As a pilot who makes his living working for the airlines, I’m involved in aviation every day, in one capacity or another.  Being a de-facto diplomat for aviation, I love writing articles that might help fearful flyers.

A certain mystery surrounds aviation. Darkness, ethereal haze, or pure magic and sorcery?  Truthfully, I’m the wrong person to speculate in such matters; flying has always been as natural to me as walking. But, for most people—particularly people with a fear of flying, flying is not at all natural. With little effort, one can laundry-list the ill-feelings and discomforts. Too, the inconveniences that must be endured at the airports and the total relinquishment of control are anything but pleasant and test the patience of even seasoned travelers. Crew members, including pilots, have been known to reach their limits of tolerance at the madness of the entire airport scene.

So, flying is uncomfortable and unpleasant and most certainly something that the fearful flyer dreads. All these emotions get dumped into a bucket that we summarily label:  Fear.

Fair enough. I’ve got something to share with the fearful flyer:  Sometimes I experience fear too. What would make an airline pilot fearful, you wonder?  The list is not terribly long, so here it goes:

1. Thunderstorms. We routinely fly around thunderstorms. From April to November, pilots will be navigating around various areas of thunderstorm activity almost every time we go to work. We don’t fly through them, but we sometimes have to “pick our way around them.”   Now, let me explain what this means, and then you can check out the video.  We actually look at our on-board weather radar, which paints pretty color pictures of the moisture content of the thunderstorm, and then we stay out of those colored areas. Oh, I can hear it now!  You do WHAT?  While we trusting passengers read, sleep and fret, you pilot-types are trying to dodge colored blobs on a screen?!  Like on a video game?  Yep. True story. Surprisingly, very little specific training is provided. We learn this game by years of hard-earned experience and become very good at this mysterious art. The game is deadly serious, and when I start losing, I get scared. Real scared. White-knuckle scared. I remember the terrible nights flying air freight, alone, in poorly equipped piston twins and turboprops. IF the radar worked, I didn’t know how to use it very well, and I had no help. No flying partner. No resources. Nothing like now when we have all the modern resources and wonderfully engineered and beautifully maintained airplanes. Still, thunderstorms scare me. This confession made, I’ve seldom spilled coffee in the cockpit, and virtually all of the flights that involve “picking our way through,” are remarkably smooth and beautiful. Thunderstorms are an awe-inspiring sight to enjoy. From a distance.
2. Icy runways and taxiways. Ironically, the airports with major airline service have wonderful snow removal programs. Millions of dollars are spent on personnel and equipment and training. Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago have really impressive operations when the snow flies. Still, the runways can get slick, and, what is almost worse, the taxiways get slick, and they get obscured by low visibility conditions. I landed in New York’s JFK airport on one dark and stormy night. Actually, the First Officer landed the airplane, after shooting a beautiful ILS approach and making a smooth landing on a runway covered with hard-packed snow. It then took most of an hour and a half to taxi several miles to our gate, on taxiways that simply could not be kept clear of snow and ice. That same night, a cargo-carrying jet actually slid off a taxiway and closed part of the airport. It was a white-knuckle operation for me to taxi the airplane and keep the operation safe. Our crew was excellent; the best that the industry had to offer. Teamwork made the operation safe. Still, I’m never completely comfortable, and never completely relaxed, when airport operating surfaces are slick.
3. The absolute greatest fear that I have while flying is an old fear: Fire. There are no fire trucks at thirty-nine thousand feet. Sure, we have procedures to fight a fire, but it still takes ten minutes to descend and land, assuming that we are flying over a sizable airport. Assuming that we make an emergency descent to an airport that we can land on, then what?  There likely won’t be any planning during such a rare and extreme emergency, so we can do nothing but perform our emergency procedures, and then rely on our experience. I’ve been on fire before, fortunately on the ground, and it turned out to be a relatively low-cost loss of an engine on an old freighter that I was flying. Nobody got hurt, though I was fired… (No pun intended.)

So, pilots have fears too. I developed the ideas for this article while riding around the freeway that circles around and through Phoenix on my Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Why would a sane person ride a motorcycle?  Everybody knows that riding is dangerous and filled with risks and countless unknowns. I was not going anywhere. I was completely alone, on a solitary mission to nowhere. Completely pointless?  Probably, but I get my best thinking done when I’m riding that Harley, or in the flight deck of an Airbus.

There must be a primal need to risk and overcome. We all have fears. Some days, I don’t ride. Some days, I don’t fly. Occasionally, I pad around in my robe all day, and don’t leave the house. A sixth sense for danger?  Perhaps… It would be a good guess that all pilots have this sixth sense. We are a risk averse group of professionals. We are constantly weighing any risk against any potential reward. This characteristic is a large part of what makes airline flight as safe as it is.

