Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Flying

For nervous air travelers, every ding, creak, or click an airplane makes can send us into a fear spiral. Even looking out the plane window can be traumatizing. Luckily, we have people who can help with that—not therapists, but former pilots who share their tactics for easing the anxiety when taking flights.

According to Chris Foster, and easyJet pilot, one of every six people has at least some fear of flying. Derbyshire Live recently spoke to him to get the details on exactly why someone shouldn’t be afraid, and he had some enlightening information.

First, if you leave your phone or electronic device on accidentally, it’s no big deal. Aircraft systems these days are more sophisticated and won’t be affected.

As far as things that can happen in-air that travelers sometimes worry about, never fear. The door cannot be opened during flight unless the cabin is depressurized. Turbulence rarely, if ever, affects a flight—planes are able to withstand much worse that what we consider bad turbulence. Though an engine could fail, it’s extremely unlikely thanks to all the hard work put in by the maintenance teams. If the pilot gets sick, the co-pilot—there’s always a co-pilot and they’re trained the same as the pilot—will take over the flight. And when they randomly turn on the seatbelt light, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong, just that there might be turbulence ahead.

You don’t need to be afraid of takeoff and landing, either. The tray table has to be up so no one gets hurt. The window blind has to stay up so the crew can see outside the plane and make sure there are no issues with the aircraft or on the tarmac. And if it sounds like the engine cuts out and your stomach drops, it’s just a reduction in thrust. Nothing to worry about!

[Photo: Shutterstock]