Fear of Flying

[viscousmemories]

:pilot:

I flew to California and back last week and I am terrified of flying. It's not the possibility of dying that bothers me, it's the possibility of an extended plummet. In other words, I fear nothing but fear itself, but that is sufficient to make me dread the experience.

I welcome any corrections, additions, anecdotes, etc. I was also going to cover what I've learned about the physics of flight, but given the crazy length of this I'll do that in another thread.

Fears

These are the random - often irrational or unfounded - thoughts I have everytime I have to fly somewhere.

1. Flight is unnatural and miraculous
2. Mechanics are underpaid, overworked, and unskilled
3. Commercial jets are mostly old and worn out
4. Airports are too crowded and busy to coordinate flights safely
5. Pilots will take off and/or land in dangerously inclement weather to avoid backlogs
6. Safety checks and or preventative maintenance on the plane are skipped to save time/money
7. Unpredictable windshear is a constant threat
8. Any tiny mechanical malfunction will have catastrophic results
9. Pilots are underpaid and overworked
10. Plane will hit ice on the runway on landing
11. Landing gear will get stuck down or up

And here's what I have learned and/or tell myself to contradict these thoughts:

1. Flight is unnatural and miraculous

We may not have evolved to fly on our own, but the flight is based on natural, predictable science. It seems incredible to me only because I don't fully understand it. However my ignorance of this complex technology doesn't make it miraculous.

2. Mechanics are underpaid, overworked and unskilled

For one thing I have no idea if any of this is true, generally or specifically. Besides, I have no idea what role mechanics even have, if any. Do commercial jetliners have frequent little technical malfunctions that mechanics have to fix in between flights, or are they mostly doing "preventative maintenance"? I used to have to do "preventative maintenance" on my fuel truck when I was in the Army. This involved everything from making sure the lugnuts were tight to checking the oil level. Maybe it's because I drove the thing off the base about twice a year, but I never found a single thing that needed fixing or service in these weekly checks. Commercial jetliners, on the other hand, are in constant use. Do they therefore require a lot more servicing and/or preventative maintenance? If so, how foolproof is the technology? Does it matter if the mechanics are underpaid and unskilled?

3. Commercial jets are mostly old and worn out

I know for a fact that most commercial jets were made 20-30 years ago. Okay I don't really know that for a fact, but I think it's true. I always feel safer when I'm flying in a newer jet. This is because I think of it like a car. The older a car is, the less reliable it is. Of course this doesn't seem to be the case with jets, so I wonder if I'm not applying an inappropriate standard.

4. Airports are too crowded and busy to coordinate flights safely

Airports never cease to amaze me. They are so incredibly chaotic. People running around here and there. Driving little cars, talking on walkie-talkies. For it to work safely it must be efficient; there has to be an extraordinary organizational effort on every level. And from my personal experience with bureaucracies, the bigger they are the less efficient they tend to be. On this my only consolation is that it works. Yeah there are delays and various inconveniences, but I have never heard of an airline disaster that resulted from inefficiencies at the airport.

5. Pilots will take off and/or land in dangerously inclement weather to avoid backlogs

I tell myself this can't be true. That no pilot in his right mind would take such a chance with the lives of his crew and passengers, not to mention his own. I also tell myself that airlines realize a greater economic benefit from not having disasters than they lose by having delays, so they will always err on the side of safety.

6. Safety checks and or preventative maintenance on the plane are skipped to save time/money

This goes hand in hand with #2, because I'm unsure what kind of routine checks/maintenance are typically done to aircraft. I need to learn more about this.

7. Unpredictable windshear is a constant threat

Windshear is listed as the cause of a number of major disasters. What is this, how common is it and how is it generally avoided? This one really freaks me out still, because I know nothing about it.

8. Any tiny mechanical malfunction will have catastrophic results

I just realized the error in this thinking as I was preparing for my flight last week. I'm not sure why I've always believed this to be true, but on more careful consideration it seems highly implausible. I suspect it's much more likely that commercial jetliners have carefully segregated, redundant systems such that there could be any number of mechanical failures that don't have catastrophic results. I need to learn more about plane mechanics, though.