This post turned out to be more personal than was originally intended. It is not meant to frighten anyone, but rather, to share and enlighten. We all have fears. Thank you for allowing me to share mine. Unlike the fearful flyer’s fear, mine serves to increase my vigilance and enhance my ability to do my job.

As Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” I hope we can all conquer our individual challenges.

Today’s guest blogger is Capt. Ron’s friend, Capt. John.  He has been flying since 1983 and has logged 20,000 hours. He assists Capt. Ron in the live Phoenix classes when his flying schedule permits.

Related posts:

1. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!
2. What’s to Fear about a Short Hop in a Turboprop?
3. Another Routine Day to Fly

Occasionally people have experienced a bad landing that stuck in their mind and made them fearful about that portion of the flight.

Earlier this week one of the people going on our Advanced Class flight to San Diego asked me about the takeoffs and landings that can be expected at the San Diego airport.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had the luxury of flying into or out of that airport, so I had to refer her question to Capt. Ron. Of course, those people going on the Advanced Class will get a full debriefing beforehand so they’ll know exactly what to expect on the flight.

However, when I came across this YouTube video, I realized that flying into the San Diego airport will be NOTHING like landing on this 1150-feet long runway in the Caribbean.  On our flight into San Diego, we’ll be flying in a much bigger plane with a much longer runway.

I don’t want to make light of your fear of flying. After working with fearful flyers for almost five years, I know that it is a very real and serious fear that can ground you and reduce you to a quivering mound of jello.  But since Capt. Ron is always saying, “Oh, lighten up!”  I wanted to lighten up your day with this video. So I invite you to come land with me–just don’t forget your swimming suit!

For the most part, fearful flyers tell us that landings don’t bother them. In fact, many of them say that a landing is cause for celebrating because the flight will soon be over. Perhaps that is why Capt. Ron and I like to sign our emails “Happy Landings!”

So what about you?  Do you agree that landings are the best and least scary part of flying?

Related posts:

1. Announcing Advanced Fear of Flying Class
2. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!

I just ran across something about fear that resonated with me.  In conjunction with the new year, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on goal setting,  and I re-watched a five-minute video of a interview with Florida counselor Ken Donaldson that I saw a year ago that had helped me get my butt in gear and set SMART goals I was able to meet.

When I watched the same video this year, I heard Ken Donaldson say we shouldn’t let fear stand in our way.  Easier said than done!

Ken said instead of using the old acronym for fear, False Evidence Appearing Real, you should begin to tackle FEAR with the attitude of Face Everything And Rechoose.

I especially like this idea when I’m thinking of what I want to do in 2010.  Really, the thing that holds me back the most is my avoidance of things because of my fear.

Because I’m afraid of doing something, I avoid it or hold back or become stuck.  Kind of like what fearful flyers do in response to their fear of flying–they avoid flying or they fly only when they have to or they fly the same terrible old way they’ve been flying for years–scared and miserable.

So I asked myself what FEAR do I have that has caused me to avoid things.  Here’s my short list:  I’m afraid of technology.  I’m afraid of starting something complicated that’s going to take a whole lot of work or discipline.  I’m afraid of not being perfect or not doing something perfectly.

Keeping in mind Ken’s advice on tackling FEAR, I have come up with some goals for 2010.  (1) Increase our marketing of the newly designed downloadable Flight Harmonizer so that more fearful flyers will have the freedom to fly without fear with the help of this amazing audio product. (2) By June 1, finish and publish the book about fear of flying that Capt. Ron and I have been working on.  (3) Focus on continual improvement of our newly designed fearlessflight.com website so that it can be an even better resource for fearful flyers.  (4) I want to keep learning and using social networking tools to find and connect with fearful flyers such as our Facebook fan page.

These goals mean I’ll be facing my fear of technology and fear of trying something new and complicated.  I need to do some rechoosing in 2010 to meet the goals that I’ve set.  I’ll need to remind myself frequently that our mission and passion is to help people become better flyers and enjoy the freedom of flying.

What fearful thing do you need to face this year that requires you to rechoose?  Your fear of flying?  Fear of failure?  Fear of quitting a job you hate?  Fear of starting your own business?

Related posts:

1. Fear of Flying or Fear of Landing

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

• Door #1, Having a Root Canal?
• or Door #2, Flying on an Airplane?

No related posts.

Fear of flying leads people to do strange things. Avoid flying. Drive for miles and miles. Take trains. Dread vacations and honeymoons. Hate turbulence. Bolt off a plane just before the door closes. But for a man in Scotland, his fear of flying was so bad, he could barely walk off the plane.

This last behavior may sound strange for a fearful flyer. Landing is cause for celebration: the plane hasn’t crashed and the agony of the flight is over. Walking off the plane should be a blessed event.

