Do you suffer from aviophobia? If so, you’re not alone. But first, what even is aviophobia? Aviophobia is the fear of flying. This fear could exist in someone who has never flown before, as well as someone who has been flying for years. According to ABC news, about 6.5% of Americans suffer from aviophobia.
How do you overcome this fear? First, it’s important to realize that plane disasters are very infrequent. The reason why plane accidents are reported on the news, but not car accidents, is because plane accidents are so rare that they’re brought up every time one occurs. However, car accidents occur so frequently every day, so it’s not unusual enough to be newsworthy. Statistically speaking, the odds of dying in a car crash are 1 in 5000, while the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million.
Many people are scared in planes, and not in cars, because people believe they have some type of control in cars, especially if they are driving. When you drive a car, you control the vehicle you are in to some extent, and that makes you feel safe. Unfortunately, you do not get to control all the cars around you, so no matter how safely you drive, you can still get into a car accident. When you are in an airplane, you have no control at all. The only thing you can do to make yourself feel safe is to put your seatbelt on. People assume that when they are in an airplane, the pilot and co-pilot know what they are doing, have been properly trained, and will get you to your destination safely. But at the same time, many people still have a huge underlying fear that the plane will crash.
When a pilot warns the passengers on the plane that there is going to be turbulence on board, the passengers think that this will tremendously increase the risk of getting involved in a plane crash. In reality, however, the passengers on the plane shouldn’t be concerned about turbulence. Turbulence hasn’t been the cause of any plane crashes in recent decades. “Conditions might be annoying and uncomfortable, but the plane is not going to crash,” Pilot Patrick Smith says. Turbulence for a plane is just like a bump in the road for a car. Wind flow enables planes to travel. The wind flow is usually smooth, but if the smooth air turns tempestuous, it equates to turbulence.
One thing to always remember is that there are many copies of integral airplane essentials always available. As former Pan Am pilot Tom Bunn reminds us, “Everything you really need to fly a plane, there are two, three, or four of them on board….Anything that can break, you have multiples of it.”
Many airports and airlines also offer courses to help people overcome their fear of flying. These courses help people learn more about what goes into flying, which will then enable them to understand the process, and consequently become less scared of it.
It is so important for your life to overcome this fear if you have it, because there are so many places in life to visit that you can’t truly experience on your TV or in your community. There are cultures to visit, foods to taste, and experiences to have. So don’t miss out – get flying!