9. Pilots are underpaid and overworked

I have no idea if this is true, but what with all the recent talk about the financial woes of the airlines it wouldn't surprise me. When I was coming back from California last week a flight attendant standing near me as I boarded mumbled "We need to get a move-on here people. This cockpit goes illegal at 7:30 and we still haven't deiced the wings." I figured out what "de-icing" the wings entailed when I watched the technicians do it (I was half expecting them to skip it to save time), but I don't know what the cockpit going illegal meant. I guessed it meant the pilots were on the verge of working longer than they are legally allowed.

10. Plane will hit ice on the runway on landing

This still freaks me out.

11. Landing gear will get stuck down or up

This seems highly unlikely, given the fact that I've never heard of it happening. Still it freaks me out because to the best of my knowledge, a commercial jet can't land safely if the landing gear doesn't come down, and I understand that if it doesn't come up it could get ripped off at cruise speeds/altitude. I suspect they make sure it's up before they get up to that speed/altitude.

[Ex-zombie]

You forgot to include the demons that land on the wings and tear out the engine wiring. :D

[lady cop]

then there's the "hey, someone else is driving this thing and he could be drunk and i have abdicated all control over my life to this pilot" factor. i hate that. :pilot:

[viscousmemories]

You forgot to include the demons that land on the wings and tear out the engine wiring. :D
Not because it doesn't cross my mind. Seriously. :eek:

Fortunately I don't believe in wire eating flying demon monkies, so I never actually fear that happening. :D

then there's the "hey, someone else is driving this thing and he could be drunk and i have abdicated all control over my life to this pilot" factor. i hate that.
Amen. I tell myself a few things to overcome that fear:

1. Most pilots are probably not so reckless
2. The co-pilot probably wouldn't be drunk too
3. The plane computers make human error less likely

and lastly, I knew a guy who was training to become a commercial pilot and he was so committed to it he refused to drink or smoke even when he was in school. He was boring as hell at parties, but he boosted my faith in pilots. :)

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I think the statistical odds are greater for you to be killed by lightning striking you than dying in a plane crash. You are many times more likely to die in an auto accident than a plane crash. You're more likely to be killed by a pig than a shark. You're more likely to be crushed to death by a vending machine falling on you than shark attack. Irrational fears are just that, irrational. They are unfounded and unworthy of worry.

[livius drusus]

Well sure, but it's just because these fears are irrational that it doesn't seem likely to me that reason can defeat them. Help control and minimize the fear, yes. Make it disappear, no.

[LadyShea]

Anything I didn't respond to is because you have a good thought for it already.


2. Mechanics are underpaid, overworked and unskilled

For one thing I have no idea if any of this is true, generally or specifically. Besides, I have no idea what role mechanics even have, if any. Do commercial jetliners have frequent little technical malfunctions that mechanics have to fix in between flights, or are they mostly doing "preventative maintenance"? I used to have to do "preventative maintenance" on my fuel truck when I was in the Army. This involved everything from making sure the lugnuts were tight to checking the oil level. Maybe it's because I drove the thing off the base about twice a year, but I never found a single thing that needed fixing or service in these weekly checks. Commercial jetliners, on the other hand, are in constant use. Do they therefore require a lot more servicing and/or preventative maintenance? If so, how foolproof is the technology? Does it matter if the mechanics are underpaid and unskilled?

Every important part on a commercial jet replaced at some not too long interval even if it appears fine. In between replacements the parts are checked frequently. The mechanics are highly skilled and paid fairly well from my understanding.

3. Commercial jets are mostly old and worn out

I know for a fact that most commercial jets were made 20-30 years ago. Okay I don't really know that for a fact, but I think it's true. I always feel safer when I'm flying in a newer jet. This is because I think of it like a car. The older a car is, the less reliable it is. Of course this doesn't seem to be the case with jets, so I wonder if I'm not applying an inappropriate standard.

