Are you concerned about flying?

[Famous Graham]

arguti said:

magpie215 said:

get yourself to the local airport and get a few flying lessons booked you will gain an understanding of the basics and what goes on at the pointy end of the aircraft.

you never know you might really get to enjoy flying as a hobby :-)

Never was scared about flying until I got my PPL - expired now but have never been able to relax on a flight since

I was going to say something similar. I've not got a PPL, but I started learning when I was 17. I'm convinced that that little knowledge has actually made me *more* anxious.

That said, though, flying twice a week for a year just gets you used to it and it becomes just a bus with wings, so I'm alright now.

Though, I still have 2 pints before boarding and listen carefully for the "bing" after take off that gives the crew the signal to get out of their seats and start about the rigmarole of looking after us

[V8LM]

Bill said:

What? The wings fall off?

Principles of Flight 101: wings don't fall off.

The wings fly upwards. It's the fuselage with the people in that falls and slams into the ground.

HTH

[Captain Cadillac]

swerni said:

Nope, I fly every week.

But I've never been able to eat fish on a plane,
It goes back to watching Airplane in the 80's.

Just have the Lasagna and you'll be fine

Seriously... I fly a lot less than I used to, but when I was going to the UK on a bikweekly basis in approx 02-04, it was a pain in the ass. Why? Mainly flew Orlando-Gatwick. Planes full of whiny sunburned kids... ugh. Security was a pain, no smoking, lines, etc. At least flying through Newark and Heathrow I can use the status that I have and skip the lines.

[Pommygranite]

McSam said:

Pommygranite said:

Its bullst all the 'more chance of a crash on the way to the airport' stats - at least the way to the airport might be a scrape, bump or full death but at least crashes on the road have variable chances of surviving and happen without much warning. Plane crashes seem to be certain screaming death after spending minutes of bowel emptying awareness surrounded by screaming people

OK, then - how about the also entirely true statement that you're more likely to be killed outright instantly in a road accident than you are in a plane?

Or perhaps that you're more likely to die very slowly and agonisingly as a result of a road accident, rather than in a plane?

Both overwhelmingly correct.

You're also quite unlikely to be buried alive, get ebola, be raped in prison, chopped up by a Mexican drug gang, eaten alive, or go to war but they're all fking scary thoughts nonetheless.

[ClaphamGT3]

SomeMinorTrouble said:

Its awful how they just panicked while other pilots have saved alot worse situations, but thats humans for you...

The one that got me most was the Uberlingen mid-air collision, seeing all of those promising children die needlessly because of two or 3 minor mess ups is harrowing, plus the reconstruction of the children flying through the air, lifeless

If pilot error and CRM failures in the Air France Flight scare you, google the Teneriefe air disaster.

(Pilot who didn't know where he was on the airfield + pilot who took off knowing he didn't have ATC clearance) + ATC who had 'lost' two taxiing 747s on his airfield = largest loss of life in a single air crash in the history of flight.

I like to think that things have moved on a long way since then...

[thinfourth2]

rumple said:

Im not scared of flying, i intensly dislike it, cramped ,airport hassle, fking hate it, its something i avoid if possible.

Same here

I avoid flying as much as possible

On a long haul flight i'm the one hoping for a crash on take-off so i can avoid 12 hours trapped in a tube full of pressurised farts with less space then a veal calf.

To crash on landing would be really annoying

[Colonial]

Nope.

I used to fly on a lot of small commuter planes (20 seaters) to regional areas around Australia.

The sort of plane that when it crashes it barely rates a passing mention.

Good fun. Really enjoy it. Especially those small planes.

But helicopters? Don't trust those fkers in the slightest.

[Mug]

I love flying, whether it be on a holiday plane to Spain, or in business class on an Emirates A380 to India, all good!

The best bit is the kick in the back you get when the pilot advances the throttles to take off power.... Yee Haw!!!!

[Ari]

Justices said:

Ahh.. the good old days. That cloud of smoke was the result of a plane load of clenched buttocks giving a sigh of relief I'd suspect.

Why "good old days"? Surely planes still have to make wind sheer landings?

[robmlufc]

Flying - perfectly safe
Crashing - not so good

[g3org3y]

No, I quite enjoy it. The missions surrounding getting to the airport/check in/the security show are much more annoying.

[ILoveMondeo]

magpie215 said:

get yourself to the local airport and get a few flying lessons booked you will gain an understanding of the basics and what goes on at the pointy end of the aircraft.

you never know you might really get to enjoy flying as a hobby :-)

Yeah, nothing like curing a fear of flying like getting up in a light aircraft!!!!

