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Mr Play It Safe was afraid to fly
61 replies
Santi said on July 14, 2004 07:07:
Does anyone think there is any real good reason to be afraid of flying?
How would you convince someone who is afraid?
i_jera said on July 14, 2004 07:16:
>> Y’know what they say... If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings.
You just denied any of the achievments of this civilization
About convincing, as far as I know it’s really much safer to fly with a plane than to travel with anything else...
Roxer93 said on July 14, 2004 07:28:
Ok then. Maybe God did want him to fly....He gave him the ability to construct aircraft.
But this is not a religious topic. I was just sayin’...... :)
kachina008 said on July 14, 2004 07:46:
I’m afraid it is not a matter of convincing anyone...it’s a phobia like anything else.
I was flying in a BA flight across the atlantic when we ran into the worse turbulence I have ever been in. that was pretty scary, altho mentally, u KNOW that turbulence is nothing to be scared of, REALLY.
Denstandigaresan said on July 14, 2004 09:30:
I’m afraid of my own shadow... but in my case I was desperate to see Per live, so I just did it. I took a train for the first time too, which is my number one fear... but I did it, and enjoyed it. Then I arrived at that airport. Elephants in my tummy... but got on plane and was fine! Flown 4 times in all now. Love it. :D
It’s the fear that’s the problem, not the flying.
ally77 said on July 14, 2004 09:55:
Whoohooooooooo I just love to fly! ;) mind you I love doing anything whether it be on my own or with others!
Rich-UK said on July 14, 2004 10:51:
I don’t think there are many real reasons to be afraid of flying, at least not if you’re prepared to drive a car or catch a train.
My Dad & I are going to Sweden this summer and he doesn’t want to fly but I persuaded him that it would be OK with rational arguments.
For example, flying is a very safe form of transport, even with the small risk per flight from terrorism, because although the occasional plane crash will make the news there are many more casualties from car accidents.
He says that an aspect of flying he doesn’t like is having no control of the situation, but we have little control when we’re on a train / bus.
Also, people can sometimes remember turbulence from a previous flight which was not dangerous but not everyone understands that.
Also, I think a problem in general is that some people are afraid of flying because they don’t understand how planes stay up in the air, so the ability to give a physics lesson can sometimes help (another rational argument).
So I’m happy, but if you don’t hear from me after 9th August then maybe the plane came down as we thought “isn’t that nice”... Rich
purplemedusa said on July 14, 2004 17:04:
Well, now there’s something I don’t dig... just the thought gives me the heaby-geabies!! Brrr!!
Firstly, I can’t handle small spaces!! Give me vast openess... and on a plane it’s not like you can get off when you are uncomfortable!!
Secondly, being a smoker the entire plane-ride is absolute torture!! (Not to mention a 16hour flight!!)
Thirdly, there’s waaay to much alcohol available which i cannot resist hence leading to a bigger craving for nicotine!! (And then they want to give me coffee to sobre me up... pffff... can’t do coffee without a smoke?)
Forthly, landings are my worst!! Somehow, my stomach just cannot take it & had a couple of close calls in the past - what kept me from thowing was the lemon from my g&t!!
But at the end of the day, if there’s a good motivating factor (like going to see P&M) I’ll swallow the torture...
Roxer93 said on July 15, 2004 00:52:
pm- I’m not a smoker, but I’ve seen what my husband’s like after a long period without nicotine!!!
I reckon they should have a smoking room on planes! Especially on long flights. Failing that, thay should give out free nicotine patches!!!
Denstandigaresan said on July 16, 2004 00:04:
A smoking room on planes? Did you not know naked flames and the inside of a flying plane don’t mix? BOOOOOOOOOM.
Now here is a thought, just a thought. Why not get yourself a nicotine patch. Shove it on, and then chew on a pen, if it’s the feeling of putting something in your mouth! ;)
Would probably help the cravings.
Roxer93 said on July 16, 2004 00:21:
Sorry, I don’t know anything about planes.
I did, however, already mention nicotine patches! :)
purplemedusa said on July 16, 2004 08:48:
Hey... I don’t care if I have to hang underneath a plane to have a smoke... but there’s nothing worse not being able to light that fag when you’ve got the cravin!!
MiracleMan said on July 17, 2004 01:31:
Denny, they used to smoke the equivalent of an English fog on planes back when cigarettes were advertised on TV by doctors.