So what caused this Scotsman to require assistance in walking off the plane at the Aberdeen Airport? It seems he coped a little too vigorously with his fear of flying with alcohol–way too much alcohol. According to the Aberdeen Press and Journal, when an agent attempted to assist the man, he began yelling and swearing, a display of bad behavior that continued into the terminal.

The man who was terrified to fly may have reached his destination, but the sheriff was not impressed with his fear of flying coping strategy and fined him 160 pounds for disorderly conduct.

We at Fearless Flight.com sincerely hope that you find an alternate way of coping with your fear of flying other than over-using alcohol. Although alcohol offers a temporary solution, it could lead to permanent embarrassment. There are better ways to manage your fear!

It’s never too late to find a way to fly differently. It’s never too late to begin to do something to change what isn’t working. Whether it’s a new year, a new month, or a new day, set a goal to overcome your fear of flying using the tips and tools we offer at Fearless Flight.com.

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. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly
2. Top 10 Worries Besides Fear of Flying
3. Ray Bradbury’s Novel Way to Overcome Fear of Flying

“Am pleased to report that I had the best experience ever! I was even able to enjoy my holiday and not be filled with dread at the thought of having to get on a plane to return home. YAY!”

YAY indeed.  When you’re no longer afraid to fly, the world opens up.  You’ll find you actually have time to worry about other things instead of crashing, dying, turbulence, etc.   In fact, as I was getting ready for a five-day trip to Chicago, I discovered some of them.

10.  Worries about what to pack. What to take when the weather’s different from where you live?  What will I feel like wearing three days from now? How many clothes are too many?  Not enough?  Warm enough?  Boots, umbrellas, or bikinis?  What will my favorite outfit look like wrinkled?

9.  Worries about what I left behind. The good news is that once you’ve left it behind, it’s too late to worry.  I left home without a toothbrush (pretty easy to replace but still a pain, and bad breath is never welcome no matter what city you fly to) and my watch, which made the next worry even bigger.

8. Worries about Time. How will I wake up in time to leave on what I call a “red rooster” flight (one where you get up before the chickens).  Which friend would be willing to drive me to the airport at 5:00 a.m.? How much traffic or construction on the way to the airport?  How long will it take to check luggage?  Will security lines be long?  (Hint:  They always are!)  Will the flight be delayed?  (Same hint as the security lines.)

7.  Fear of not bringing enough money. This can be remedied by a quick stop at the ATM on the way to the airport, provided you have money in your account AND you’ve covered worry number 8 above–there’s enough time to stop.

6.  Worries about who’s in charge at home. In my case, it was my daughter who kept my cats alive (not the plants though) and Captain Ron who minded the Fearless Flight store.  To cope with this worry, use your cell phone to check in.

5.  Worries about lack of sleep. This applies if you’re taking the aforementioned “red rooster” flight or the other famous flight of color, “the red eye.”  You can try to catch a nap on the plane, provided you’re not sitting across the aisle from a screaming baby.  Don’t stop at Starbucks on the way to the gate either.  Caffeine not only aggravates sleep, it also aggravates fear of flying.

4.  Worries about how you’ll look/do/appear when you get to your destination. Will your presentation be successful?  Will your daughter away at school have taken up with a scuzzy boyfriend?  Will you still look as good as you did 20 years ago when you fly back to your high school reunion?  Will you need a vacation from your vacation when you get back?

3. Fear of germs. In the share-the-air environment of an aircraft, this one did cross my mind even before I saw the woman seven rows behind me wearing a surgical mask.  I’m not sure she was more worried about giving germs than getting them.  I was happy to be seated several rows ahead of her.

2.  Fear of your seatmate. Will you be seated next to the aforementioned cry baby or the huge man who really needs two seats?  A woman dressed like the Southwest Airlines Playboy Honey of the month?  (Oops, sorry, this last one isn’t a fear if you’re a guy, is it?)

AND THE NUMBER ONE THING TO WORRY ABOUT: Two words:  Lost Luggage. Will your luggage be there when you get there? Everybody worries about this one, folks, because it’s a very real possibility!  To deal with with this fear, I try to visualize my luggage riding on the destination airport’s carousel, ala the Power of Positive Thinking and the Law of Attraction.  So far, this has worked–even when I was a “little” late getting to the airport (because I left my watch behind, remember) which resulted in my luggage being tagged with a yellow fluorescent tag LATE CHECK IN.  The baggage carrier kindly warned me she couldn’t guarantee my bags would arrive at the same time I did.  But they did–thank you, Southwest.  So much for embarrassing luggage labels!

And speaking of labels, when you get over being a fearful flyer, you can wear a brand new label, just like me:  WORRY WART.  But becoming a fearless flyer is entirely worth the trade off.

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. Leaving Fear of Flying Worries Behind
2. Whether You Fly Or Not
3. Fear of Flying or Fear of Landing

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