeling in control.  And the feeling is an illusion. One thing I have admired about you, as well as the many other fearful flyers I meet,  is your insatiable thirst for information.  Keep it up.  Don’t settle for all that’s available in the media.  For that matter, as Wayne Dyer says:  ”Don’t believe everything that you think.”  We fall prey to our own brains sometimes.

Happy Landings,

Capt. Ron

Related posts:

1. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!
2. Fear of Flying Pill–Myth or Cure?
3. 3 Things Pilots Fear

Image by State Library and Archives of Florida via Flickr

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 saw the special.  And if I was surprised, I imagined you, the flying public, was shocked.  Since I am an known as the fear of flying guy through my work at Fearless Flight.com, I immediately wondered what the reaction of fearful flyers would be.  I don’t know for sure, but I can imagine a fearful flyer thinking something like, “But, Capt. Ron, you said that flying is the safest way to travel on the planet.”

I have said that often in my fear of flying classes.  And I will continue to say that.  Why?  Because it’s true.  How do we know that?  The current plane crash statistics tell us that the chances of crashing are 1 in 23 million.  What these statistics tell us is DESPITE the issues raised in the broadcast, flying on a commercial airliner remains the safest way to travel. However,

knowing the statistics has rarely helped anyone overcome their fear of flying because the solution isn’t a problem solved by logic alone. The solution comes from moving through your fears in spite of your irrational thoughts.

How Negative Bias Works

Sounds a bit like double-talk—even to me.  Here’s what I mean.  Phobias like fear of flying are fueled by stories in the media through a process called “negative bias.”  If I think that flying is inherently dangerous, then I will be drawn to stories and events that support this thinking.  That’s the way the brain works.  If I brand myself as a Republican or Democrat, then I have a preference for the values and principles espoused by each respective party and consequently don’t look for new information.  I’m even more likely to filter out information that might actually cause me to change my mind!

The NTSB and Breaking the Accident Chain of Events

After watching the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings last year, I predicted that the Buffalo accident would be a catalyst for some needed changes in the airline industry.  These changes range from increased attention to the amount of time a pilot can remain on duty to the relationship between major airlines and their “code share” partners (those regional airlines that combine marketing resources and livery paint schemes to provide seamless travel for passengers).

The difference between you and me when viewing a broadcast like “Flying Cheap” or the NTSB hearings is perception, which varies widely because of our different backgrounds.  Before “Flying Cheap” was aired, you had no idea about the issues that were revealed.  On the other hand, I have been an advocate for Human Factors training for years-not just for pilots but for entire airline organizations. Safety happens on many levels in an airline, and accidents are the culmination of a chain of events. The pilots are often the ones who have the last opportunity to break the chain and prevent an accident, but they’re not the only ones. Other employees, such as mechanics in the Valuejet crash mentioned in the broadcast, are also responsible.

So I wasn’t shocked by the authenticity of the information or the way it was presented.  I encourage the process and whatever it takes to raise our collective consciousness to prevent accidents.  And no other industry has such a respectable tradition of investigating accidents to find causes and initiate corrective action as the airline industry.  I’ve said before, if each and every automobile accident were investigated and reported with the same diligence as a commercial airline accident, the number of automobile fatalities each year would be a fraction of the approximate 40,000 that do occur.

The same forces that cause us to resist change on an individual level are magnified in humanity as a group.  When do most fearful flyers initiate change?  When the cost of continuing existing behavior is outweighed by the benefits of changing.  When do organizations or industries (like airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration) change?  When the cost of continuing existing behavior is outweighed by the benefits of change.  And sometimes those benefits are not evident until public outrage is raised.  That, sadly, appears to be part of the human condition.

The fact is:  flying on a commercial airliner—including regional airlines—is still the safest way to travel on earth.  That should NEVER, however, serve as an excuse to reduce the vigilance that allows us to make that claim.

I will continue to promote airline flying as the safest way to travel on the planet.  Why?  Because the statistics support it to be so.  At the same time, I will continue to be an advocate of change in the airline industry to  improve those statistics even more.  Why?  Because I believe that it’s the right thing to do.