Not afraid to fly, and uless a wing snaps off in mid flight, I think I’ll be fine. I’ll be flying six times in the next three weeks. So if I was afraid, I’d be pretty well effed.
But, that said, I hate TURBULANCE! And turbulance on a small plane is worse. That could make an atheist positively papal.
zaine said on July 17, 2004 11:22:
I’ve been told playing snap on a plane with turbulence is awesome
harriej said on March 11, 2005 20:32:
Last week I heard that around 800 people had died last year in plane crashes all over the world.
In the Netherlands alone, around 1100-1200 people dy in car crashes.
If you would see the number of people dying in car crashes all over the world, it is clear that it is much more dangerous to step in a car then in a plane.
The only thing is: If a plane goes crashing, you can be quite sure you will not survive it.
I myself don’t have any problems to take either a plane or a car.
ally77 said on March 16, 2005 22:50:
I don’t know but the ones that stick in my mind where... that I kind of researched once are...
DEAD 2752 (APPROX)
09/11/2001
New York City, New York American /United Airlines B767 / B767
_______________________
DEAD 583
03/27/1977
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Pan Am / KLM
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w770327.htm
_______________________
DEAD 270
12/21/1988
Lockerbie, Scotland
Pan American World Airways B747
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w881221.htm
_______________________
DEAD 229
09/02/1998
Off Nova Scotia, Canada
Swissair MD11
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w980902.htm
_______________________
DEAD 520
08/12/1985
Mt. Osutaka, Japan
Japan Air Lines B747
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w850812.htm
_______________________
DEAD 265
11/12/2001
Belle Harbor, Queens, New York
American Airlines
_______________________
DEAD 349
11/12/1996 New Delhi, India
Saudi / Kazastan B747 / Il76
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w961112.htm
_______________________
DEAD 141
08/29/1996
Spitsbergen, Norway
Vnokovo Airlines
_______________________
DEAD 124
03/05/1966
Mt. Fuji, Japan
British Overseas Airways B707
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w660305.htm
_______________________
Also there was a crash off Long Island in NYC in I think 99 involving TWA.... and then the Concorde crash in Paris...
MiracleMan said on March 16, 2005 22:58:
There was a crash today in Russia. . . or there abouts. 28 dead, 20+ survived but many critical, if I’m not mistaken.
eBay said on March 17, 2005 14:52:
I am flying ALL the time, seriously, this year alone I had been boarding planes about 15 times already, but it still scares me!
ally77 said on March 17, 2005 20:38:
MM, your right I read about it on the news... it does not worry me because I am more likely to get hit by a bus or something...
Santi said on March 17, 2005 22:36:
141 people in Spitsbergen??? I guess they were not going there, that they were only passing by. I mean, I’m the only person I know that would actually want to go to such a place as Spitsbergen.
By the way, thanks for the link, Ally, that site is really interesting!!
per_mson said on March 17, 2005 23:07:
I’m one of the people who are really afraid of flying. I know the statistics and all that and I know it is much more dangerous to go with the bus to the airport than it is to fly around the world, but I’m still terrified. I don’t know why it is like that and I have been trying to figure out a reason for it. It actually tend to get worse and worse for every flight I have done. It is not that I don’t trust the technology (I know a lot about airplanes, how they work in practise and more or less exactly what the pilot is doing at every moment. I’m also a huge fan of realistic flight sims on the PC, so I would basically even know how to fly such a thing, hehe.) or that I’m afraid of terrorists.. I just have a horrible feeling when I’m in a plane and the very worst thing is the start just after you left the ground.
The strange thing is that I always wanted to take a certificate so I can fly myself. Something I think would be great, but so far time and money has not fully allowed that... I must be strange!!??
moviefanblue said on April 15, 2005 06:42:
I flown 2 times already and nothing has happened except the last flight was bit bumpy. I do get scared to go on the plane but I overcome the fear. I actually talk to people I don’t know so that way I won’t have to worry about anything or just read a magazine then the plane shouldn’t scare you much. It is really scary to fly these days because of all the plane crashes going on but what do you know if you got someone with you that you know then you should be okay. You can survive more in a car because your on ground. I’m not worried about trains they do not scare me. I just hate flying becuase your in the sky and you don’t know what’s going to happen rather the plane is going to crash or not. But I surived from 2 flights I took and I made it home safely. Flying can be sometimes fun but the plane crashes worry me.
ally77 said on April 15, 2005 08:15:
Guy that lives near me has his licence for flying, got it 8 months before he passed his driving test! :) Think he is almost 18 but a junior in the RAF cadets or something...
