When sat in a car you don’t usually become disorientated because you can see everything around you. That is until you find yourself in thick fog, or better still, close your eyes (not whilst driving of course!).

Have you ever closed your eyes in a car in an effort to get some sleep, but found yourself trying to work out where you are via the direction the car is turning? It’s difficult, as you become very disorientating. Did you turn left or right? Where are you? It becomes very confusing.

The same can happen as a passenger on a commercial airliner.

When flying you can’t see in front or behind the aircraft. You only have that little window to look out of. As soon as you fly into cloud, or when flying at night you can’t see anything and this becomes a problem for many fearful flyers.

You can feel the aircraft turning, but did you know that your brain ‘resets’ your balance relatively quickly. It adjusts to the new position, and believes this to be level.

So, if flying at night – for example – and you feel the aircraft turn right, after a little while your brain believes that you are flying level. When the aircraft levels, you will believe that you are now turning left. If the aircraft now actually turns to the left, the nervous passenger will start to believe that the plane has moved too much in that direction.

In truth, the aircraft may be almost level, but your anxiety will get the better of you. Your imagination runs wild and you start to believe the aircraft is going to roll over and fall from the sky.

Unfortunately, you can’t see the instrument panel that the pilots have and therefore you have nothing to prove your imagination wrong.

When this happens, you must make a conscious effort to pay attention to which way you are turning. Why not write down on a piece of paper every turn the aircraft makes? By doing so, you are rationalising your fears with FACT.

In the example above you would have been able to check back over your notes to see that the aircraft turn right, then left (to level), and then left again.

In this case you would now be aware that the aircraft is simply making a completely normal left turn,

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Hello, and welcome to FlyingFear.net once again!

Today I want to talk to you about the lack of control you may experience when flying – and how you can combat that with relative ease.

According to recent studies, approximately 40% of fear of flying sufferers give a lack of control or fear of a panic attack as their main concern when travelling on an aircraft.

In future weeks I will cover panic attacks, but this is a simple tip for helping you feel more comfortable with not being in control. Ready? It sounds simple, but;

Meet the pilots before take-off.

If you are in a car, but you are not driving, you feel safe, right? The reason for this, is you know the driver. Even if you don’t (i.e. a taxi/cab/bus), you can still see that he/she is qualified for the job – and knows what they are doing.

The feeling of not being in control is greatly reduced by having trust in the person that is.

As I’ve already mentioned in previous articles, it’s recommended you ask to be boarded first. Doing so will enable you to ask the flight attendants if you can meet the pilots. Tell the crew you have a fear of flying and they will take you to the cockpit.

Tell the captain you are a nervous flyer, and he/she will talk through your fear with you. You will begin to see how highly trained, calm, and in control the pilots are. You may also like to ask for a basic explanation of how the plane flies, and what the various instruments do.

You may be thinking that this will not help you. But, through personal experience dealing with passengers such as yourself – it does. Once you take your seat, you will feel safe in the knowledge that there is a highly trained, and focused crew flying you to your destination.

Being able to match a face to the voice that comes over the PA during the flight, will help reassure you that all is ok.

So, on your next flight, make sure you ask to go and visit the flight deck crew. They will be happy to help you, so please do not be scared to ask.

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