Well, what a complete cock-up of a program Fear of Flying: Caught on Camera on Channel 4 have just shown us. That is if it was ever intended to be any help to those with a fear of flying of course….
This COULD have been a great, insightful, helpful program. Instead, it was another poorly researched, and poorly edited example of how the media worsens and/or causes people’s fears.
For example, at regular intervals the program showed aircraft incidents. This wouldn’t be such a terrible problem if they offered any explanation as to why these things happened, and how rare it is to experience anything like this. I have done 5000 flights+ now, and never had any emergency. That doesn’t mean I am lucky…. It is the norm!
The biggest editorial faux pas came about half way through when inexplicably they decided to show a crash involving a Boeing cargo aircraft. This aircraft crashed because it was carrying military equipment out of an Afghanistan air base. Unfortunately, the equipment had not been secured correctly and on take off moved from the front of the aircraft to the rear. This led to an irreversible loss of balance, and control. The aircraft stalled (not like in your car, an aircraft stall is when the wings are no longer providing the lift required to fly).
How is this incident related to passenger travel? Simply put, it is NOT. Channel 4 simply used it because it was a dramatic looking crash. Using this example is like saying driving is not safe because a Formula 1 driver died….. Just a complete editorial cock-up.
At no point did the program offer any advice as to how to overcome a fear of flying. Just a small comment near the end to state that experts believe they can help anybody with a fear of flying. Shocking.
This program would have been much better if instead of showing random aircraft incidents, they offered some real help and advice for sufferers…..
If you have – and I hope you haven’t – watched the whole program, please spend your time reading this website or invest in the only fear of flying course I recommend (SOAR). You can download a free article with Tom Bunn (Captain and therapist who runs SOAR) by CLICKING HERE
If you have any questions, ask away…
One response to “Fear of Flying: Caught on Camera”
“That is if it was ever intended to be any help to those with a fear of flying of course”.
Well, it never intended to be helpful to those with a fear of flying.
I agree with you entirely, but the C4 documentary was cheaply made and primarily based around people’s own footage of what their fears were. I found it interesting from a scientific point of view, but there was no help involved apart from the “quick quotes” from a few talking heads.
Neil,
PhooeyToFear.com