See above, a 20-30 year old car hasn't had the whole engine rebuilt/replaced a number of times, planes have as well as extensive replacement and maintenance of other parts.

5. Pilots will take off and/or land in dangerously inclement weather to avoid backlogs

I tell myself this can't be true. That no pilot in his right mind would take such a chance with the lives of his crew and passengers, not to mention his own. I also tell myself that airlines realize a greater economic benefit from not having disasters than they lose by having delays, so they will always err on the side of safety.

I wish....I sat in a plane for two hours due to a fast moving storm I am convinced the pilot could have beaten had he not had some problem with the toilet triple checked.

6. Safety checks and or preventative maintenance on the plane are skipped to save time/money

This goes hand in hand with #2, because I'm unsure what kind of routine checks/maintenance are typically done to aircraft. I need to learn more about this.

No, in fact, many important items are checked before each flight.

7. Unpredictable windshear is a constant threat

Windshear is listed as the cause of a number of major disasters. What is this, how common is it and how is it generally avoided? This one really freaks me out still, because I know nothing about it.
Windshear is unpredictable. I can't ease your mind on it except to tell you it isn't frequent. You are much more likely to encounter drunk drivers on the road than you are to hit windshear in a plane.

8. Any tiny mechanical malfunction will have catastrophic results

I just realized the error in this thinking as I was preparing for my flight last week. I'm not sure why I've always believed this to be true, but on more careful consideration it seems highly implausible. I suspect it's much more likely that commercial jetliners have carefully segregated, redundant systems such that there could be any number of mechanical failures that don't have catastrophic results. I need to learn more about plane mechanics, though.

A commercial liner can safely fly and land even with one engine out.

9. Pilots are underpaid and overworked

but I don't know what the cockpit going illegal meant. I guessed it meant the pilots were on the verge of working longer than they are legally allowed.

Yes, but this is usually due to weather delays or some such rather than grueling schedules. They don't want pilots to fly if they haven't had time to sleep.

10. Plane will hit ice on the runway on landing

This still freaks me out.
Um, ice on the runway really isn't much of a problem to a plane because of the weight. Even so, I think most airports in cold areas handle this easily. I have never heard of a crash due to ice on the runway.

11. Landing gear will get stuck down or up

This seems highly unlikely, given the fact that I've never heard of it happening. Still it freaks me out because to the best of my knowledge, a commercial jet can't land safely if the landing gear doesn't come down, and I understand that if it doesn't come up it could get ripped off at cruise speeds/altitude. I suspect they make sure it's up before they get up to that speed/altitude.

I may be wrong, but I believe there is some kind of redundancy for this and/or they can be manipulated manually if necessary

[lady cop]

so VM , i take it you didn't see the news story a year or so back of the miami pilot AND co-pilot removed from plane just before takeoff for being commode-hugging drunk? :plane: ..actually i am not really worried about DWF (drunk while flying) i just hate relinquishing any control whatsoever to anyone. (with one exception)

[Dingfod]

1. Flight is unnatural and miraculous. So are computers. But, the death rate per usage is probably a bit higher on airlines. But the, so is automobile travel, which is definitely more hazardous, whether per passenger mile or passenger trips.

2. Mechanics are underpaid, overworked, and unskilled. Commercial aircraft mechanics average about $21.50 an hour which includes mechanics in the hinterlands that only work on puddlejumpers. Commercial aircraft mechanics recieve about 3500 hours of training. I don't know whether they are overworked or not. Given most employers hatred of paying time and a half, I'd guess they probably are not.

3. Commercial jets are mostly old and worn out. The average age of major air carrier's fleets is between 7 and 10 years old. It varies from airline to airline though, with Northwest having the oldest planes, average age 18 or 19 years old. But, the planes components are replaced on a scheduled basis. I flew Salt Lake to Wichita on Vanguard before they went bankrupt. If the state of the interior of the plane was indicative of the rest of the airplane, it was a bit worrying, the upholstery was frayed, the carpet had holes in it, some of the seatbacks wouldn't stay upright, some of the tray-tables would stay latched in the up position either. But hey, it was cheap.