The Truth about Fearless Living

How do I view the issues raised in a story like “Flying Cheap”?  That’s easy—you tell the truth—always.  And the truth is that the issues raised in the story are real—and they have and will continue to have consequences if they go unacknowledged.  At the same time, if you use the likelihood of being killed in an accident as the only criteria for selecting your mode of transportation, you cannot justify getting into your car to go to the store.

Fear has a real purpose of alerting us to potential danger so that we can make a reasonable assessment about risk.  Fear is not supposed to prevent us from living a full, rich life.

So I choose to live fully and fearlessly. I hope you do the same.

Related posts:

1. Pill-Popping Pilots–Are You Kidding Me?

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 modern airliners just aren’t Orville and Wilbur’s airplane anymore.

Modern commercial airplanes are technological miracles compared to the Wright Flyer. The most significant improvements that have made flying the safest way to travel on the planet have been made in engines, air traffic control, and the study of human factors–how to make aviation even safer by eliminating the human causes of accidents.

Speaking of safety and airplane crashes, did you know you have a better chance of being elected President of the United States than being killed in an airplane crash?  And to achieve that statistical crash, you would have to fly once a day every day for 63,000 years.

While it’s tempting to feel more “in control” when driving in a car, facts say it just isn’t so.

So today we remember the Wright brothers for getting us started on our way to the safest and fastest way to travel.

Related posts:

1. The Crashing Side of Flying

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!

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

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 on a plane to overcome his fear of flying.  Throughout the month of June, he took 135 flights, and according to the article in CBC news Canada online, he took anywhere from five to a dozen flights a day.   Now that’s a whole new way to be a frequent flyer!

Not only did he cure his fear of flying, but he set a new record in the Guinness Book of Records, beating the old record of 128 flights in one month.

Unlike the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt,” for Malkoff familiarity with planes and pilots led to, well, familiarity.  And that was a very good thing!  Much of fear of flying is fear of the unknown, and after all those flights, everything pretty much became so routine, that Malkoff had nothing to fear.

In our fear of flying classes, Capt. Ron often tells fearful flyers that “if I could just take my brain with 16,000 hours of cockpit flying and transplant it into your brain, then you’d fall asleep before takeoff too.”

Malkoff is a comedy writer but there’s nothing funny about fear of flying. However, you can learn something from the funny guy.

You gotta fly to get over it!

I know it’s a Catch-22 situation:  you hate to fly so you avoid it.  But if you could educate yourself about flying, learn some coping strategies and then force yourself to take several short practice flights, you’d be well on your way to overcoming your fear.  Try it!  You won’t make the Guinness Book of Records, but you will become a better flyer…guaranteed!

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 Funny Business
2. Fear of Flying Pill–Myth or Cure?

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 that caught my eye:  “Fatality Rate on Arizona Roads at Record Low.”  I was wondering how many fearful drivers read the article and thought, “Gee, it’s getting safer to drive.”

Fearful drivers–did you catch what I said in that last paragraph?  Do you happen to know anyone who’s afraid to drive?  Well, you should!  You and I should be plenty worried every time we get into our vehicles.  According to the article, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration (NHTSA) said, “Nationally, we’ve been making some excellent progress.  I hesitate to say progress, because we still have 40,000 people getting killed every year.”

Forty thousand people!  That’s equivalent to the entire population of a small town!   Yet, a shockingly high number of people in the U.S. do die in auto accidents during one year’s time, but have you ever seen this headline:  “40,000 People Perish in Auto Accidents Each Year”?

Car crash statistics just aren’t big news.  Probably because they’re so common.

I decided to check these car crash statistics against the latest aircraft fatality stats.  I personally hate going to the NTSB site because I’ve never been able to find statistics in plane..oops, make that plain language.  The best stats I found were in an April 2, 2009 NTSB press release: “In both scheduled and non-scheduled services, the airlines carried 753 million passengers on over 10.8 million flights without a passenger fatality.”  Pretty impressive!

