Afraid of flying?

[Nebulous]

Are you afraid of flying in an airplane?

 

[Retro]

Not at all. Hell, given the option, I'd watch an episode of Air Crash Investigation just to wind up the other passengers!

btw it's called Mayday in America.

 

[Tiffany]

I don't like to fly....but I don't like to fly because I don't fully trust that a part won't break down in mid-air because Johnny skipped the maintenance on that part but checked off that Johnny completed the maintenance anyway. Then I wonder if the pilot got enough sleep and wasn't partying the night before and has a hangover.

My mind wonder's too much on stuff like that. Plus, just like cars breakdown, so do planes. The problem is when a plane breaks down or loses an engine at 3000 feet, you are usually doomed unless you have a pilot by the name of Sully Sullenberger to get you back to earth in one peace.

I'd really like to trust flying because it's likely that I will be taking a trip in a few months and the flight will be super long. Oy vay!

 

[Retro]

I know it's easy to think of those disastrous what-ifs, Tiffs and feel unsettled. However, I hope I can settle your mind, at least a little bit, with a few facts:

• The bad crashes where everyone, or mostly everyone dies get much more press coverage and documentaries because they're so dramatic and shocking - and sells lots of newspapers and documentaries... However, they're only the smallest of percentages of all flights each year, much much less in number and chance that it will happen to you than fatal, or otherwise bad car crashes.
• The vast majority of incidences we never hear about, because the crew acted properly in averting disaster. Also, many things can go wrong in a plane and the built-in redundant systems keep it flying, often perfectly normally until it can be fixed on the ground. There are literally hundreds of these smaller incidents each year that one only reads about in formal aviation logs and enthusiast magazines - my enthusiast friend showed me this a while back, which I found very comforting.
• Losing both engines isn't normally a disaster. It's an emergency for sure, but planes are designed to glide for as long as possible without power and pilots are trained to handle such situations. The higher the plane if this happens, the better. Losing one engine, you'd hardly notice nowadays as a passenger. Even better with 4-engined planes, but alas, only the A380 is left nowadays that has these.
• Stick to reputable airlines like British Airways, Virgin, American equivalents etc and don't go to countries with poor maintenance standards. Don't go to Russia! As if you would, lol.

There's probably more things to list, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head.

Here's a video where the engines were both seriously affected by a maintenance problem at the airport, yet the pilots got the plane down in one piece and with zero injuries. This could have been catastrophic had it not been for the skill and professionalism of the pilots. Most incidents are like this, rather than the bad ones which grab all the headlines and scare people.

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[Tiffany]

I know it's easy to think of those disastrous what-ifs, Tiffs and feel unsettled. However, I hope I can settle your mind, at least a little bit, with a few facts:

• The bad crashes where everyone, or mostly everyone dies get much more press coverage and documentaries because they're so dramatic and shocking - and sells lots of newspapers and documentaries... However, they're only the smallest of percentages of all flights each year, much much less in number and chance that it will happen to you than fatal, or otherwise bad car crashes.
• The vast majority of incidences we never hear about, because the crew acted properly in averting disaster. Also, many things can go wrong in a plane and the built-in redundant systems keep it flying, often perfectly normally until it can be fixed on the ground. There are literally hundreds of these smaller incidents each year that one only reads about in formal aviation logs and enthusiast magazines - my enthusiast friend showed me this a while back, which I found very comforting.
• Losing both engines isn't normally a disaster. It's an emergency for sure, but planes are designed to glide for as long as possible without power and pilots are trained to handle such situations. The higher the plane if this happens, the better. Losing one engine, you'd hardly notice nowadays as a passenger. Even better with 4-engined planes, but alas, only the A380 is left nowadays that has these.
• Stick to reputable airlines like British Airways, Virgin, American equivalents etc and don't go to countries with poor maintenance standards. Don't go to Russia! As if you would, lol.

There's probably more things to list, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head.

Here's a video where the engines were both seriously affected by a maintenance problem at the airport, yet the pilots got the plane down in one piece and with zero injuries. This could have been catastrophic had it not been for the skill and professionalism of the pilots. Most incidents are like this, rather than the bad ones which grab all the headlines and scare people.

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@Retro ....thank you for settling my over-worked mind when it comes to flying. Also good to know that most of the incidents are minor and not reported except for those that really follow that news. I'll watch your video as soon as I can. We usually fly American and no, not going to Russia.