4. Airports are too crowded and busy to coordinate flights safely. A lot of airports are too crowded. Some of them even have a airplane traffic problem. But, as bad as it is, the safety record and ontime departure record is amazingly good.

5. Pilots will take off and/or land in dangerously inclement weather to avoid backlogs. With the modern instrumentation, they don't even need to actually see the runway to land the plane. In fact, some airliners could land themselves without assistance. It is the landings that I mostly worry about, that transition from airborn, flying along at hundreds of miles per hour and the ground is where almost all of the hazard of flying resides.

6. Safety checks and or preventative maintenance on the plane are skipped to save time/money. Mechanics and flight crews are always fighting the airlines. Their still very powerful unions are very quick to point out problems with this when airlines try to cut corners. FAA requirements still have to be met, regardless.

7. Unpredictable windshear is a constant threat. Not constant, mostly a problem in storms or approaching storm fronts and only really a problem if on approach with the engines backed off. My father-in-law is a flight instructor and because of his jet aircraft experience in the Air Force used to maintain his commercial rating. When he would visit us in Salt Lake, we lived in the flight path of the airport, we would sit on our deck critiquing the aircraft approaches. He told me that the turbine engines take too much time to spool up to full power, if the plan ran into problems on approach when flying along with the engines at idle (about 60-65% speed), they don't have any immediate reserve power to pull up. He said the best way was to approach nose high with the throttle still on fairly high, that way if they ran into trouble all the pilot would have to do is lower the nose and the airspeed would increase rapidly without losing altitude. He might have been smoking crack or something, but it made sense to me.

8. Any tiny mechanical malfunction will have catastrophic results. Commercial aircraft are required to not only be able to fly with only one engine, but to take off with one engine running, so don't worry about the engine. One defect can bring a plane down if it is the right one, true. But, I wouldn't consider the rudder falling off a tiny mechanical malfunction. Most aircraft have redundant systems in case of failure, backup hydraulic systems, electrical circuits, etc.

9. Pilots are underpaid and overworked. Underpaid? $110K to $175K a year and FAA limited flight hours mean they are neither underpaid nor overworked.

10. Plane will hit ice on the runway on landing. That shit happens with fair frequency, but that one isn't usually fatal. Planes have even been known to slide off runways in rain as well. Ice wouldn't usually be a problem in Los Angeles, but it could be in Dallas.

11. Landing gear will get stuck down or up. If the landing gear is stuck in the down position, the plane would return to the nearest airport. They can fly with it down, but not very efficiently. If the landing gear sticks in the up position, they might have to do a belly landing. There was a recent story of an airline with nosegear that didn't come down, I think it was in Trinidad but I'm not sure. The pilot brought the plane down in a perfect two-point landing not allowing the nose to go to the ground until they were going pretty slow, no fatalities and few injuries. A belly landing is a bit more dodgy, they airport safety crews usually spray a coating of fire retardant foam on the runway if a plane has to come in on it's belly. That reduces friction and reduces the chance of a fire. Of course, if they have to do a belly landing, they'll fly around and dump all the fuel first.

My reason for not wanting to fly is even more unreasoned than fearing the above things, I don't want to go without my boxcutter and miniature copy of the Quran. You just never know when you're going to need those things.

[viscousmemories]

Great responses you guys! Thanks. :yup:

[Adora]

I like flying. It's cool, and gives me cheap thrills. So I'm afraid I have nothing to contribute to this thread except for that. *withholds comments about water condensation and deep vein thrombosis*

[Corona688]

A commercial liner can safely fly and land even with one engine out. Reminds me of a story I read on the 'net somewhere. I've probably butchered it, but the core remains the same.

A long-distance bomber was flying with one fighter escort, and the fighter pilot was basically being an ass, flying around the bomber in circles demonstrating how the fighter could outfly it in every way. The fighter pilot unwisely asked the bomber pilot to demonstrate one thing he could do better, and was assured that he would live up to the challenge. But nothing seemed to happen.

After a bit, "...So? What did you do?" "We shut off two engines."