I’m not going to insult your intelligence by implying that accidents do not happen. We all know they do. But, when I tell you that flying is safe, I do so with confidence.
Firstly, I would like to share with you some statistics from the very informative The Flying Book: Everything You’ve Ever Wondered About Flying on Airlines
- More people die in car crashes in the United States in SIX MONTHS than have died in all the airplane accidents WORLDWIDE in the last 100 YEARS.
- Based on statistics available 0.0000004% of airplanes crash
- If air travel was as safe as driving in a car, an aircraft carrying 120 people would crash without survivors every day of the year.
Ok. It’s very important that I remind you that I would NEVER undermine, or underestimate your fear of flying. Your scared of flying, and I desperately want to help you.
I wrote an article a few days back discussing the media’s obsession with airline incidents – and how they fuel the fire for a fearful flyer. But, unfortunately, the media only really report the stories we are interested in. The public are obsessed with any incident involving an aircraft (almost as much as we seem to be amazingly interested in the private lives of celebrities – although why anyone cares about who’s sleeping with who, and whose marriage is on the rocks I will never understand!).
Therefore, any incident will be heavily reported on the news. The unfortunate side-effect of this is that we start to believe that these incidents are a regular occurrence. But, that is not true.
The United States third largest airline operates approximately 2,660 flights PER DAY. That’s almost 1 million flights a year – and that’s just one airline, and not the largest.
The numbers are astonomical, and hard to grasp. In the first of my Free Fear of Flying Help articles, I advised you to go to the airport and watch planes take off and land. It really is hard to imagine how many flights operate without incident, but seeing is believing.
It’s a common statement made by many in the aviation industry that the most dangerous part of taking a flight is the drive to the airport. That statement is so true. When flying you are being looked after by a large number of highly trained individuals, working as a team to ensure your safety.
I hope that helps put things in perspective for you, and hope it helps you to stop being scared of flying. remember, you can contact me whenever you want. I will always answer any questions you may have.
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7 responses to “Scared of Flying? Let’s Put Things in Perspective”
hi, my name is mandi and I am scared to get on a plane. my fiance and I want to go to vegas to get married and the package we are looking at includes tickets to fly there and back. I want to go so badly but im so scared and I don’t want my fear to prevent me from getting married. I don’t know what to do. I have been on a plane several times when I was young and I loved it, but the last time I was on a plane I started having an extreme panic attack when we hit turbulence. I don’t know where it came from, but ever since then I get queezy just thinking about getting on a plane. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know if I should take a sedative before I get on the plane, im just scared to death but I don’t want my fear to make it so I never see the world. please help me, any advise you have I will greatly appreciate. thank you.
I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting together this site. I have a mild to moderate fear of flying and I have found it so genuine and helpful, thanks so much Kevin!
Hello, Ive just been reading your site. I travel alot, but always experience some form of anxiety…especially when I think of certain crashes, like the Airfrance flight from brazil to paris….I understand turbulence cant take a plane down, but didnt this accident occur because of bad weather and turbulence and malfunctioning sensors??? your thought are appreciated. thanks …..as passengers, we are not only fearful of uncontrollable events (weather) but pilot error….we rely on their training and expertise and this can soemtimes fail us. thanks
Hi. I am 10 and I have to go on a flight very soon and I am scared. What should I do? Thanx.
Please Help Soon!!!!!!!!
Im going to fly by Myself soon and I’m scared too but just think of it like this whoever is waiting for you at your destination can’t wait to see you and you wouldn’t see them if you didn’t get into that plane…. I’m 14 by the way
I am terrified of take off. A family friend, commercial pilot, once told me how safe flying was. He also said that the only real danger of flying is the take off. If you lose engine power while ascending and reaching cruising altitude, there is no way for the plane to recover. He has instilled a fear in me that I cannot shake. I haven’t flown in about 20 years! Help me!!