He'll never fly again!

[Fatman2]

davepoth said:

SomeMinorTrouble said:

What did airbus do??

It's the same if you work anywhere. I'll never touch a Sainsbury's doughnut again after working in the bakery there, for example.

I wish that were the case. I've worked for a fair few aero companies and whilst I'd happily work for them again, would have to be destitute to go back to Airbus.

Personally I found their attitude toward engineering horrible and whilst they have a lot of excellent systems in place, some clever manager decided to de-skill the very engineering that makes the industry so safe. I take my job quite seriously so don't want that kind of shoddiness on my hands.

[uuf361]

Not concerned at all.......flew from a relatively young age (3) and thought it was exciting......

In my mid 20's had a job which required 4 flights a week all over the US and flew straight after 9/11 (well as soon as a seat was available to get me out of Anchorage)........never been scared at all, even when I was in a forced emergency landing (broken landing gear) in Oklahoma where everything turned out fine.

Don't fly so much now (probably a dozen or so trips a year combination of work and fun.

[lazyitus]

Colonial said:

But helicopters? Don't trust those fkers in the slightest.

Ah - this, absolutely. I will never, ever, ever go up in a helicopter. Ever.

[JWH]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

So - let's have our first lesson, shall we, on what's safely possible, despite it appearing suicidal?

Huge, multi-engined 'Heavy' aircraft on final approach, laughing in the face of such trivia as 'wind shear'...

One linky of many on You Tube

In fairness Ray, despite that being a nice example of the lateral loads a 747's main gear will manage to survive, it's in fact a good example of a crew screwing up an admittedly difficult approach and continuing to an undesired outcome rather than throwing it away and trying again. His turn to final was started too late, probably because he didn't consider the extent of the tail wind he had on base leg and after that never really got it back together.

[missdiane]

Love and hate in the same moments, I love the excitement of flying and the power of taking off, but I am nervous and my hands will be very sweaty; every noise and change of speed worries me
Landing I look forward to as it means I am safe on ground, it just seems to take forever, worst flights are shortest ones, as I get nervous til we reach altitude and then we start descending; no time to relax
Not sure I could ever sleep on a flight, went 11 hours to Sri Lanka once, managed about a 5 minute sleep, was too nervous to sleep properly
Wouldn't stop me flying though; I'd never choose another method just because it made me nervous

[krallicious]

I never really gave it a second thought until a flight a couple of years ago. We took off from Male and initiated a steepish climb followed shortly by a banked right. During the turn the engines powered down and the plane 'slipped' before the pilot powered up again. It's the only time I have ever though "bloody hell" while flying.

I used to love turbulance when I was younger. I rememember flying from Norwich to Amsterdam with AirUK and having to step over many piles of vomit when leaving the aircraft. My brother and I had enjoyed the flight so much we were grinning from ear to ear!

[Justin Cyder]

ClaphamGT3 said:

If pilot error and CRM failures in the Air France Flight scare you, google the Teneriefe air disaster.

(Pilot who didn't know where he was on the airfield + pilot who took off knowing he didn't have ATC clearance) + ATC who had 'lost' two taxiing 747s on his airfield = largest loss of life in a single air crash in the history of flight.

I like to think that things have moved on a long way since then...

They have in some respects. The Tenerife disaster which I think is still the single largest loss of life in a civilian accident was a series of factors as are most accidents rather than one single event. There had been a bomb scare at Gran Canaria which had closed it, forcing dozens of planes crowd into Los Rodeos which was fogged in. The captain of the KLM jumbo was the chief pilot & his ego & status played a huge role in the crash since, boiling it down, he had this notion that being the top pilot, he could not delay his passengers becaus

Unfortunately for them, even though his very junior first officer understood that another 747 hadn't cleared the runway they were now barrelling down, he even in that moment of clarity, didn't feel he could contradict his captain & consequently, he radioed to the tower 'we're taking off, uh...we are at take off' in an effort to tell them what was going on. Too late, the planes collided & 583 people died.

[missdiane]

lazyitus said:

Colonial said:

But helicopters? Don't trust those fkers in the slightest.

Ah - this, absolutely. I will never, ever, ever go up in a helicopter. Ever.

You will only ever get me in one of them if it was air ambulance

Same goes for a hot air balloon, NEVER!
They are best viewed from ground level