The Crashing Side of Flying

By Diane Owens • November 19th, 2009

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 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!

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.


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  2. Afraid to Fly? Then Meet the Pilots!
  3. Today Wasn’t A Good Day to Fly
Comments(2) Advice for partners of fearful flyers, Airplane Crashes, Aviation safety, Getting Started, Overcoming Fear of Flying, Travel tips

Comments

By Gordon Snow on February 1st, 2010 at 2:22 am

Going to fly to Paris in July with wife getting the feeling of fear in Belly,thinking of everything that could go wrong,
Engines fail before takeoff when in air,
something falls off,
landing gear won’t go down or will run off runway on landing and burst into flames please help me
Flying to Paris on American airlines

By Capt Ron on February 11th, 2010 at 2:14 am

I recently saw a quote attributed to Wayne Dyer: “Don’t believe everything you think.” That’s the downside to being human–we tend to think because it emerged from our consciousness complete with all sorts of “logic” that it makes it true.
What is it that you fear falling off? Failure for the landing gear to extend hasn’t been a problem since an aviation movie filmed back in the 40’s. Modern airplanes can alternately lower the landing gear by either “handcranking” it down or releasing “uplocks” and allowing it to fall into the down and locked position using gravity.
I can recall two recent incidents where an airliner departed the runway on landing. Although both airplanes were ultimately consumed by fire, EVERYONE survived with only minor injuries in both cases.
Airplanes have crashed in the past and will crash in the future–but not to the extent that your mind would have you believe. If the likelihood of being killed in a crash were the only criteria for choosing a mode of transportation, flying on a commercial airliner would be the last on your list to eliminate. Driving in your automobile would be among the first.
I would be interested in what you do to cope with these catastrophic thoughts when they arise. Without having any alternative coping mechanisms, your mind will continue to migrate toward the same catastrophic thinking.
If you would like to explore the possibilities more in depth privately, contact me at service@fearlessflight.com.
Capt Ron

 

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