LittleSpooky said on April 15, 2005 10:22:
I recently took a flight (well, if you consider October recent) to / from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a paintball scenario game.
The trip out was good, the trip back had a couple of problems:
Some fool popped the clutch on the 737 that had pushed back from the gate before my plane did and subsequently, we were late pushing back from the gate. Wound up getting into my connecting city later than anticipated and had to sprint from one side of the terminal to the other (NOT fun after camping out and getting about 10 hours of sleep the entire weekend). Barely made my flight back, but did and it was one I don’t remember much. I slept that leg back into SLC.
Those that quote death statistics from plane crashes forget the MILLIONS who travel daily with no troubles. Please don’t quote statistics when you don’t have ALL of them, you show only one side of the statistics, and that’s unfair and incorrect.
Santi said on April 19, 2005 20:40:
I flew today, nothing happens up there. I have not flown much (only 13 times... yes, today was the 13th), but it is quite calm there. I mean, I still get a bit nervous. Not during the cruise, but especially during the take-off.
Anyway, the statistics used to be given in relative numbers, I mean, you take into account the totla number of flights, right?
ally77 said on April 20, 2005 07:26:
Well I have nothing to report on any of the flights I have taken, and that’s quite a fair few in the past 15 years! :)
ally77 said on August 3, 2005 06:06:
Did you see this?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4740381.stm
I swear those people on board where very lucky to escape this fire on board.... 309 people all got off okay some minor injurys. There is nothing left off the plane...
Struck with lighting they think when it landed in bad weather.
RobS said on August 3, 2005 09:07:
It’s good to hear that everyone got off safely with only some minor injuries. Very lucky people indeed.
Interesting to note that it’s the first crash for the airbus A340 since 1991.
purplemedusa said on August 3, 2005 09:23:
Oh SHUT UP Ally! U know i’m in the process of buying my ticket to Greece and just thinking of flying makes me wanna throw!! LOL!
And remember i’m talking about a 9hour flight here! EEEeeek! I can’t handle 2 hours of flying just imagine how I’ll be shitting myself on this one!! I hope they keep loads of extra barf bags on the planes coz i’ll surely need them!
ally77 said on August 3, 2005 11:47:
Awww Purple your gonna be fine, don’t worry.... if your wanna pay for my ticket I’ll come and sit with you! :)
Roxfever said on August 3, 2005 14:20:
@purplemedusa, go and buy those pills that make flying the funniest thing you’ve ever done. I’m not exactly afraid of flying but always a bit nervous when I have to fly. Ok, very nervous and maybe a little bit afraid, I admit it ;-) But once a friend of mine who is really really afraid of flying and would rather walk the whole way than enter a plane offered me one of those little pills that are supposed to make you relax and enjoy the flight. I can tell you, they did. The flight only took about an hour but the weather was bad and it wasn’t what I would call a calm flight. But the turbulences were fun! Usually I’m everything but relaxed when the plane goes up and down, when the sound of the engine seems to change, etc. But this time I felt like sitting in a rollercoaster. I really enjoyed what I’m normally afraid of. You should try them. I think there a some you need a prescription for and others you can buy wihtout one. I assume those without a prescription are more harmless. Maybe you should take the harder ones :o) But I’m sure they’ll make your trip to Greece a funny journey not only once you’ve got there ;-)
purplemedusa said on August 3, 2005 19:38:
Yeah bring on the harder drugs i say! Oblivious & magic mushrooms... give me the whole damn lot coz i’m sure to be shitting on this one!!
ally77 said on August 3, 2005 20:00:
I read today in a magazine that the liklihood of being killed in an air crash is 1 in 10 million. When you consider your chances of being involved in a fatel car accident is 1 in 5000 and the risk of being caught up in a fatal train crash is 1 in 367,000 the odds are stacked hugely in favour of air travel....
ncurran said on August 3, 2005 20:55:
Yeah, i dont really get the fear of flying. I mean the take off and landing can be a bit rough sometimes, but when you’re up in the air it hardly feels like you are moving. The bigger the aircraft the better, and then you feel it even less. The only thing i dont like about long flights is that it is boring, especially if you have to transfer and you are hanging round airports for half the day
pwbbounce (moderator) said on August 4, 2005 14:10:
Not scared at all about flying, but I do prefer to go by Ferry. It’s more relaxed and you can go for a wonder round and you can smoke (Hey Purps!).