Then on Wikipedia, I discovered a Geneva, Switzerland site that compiles statistics on aviation accidents of aircraft “capable of carrying more than six passengers, not including helicopters, balloons, or fighter airplanes.” I went to Aviation Crashes Record Office (ACRO) and was impressed with the easy-to-understand information.

According to ACRO, 2007 was the safest year in terms of the number of aircraft accidents since 1963.  Last year, of the 136 accidents registered on the site, there were 968 fatalities.  I’m not much of a math whiz, but my calculator tells me that this is a mere TWO PERCENT of the amount of people killed yearly in U.S. auto accidents. Besides, ACRO keeps records of aircraft crashes all over the world!

So if you are really worried about aircraft crash statistics, I suggest you check out the ACRO site. Then draw your own conclusions about the role crash statistics plays in your fear of flying.

Just remember, the next time you get behind the wheel of your car, buckle up and be very careful out there!  YOU don’t want to be the next traffic statistic.

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. The Crashing Side of Flying
2. Fear of Flying Worse Than Before?

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 two other not-so-miraculous crashes.  Definitely not good PR for the flying business.

Almost 300 people have responded to the poll.  The results show that fearful flyers definitely are affected by plane crashes.

• Nineteen percent  have said that their fear of flying is WAY (my emphasis in the poll’s wording) worse than before.
• Thirty-one percent say that their fear of flying is slightly worse.
• Seventeen percent said they’ve experienced no change because flying really isn’t safe (again my wording of the poll’s question).

But  here’s the good news:

• Seventeen percent responded that the accident in the Hudson helped them to be less afraid to fly.
• And 15% of the respondents selected the answer,  “My fear is much less because of my increased confidence in pilots.”

That last group of respondents may be changing their minds after the Buffalo crash which is  looking like pilot error. Of the Buffalo crash, one Twitter user summed up what many were likely thinking:  “Damn.  The Buffalo plane crash kinda wipes out all the good will from the Hudson landing. Too many NY crashes.”

There is much speculation on what caused the Netherlands crash of a Turkish airliner.  Unfortunately nine people died, including several crew members and Boeing employees. But 126 of the original 135 people onboard survived.  A much better outcome than the Buffalo crash that killed 49 people on the plane and one on the ground.

The Reality of Plane Crashes

The fact is, airplanes do crash.

And with the recent New York, Buffalo, and Netherlands incidents, a fearful flyer tends to get more anxious.  Some wonder, “If accidents are so rare, what’s up with these three crashes so close together? And how do I know mine isn’t going to be the next one?”

Well, no one knows.  We can’t even predict what’s going to happen five minutes from now, can we?  But I like to look at the positive side of things:

• The fact that there was an amazing miracle flight that landed in the Hudson, and everyone walked away safely.
• The fact that more people on the ground weren’t killed in Buffalo.
• The fact that there were so many survivors in the Nethlands crash.
• And yes, even the fact that people have responded to my poll that they’re feeling a little less afraid than they were.

I like to point to evidence on Flightmemory.com that people are flying all over the place and living to record their trips.  It’s easy to think that flying isn’t safe when you look at the three recent incidents.  It’s even easier to narrow your microscope and look at THOSE THREE and say, “You can’t get me on any darn airplane!”

But yesterday alone, Flightmemory.com reports that its users logged 593,825 miles.  In case you’re math challenged, if you flew THAT many miles, you would circle the globe 23.85 times.  Hey, you could even fly me to the moon 2.486 times logging those kind of miles!

The users of the Flight Memory service also report that they flew on 494 flights, 127 of those being domestic and 34 intercontinental.  This data from yesterday applies only to the people who use this service to keep track of their trips.  Think of ALL the flights all over the world that took off, soared, and landed safely–just yesterday alone.

So, my fearful flyer readers, how much longer are you going to let your fear of flying keep you from logging some fearless miles?

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. Miracle on the Hudson Flight and Fear of Flying
2. What Puts the Fear in Fear of Flying?
3. Leaving Fear of Flying Worries Behind