As I’ve had many emails from first time flyers with questions along the lines of ‘what is take-off like?’, I have a quick video for you showing a typical take-off from Madrid Barajas Airport.
NB: The odd noise you can hear as we go down the runway is my camera moving against the window – it’s not the plane. You would not hear this noise during take-off.
Hope the video helps……. Just hit the play button and enjoy.
Any questions?
Dear Kevin,
I love your site! I look at it every time a day to fly comes up. Knowledge has helped ease my fear, but my biggest irrational fear about flying is that the luggage hold will somehow come open during takeoff or even at 30,000 feet! How likely would that be to happen? Thanks!
Hi Jen,
Glad the site is useful to you!
The luggage hold is very securely closed with a very advanced locking mechanism that is checked by the ground crew as well as the aircraft systems. If there is any fault with the door, the onboard computers will alert the pilots. A plane will not even push back until the luggage hold door (along with all other doors) are firmly closed and safe.
Therefore the chance of that door opening on takeoff is more than highly unlikely, in fact, it’s pretty much impossible.
Dear Kevin,
My worst fear in flying is what if the plane does not climb during takeoff. What if it stalls soon after takeoff. Please do let me know if there is any chance of this happening and in what conditions. Secondly there is a term that pilots use before closing the gears on takeoff i.e. positive climb rate. Is there anything opposite to it say negative climb rate?
Hey,
I am going on a 12 hour flight from Canada to Italy in 53 days, and I am nervous to the point of considering cancelling the trip all together. I think my biggest problem is, despite all the stats I read ( and they do give some temporary relief ) I can only focus on the 1 plane that went down and not the 22,000 that landed or the 20 fatalities as opposed to the million of survivals. I just need to know if there’s ever been a moment when you’ve been scared while flying, and if you can offer any advice on overcoming this irrational fear?
Aimee,
A girl hopefully going to Europe in 53 days.
Just stumbled across this website! Well I am supposed to be going to Thailand in Feb, and I live in Scotland so that’s like a 13 hour flight! I have flown before but I was verrrry young so I don’t recall how it was unfortunately. It’s just dawning on me now that I will be stuck in the air for such a long period of time, wouldn’t be so bad if my first time flying was only for like an hour! This site does provide some reassurance, but there is always a chance that something can go wrong up there. If I do go to Thailand and return home safely, I don’t think I’d be scared of flying afterwards! But until then the concept is very much scary.
Hiyah,
My worst fear is not so much about crashing, although this is at the back of my mind. It is because I have a fear of heights and the thought of been that high up for a couple of hours panics me.I think it is the fact that I know, once we take off, that is it, no turning back until we reach destination and then I’ll have to do it all again coming back!!! Arghhh! lol!
I really want to do it for my kids, as they have never been abroad, and I don’t want them having the same anxieties as I have. I’m sure once I do it, I will be fine, but it’s just that fear of the unknown. It’s also great to see I’m not alone in my fears.
Thanks for listening, and any advice would be great,
Jen.