To never want to get on a plane again?

[TwatMcTwonk]

Just watching coverage of the French air crash
I've always been a nervous flyer, took medication etc and would still be anxious all the way through the flight.

Used to go on holiday as a family, maybe two or three times a year, but I'm seriously thinking I don't think I could physically get on a plane again after all these news reports.

I know, statistically, it's rare to be involved in a plane crash, but I can't shake this awful feeling that it is just happening too often for my liking.

Anyone else feel like this?

It's irrational and statistically unlikely but the fear over rides any enjoyment I could get out of a trip

That's the thing isn't it?

Last year we went to Ibiza.

I forced myself on that plane with the aid of strong medication, but I spent the entire week dreading the return journey. I got no enjoyment from the holiday as I was utterly shitting it. Of course I want my kids to travel and see the world and I work really hard to make sure they can't see my fear, but it was such a horrible week.

My friend is a pilot. He's pointed out to me time and time again that he wouldn't go to work every day if he thought he was going to die. But it just doesn't help.

I know it's irrational, I know that statistically flying is the safest form of transport, but you can tell me that until you're blue in the face. I'm not stupid, I bloody know! I'm shit scared despite trying to over come it.

See, i hate trains, am always paranoid of coming off the rails! And cars too. And buses. I see imaginary accidents everywhere, its a tiring way to live.

People are afraid of all kinds of irrational things. Personally, I'm afraid of spiders - totally irrational - but there it is. Something small enough to step on and it has my leaping onto the sofa and whimpering.

I can understand your fear OP and you don't have to fly ever again, if you don't want to. You could drive, take the bus, train, ferry, hydrofoil or hop on your bike. However, none of those forms of transport will keep you safe - in fact many of them are statistically FAR more dangerous.

Have you taken a 'Fear of Flying' course? It might be worth looking into, if you can afford it.

The other thing you can do is avoid the stupid, sensationalist reporting of any kind of air disaster. As many others on this thread have said - if car accidents were reported in the same way none of us would ever leave our driveways for fear of being involved in some kind of hideous carnage. How many people do you personally know who've been killed in car accidents? I know three. I also know one person who was killed by a train on a level crossing (he was walking across the line with headphones on and didn't hear the train coming). I know no one who has died in a plane crash.

I find the antidote to fear is information and knowledge. That way you can rationalise your fears and put them in a box of an appropriate size. I hope it doesn't put you off enjoying more holidays with your family that involve getting on a plane. Just think of all the things you will miss if you don't.

Gosh 95% survive a plane crash? Wow.

I don't know whether or not YABU but I feel exactly the same.

Terrified of flying. I do it occasionally because I don't want (nor do I want my children) to miss out on foreign travel but I take valium, hold my breath and say my prayers. I won't fly if there's another feasible way of reaching the destination and there has to be at least 2 weeks between flights to make it worth the sleepless nights and horror.

I thought 2014 was the worst year on record for aviation safety. Sure I heard that somewhere. Slightly reassuring to hear it was the safest, despite all the headline news.

The BA fear of flying course helped me loads and without that I'd never have managed a transatlantic flight and seen New York, Washington DC, Boston, Brazil, Canada etc and built up wonderful memories that will stay with me forever. Don't take medication any more either.

I still hate take off and turbulence and I think I was once involved in a flight that had a near miss (the pilot told us it was ok but the other plane coming in to land was too bloody close for my liking!), but I can deal with it rationally -if I want to go to X, I have to fly to get there. How much does my wanting to go there outweigh the fear?

Thing is, I've ticked off all the long haul places I most wanted to go, and I have big concerns about the environmental impact of flying too. I think we should all be flying less anyway, personally, and whilst I can't impose my view on anyone else I can act for myself. Accordingly, we went to France by Eurotunnel last year (though I found the tunnel v claustrophobic and am just as scared at the thought of a fire in the tunnel as of a plane crash) and this year we are holidaying in the UK. Ferries are ok for me but DH gets sea sick so I imagine eurotunnel is our best bet for getting to Europe in future (plus we live quite close to it).

There is a lot more of Europe I want to see, but most of it quite close to hand. I'll probably never go to Oz or NZ or Tokyo, but I can live with that.

May do a flight next year, though: I kind of allow myself 1 flight every couple of years. DH has to fly for work more often and that uses up some of our (hypothetical) eco brownie points.

Getting over the fear of flying was a huge liberation for me, though, and I'm glad I did it. I don't get scared as a passenger in a car but I am terrified of driving myself (despite passing the test). That's the next thing to work on, as me not driving puts so much pressure on DH to be the main driver.

It scares me but I don't let it stop me going anywhere.

DH used to say I was daft until I pointed out that we were about to board a jet propelled tin can filled with thousands of gallons of highly flammable aviation fuel and allow ourselves to be fired off across the Atlantic ocean.

If I was the only one of the 2 of us that was a bit concerned about the situation then I wasn't the one being daft.

Maybe it is because if a car crashes no one necessarily dies or maybe 1-4 people. When a train crashes people don't always die. When a plane crashes generally most if not all die and that is 100s of people so somehow seems worse

I find Listening to Cabin Pressure, the R4 sitcom, helps with my fear of flying.