But obivously I wouldn’t go on a ferry from UK to USA! Too far! Between here and mainland though it ’s cool.
We have these 16 seater Tri-landers which fly between Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and the south coast of UK. Quite an experience!! Very loud and small inside!
ncurran said on August 4, 2005 14:46:
Yuk, I hate ferries....i did a 7 hour ferry ride from Plymouth to Roscoff (France) when i was 12. The weather was really rough that day and i spent the whole journey with my head in a sick bag....never again!
pwbbounce (moderator) said on August 4, 2005 15:11:
The rougher the better on Ferries!! We’ve got the Seacat type ferries which come here from the UK, and they are so much fun in the rough!! Came back from Jersey last Feb in a Force 8, and the whole thing was coming out the sea at the front, and slamming back in. Great fun!
ally77 said on August 4, 2005 20:10:
Now I like ferries..... but one Saturday morning I woke up early to put the tv on in my bedroom and on the news and heard about the Ferry disaster that had happened, and I was really scared esp as I was travelling to France the following weekend on a Ferry from the same company! jeez..... I’d been a year earlier on a ferry to Holland and it was excellent, the school planned a second trip in 1987 which I was so looking forward to.....
I think most of us where scared about it, but it was fine but a huge big thanx when we made it safe to France, needless to say I was scared but I was only 9!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6/newsid_2515000/...
zaine said on August 6, 2005 08:25:
this week i had my first ever time on an aeroplane, was well fun!!
ally77 said on August 6, 2005 18:09:
Another plane crash, they say things happen in three....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4127636.stm
ncurran said on August 6, 2005 18:14:
Nothing exciting. My sister moved over to Belfast last week, and its my mum’s 60th birthday next weekend, so the 2 of us are flying over to Belfast on Thursday and then all 3 of us are getting the train down to Dublin for a couple of nights, then flying back home on Sunday. I think the flight is only about 40 minutes anyway.
ally77 said on August 14, 2005 09:45:
and here is the 3rd one....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4150312.stm
Kinda scary when things do happen in three’s....
Santi said on August 15, 2005 09:03:
Now I’m the one flying on Thursday, so stop it!! :s :’(
I’m going with Virgin Express from Brussel (Belgium) to Valencia (Spain).
realsuga said on August 15, 2005 09:07:
I am totally petrified of flying namely because my dear father was killed in a Chinook Helicopter Crash in June 1994 - he, along with 28 others died. Naturally that puts the fear of god into me each time I get on a plane or experience turbulence or hear that Alanis Morissette line, lol!
However my reason tells me that from a risk point of view there’s lesser risk of being involved in an accident in the air (altho the odds of surviving one if they did happen are signficantly less, lol).
I was really reluctant to fly after dad’s death however as time goes on I board the plane more and more (can’t being to count how many flights I’ve been on this year alone!) and have even done a long-haul to Oz on my own! Nothing to fear but fear itself, methinx.
ally77 said on August 15, 2005 11:34:
I seriously don’t think anything would put me off flying... I love it!
Have a good trip Santi.... Virgin Express are good! :)
ally77 said on August 15, 2005 19:18:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4152806.stm
This one has been a real tragic thing.... the plane was known to be often faulty, and it seems that the temperature plumted so much in the flight that the crew and passengers where dead before the crash and that the plane circled the air for 45 minutes before it hit the mountain..... jeez those poor families of the dead....
ally77 said on August 16, 2005 11:54:
Oh dear, they are dropping like flies...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4156224.stm
152 people on board....
Roxfever said on August 16, 2005 22:23:
Isn’t it strange? There are always several plane crashes inbetween a few weeks and then nothing happens for a long time until the next “phase” starts. It’s the same with bus accidents. There aren’t any serious ones and suddently they seem to occur almost daily for a while...
ally77 said on August 24, 2005 12:20:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4178868.stm
another....
ally77 said on September 5, 2005 06:59:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4214452.stm
another..... jeez what is going on!
Roxer93 said on July 14, 2004 07:12:
Y’know what they say... If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings.