Afraid of Flying?
An aircraft laden with a few hundred passengers and crew on board, falling to the ground cannot be a good news to stomach for anyone - more so if you are afraid of flying. The reasons for such accidents, though far and few in between, are queer. A common thread running between these queer accidents when it comes to the cause is “the engines did not respond”. Why the engines did not respond - as an ordinary traveler, we may seldom get to know at all, irrespective of what ticket we travel on - the elite class or cheap airline tickets.
Aerophobia
Aerophobia has nothing to do with the class of travel. You can be on cheap airline tickets, or elite class, traveling on a Christmas vacation, family vacation packages or on a European vacation package. Interestingly there is a course Aviatours run with British Airways as a participating organizer, and several people have already taken the course. In the first place, accidents do not happen every other day. In 2006, there was only one accident per 1.5 million flights. In the same year less than 1000 people died due to accidents involving aircrafts, all around the globe, the number of deaths on European roads alone were 39000. These events when they do happen are not courteous enough to seek prior appointments.
Steps to overcome Aerophobia
Your plane ticket, or the air fare, or cheap airline tickets, nothing will have a bearing on aerophobia. Here are some of the factors which will help you overcome aerophobia.
- Prepare yourself in time for the trip
- Reach the airport in good time
- Eat right and less before you board a flight
- Avoid tight clothing
- If fear creeps into you, let the cabin attendant know
- If you are offered a different seat, accept it
- Try to exhale more and not inhale
- Consume more liquids than usual, but avoid alcohol
- Attempt doing what you fear most. Lookout of the window if you are afraid of the looking out of the window and if moving seat is the cause of your fear, move seat.
- Do not allow the “what if” thoughts to invade you. Simply stay in the present.