Strange, but true

That's fascinating reading HazleNutt, 95% chance of surviving a plane crash. I'm flabbergasted.

I know if a boat goes down in the middle of the sea, my basic swimming abilities aren't going to be much use

More importantly you wouldn't know where you were if you were asleep or even awake if you were below decks especially if the lights went out and the ship tipped over and you got separated, confused or injured.

I was at the inauguration of a huge cruise ship a fortnight ago (great do, btw) and below decks I had no idea where I was going and that's when I wasn't panicking and we didn't go anywhere.

That wouldn't stop me taking a cruise - what would be more likely is that it seems boring. But it made me think.

I'm a good swimmer but I don't fancy my chances in freezing water. I don't know whether it's a myth but I heard that lots of sailors rely more on safety procedures than learning to swim. I heard they'd rather die quickly than struggle. And I don't think drowning is a painless death .

I'm not particularly scared of flying though I do get twitchy about flying over huge expanses of water and don't thank those airlines who provide a TV map of the Atlantic and show that you are a tiny dot in the middle of it and the US .

I know that hitting water and hitting the ground from 30,000 ft is going to have the same impact but I just don't want to think about it.

I've been able to rationalise all the previous air crashes of the last year (MH370 was only just over a year ago) with all that shitty, spurious reasoning that people use: "Oh well, it's incredibly rare for an entire plane to vanish. This won't happen again for ages..."; "Oh, African plane goes down in the desert. Maybe they have a really bad safety record?" "Shot down over the Ukraine? That's terrible, but of course you'll be safe if you don't fly over that region"; "Air Asia plane goes down in the S. China sea? Another one???? Oh, but maybe they have a bad safety record too...", but I've run out of rationalisations for this one. European budget airline- subsidiary of a well respected national carrier.....that feels a bit too close to home. I'm not feeling too enthusiastic about flying again either .

(By the way, I don't want to suggest that any of the preceding air tragedies were lesser just because they weren't European carriers, just that that's how we rationalise away perceived danger).

Well, it's fine not to fly - you don't need those holidays. Where will you draw the line though - are your partner and children allowed to fly without you or would you prefer a total family ban?

Justusemyname I always cling onto remembering the crashes where people do survive & what a miracle it is - like the Hudson River crash in NY where everyone got out. Amazing work by the pilots to land on water and have everyone rescued. Just incredible bravery, and well, people doing their jobs as they were trained to do. So impressive.

I'm not an especially nervous flyer but I don't like it much. But I do think that fhe media is to blame for much of our feeling about this.... It's very sensationalised. Got the ITV lunchtime news on in the background at the moment and they're showing footage of friends and family who were waiting for the flight being ushered off in tears. That's made me feel sick. Things like that only serve to make me feel less happy about getting on a plane.

I've no fear of flying at all, but I wouldn't get on a ferry, cruise ship for a holiday. I know I'm being irrational but I just couldn't. I've no actual fear of water, I'm a great swimmer, always have been, love being by the sea, but boats no.

Limited - my pil was in the merchant navy for 15 years, he couldn't swim, neither could most of his friends - even now he would say that swimming wouldn't have saved him if he'd went in to the water.

Stubborn ....that sums up what I feel a little.

we were about to board a jet propelled tin can filled with thousands of gallons of highly flammable aviation fuel and allow ourselves to be fired off across the Atlantic ocean

What was REALLY daft is that they used to let people light up in them too!

1713 people died in car crashes in Britain last year. The lowest number since records began in 1926 but still a hell of a lot of people

But even with that statistic, I would MUCH rather die in a car than a plane. A car crash happens in a split second....but in a plane it's the possibility of it plummeting to the ground that I find absolutely terrifying.

When I say pil I mean fil!

Oh Alpaca that has bought back memories....the smoker crew would always work down the back ....the thick smog in that back cabin ....you could chew on it....vile.

Just what are the stats for clowns of bike deaths?

Someone asked if it was getting older or having children with you. For me it's definitely having children with me. I couldn't sleep easily in our ferry cabin a couple of years ago. Planes with children scare me because of those clips you see showing how people will trample others to get out. Even cars, I have to have a seatbelt cutter and window smasher because driving through lincolnshire gives me the jitters, how to help four children of we end up upside down in a dyke. My fears are only mild (they sound worse written here) compared to to some but definitely worse since having and travelling with children.

1713 people died in car crashes in Britain last year. The lowest number since records began in 1926 but still a hell of a lot of people.

I think that's a very small number of people in comparison to the total population and 25% of them were killed due to someone failing to look properly. I wonder what percentage of aircraft fatalities are caused by human error?

Thanks everyone, I'm surprised so many other people are just as nervous as I am but it's also comforting.

I know it's irrational and silly even, but I just hate flying. I'm not a wimpy person, or particularly dramatic or irrational in RL and totally get other people's reactions who are not fazed by flying, but it doesn't stop that awful knot I get in my tummy when the crew pull the doors shut

We have taken our DD (now 16) on lots of lovely holidays throughout her childhood, and really want to take baby McTwonk 18m on the same great trips so I am definitely going to have to get this phobia in check.

Starting by turning off the tv!

I wasn't talking about cars though, squoosh - I specifically said trains and buses.

Sorry, missed the train/bus part.