I've done hundreds of trans ocean flights on 787s, I have every intention of living forever and so far it's all going very well indeed. In all seriousness, I hope you get an opportunity to fly a 787, perhaps on an overland based route, since I'm sure you'll find it a really comfortable, great air quality, smooth and enjoyable flight. The B787, A380 and A350 are the only aircraft which allow me to work 4 hours in London, 4 hours in the office in the USA on the same day and feel completely fine about it.

The Newark to London sector is of course not directly over the ocean for that much of the trip. It generally goes to the tip of Newfoundland and over from there to Ireland (depending on wind speeds and directions). So at any stage it's actually not that far from airports in Canada, Greenland, Icelend, Ireland or the UK. And despite the thousands of 787s going over the Atlantic every year, it's rare any of them need to divert, and no more so than any other aircraft.

I'm much, much more concerned about some of London's taxi drivers frankly.

I hope you get better soon, it's all too easy to get anxious when you're feeling sub par, at least you really care about your friend, that's the positive side.