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?

I have two close friends who were both involved in accidents very recently. One was in the front carriage of the train that hit a car in NY, killing 6 and seriously injuring several more. The other was on the plane that skidded off the runway in NY, killing 0 and only nominal injuries on a handful of passengers. With that logic, my husband should stop his commute to work. Or at least have a fear of it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm scared of flying but I'm more scared of spending the rest of my life not going anywhere.

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.

Glad you heard the same as me wigglesrock IYSWIM.

My grandfather, who died of heart disease long before I was born, was in the merchant navy and torpedoed in WWI.

He was picked up clinging to wreckage soon after the attack but if he'd have been below deck or in the water for very long he wouldn't have survived even if he'd been Rebecca Adlington. It was too cold and rough.

Those men in his war and on the North Atlantic convoys in WWII must have been terrified of sinking.

I'm a bit about the statistics too.

You hardly ever hear about survivors of plane crashes, if you do it's 1 or 2 "miracle survivors". I know there have been incidents like the one on the Hudson River, but you don't hear about them very often.

So are there plane crashes that aren't reported because everyone survives? - which doesn't make me any more confident I have to say

I've read statistics about which part of the aircraft you're in being a factor as to whether you survive, whether the pilot deliberately "ditches" the aircraft, etc, etc.

I'd much rather go on a plane with rigorously trained pilots than on a motorway with people doing all sorts of dangerous/distracting things whilst drivng - answering phones, cutting people up, changing music, eating, smoking, nagging their DC and some people have their cars so full of stuff that they can't even see through the back window.

Am afraid of flying too.

Crashes etc obviously make it worse.

To me fear is grounded in lack of any control over situation. Crash very unlikely but if it happened you couldn't do much to save self.

It helps me to be as near as possible to air hostesses and observe their routine lack of fear. Also as many ddistractions as possible.

Flying with someone up beat and chatting helps as well - dh likes to be quiet when flying without kids and nap or read which is fine but doesn't help much.

The hostesses lack of fear always reassures me too when you're bouncing around in a bit of turbulence.

Oh god - 16 kids and their 2 teachers were onboard :(

DD was supposed to be going to Brazil twice now with her dad, both times he cancelled, both times I was absolutely beside myself with fear for DD flying all that way and had a real internal battle between wanting my DD to see her extended family and experience her heritage and not wanting her to get on a plane.

Hmm. I live in Germany. I'm not sure about impeccably maintained. Germanwings is a budget airline much like Ryanair, and the parent company Lufthansa have frequent strikes, so much so that most of my American friends here avoid them.

BTW I don't think you can have seen footage of this flight, because none has been released yet. It's possible you're looking at footage of something else, some military footage is going around on twitter apparently.

"I'd much rather go on a plane with rigorously trained pilots than on a motorway with people doing all sorts of dangerous/distracting things whilst drivng - answering phones, cutting people up, changing music, eating, smoking, nagging their DC and some people have their cars so full of stuff that they can't even see through the back window."

yet how many times have you done this, and survived compared to how many times you have been on a plane and survived?

Survivors thing is that most planes don't crash. If there's a problem it's usual that the pilot can guide the plane to safety even if the engines fail - they don't just drop out of the sky, unless shot/blown up. They glide down and the pilot is able to control it to an extent. I am in no way an expert but I imagine this kind of landing would have been impossible in the alps because there are no large flat areas to land over.

Most problems there is prior warning of and the pilot can make an emergency landing at the nearest airport.

I know I've already said it but 1713 people died on Britain's roads last year.

1212 people died in plane crashes. That's worldwide.

There's no disputing that driving is more dangerous than flying.

Yes, of course there are plenty of accidents where no-one dies. As I posted before, even if we only look at commercial jets and serious accidents (where someone is injured or plane requires major repairs), 82% of them had no fatalities.

"There's no disputing that driving is more dangerous than flying."

there's no disputing that there are more cars on the roads at any one time than there are aeroplanes in the sky. The statistics are much more complicated than just comparing numbers of deaths.

I suspect if you run the stats for deaths per passenger mile travelled you'll still find that flying is much safer.

Statistics mean nothing if you or yours are the one.

Another steward watcher here, like the PP, especially during turbulence.

I'll never forget a rough landing last year, when I too DS for his first flight. Five-hour flight, bumpy descent and landing during which the first two rows of passengers suddenly all screamed out (followed closely by my armpits...by the time we got through security I was a biohazard!).

Once we'd come to a standstill, I said "Don't worry DS, that doesn't happen very often."

"That was my favourite bit, Mama! When the ladies were screaming!"

I just stared at him as the people behind giggled....

Yes but squoosh, the vast majority of people worldwide didn't get on a plane last year. Almost everyone in the UK got in a car. I understand that plane travel is very very safe but that particular comparison of statistics doesn't really work (or not to the nervous flyer anyway!)

At least it's one activity I have some control over though. If I never get in a plane I will never die falling out of the sky in one.

Someone once told me that you were just as likely to be killed by a plane crashing near you on the ground as you are by being in the plane itself. I don't know if that argument holds water. The last crash I can think of where people on the ground were killed was the Sao Paolo crash (2010?)

This thread has almost convinced me to stay grounded until my mum is dead though. She's the only person who couldn't cope and move on if I died and, for me, the biggest fear isn't dying in the crash (although that's a huge fear!) it's thinking about my mum hearing the news.

I don't know if it's any comfort but I've heard (I hear a lot of things - I don't know the truth about any of them!) that when a plane drops suddenly out the sky the sudden change in air pressure causes passengers to lose consciousness almost immediately and they probably aren't aware of the fall/crash.

Statistics mean nothing if you or yours are the one.

Let's all just stay at home then

Oh it's made me cry that children have died. Babies too. The fact they were on an exchange programme has hit home as a close friend is hosting an exchange student this week.

The last time we flew back to Heathrow safely ( Feb 14th 2015), we were an hour or so behind fatal crashes on the M1 and M40 (30 car pile up). Stuck with me.

I remember flying over the alps and that leg of the journey taking about 20 mins. I looked out of the window, praying that nothing went wrong at that point, because there was nowhere to bring a plane down safely. I hate flying with a passion and all reasoned logic just doesn't help. I know how safe it is, I know what noises the engines make, I know all the technical details. None of it stops me shaking. It's ridiculous.

We had an aborted landing a year or so ago when returning from holiday - we had almost landed (I'm happy when the plane's starting its descent). The hostesses looked confused (they were sitting facing me as we were in the first row). The one hostess mouthed to the other 'keep smiling'. That did me in. I was convinced that the landing gear was malfunctioning but 25 mins later after circling, we landed safely.

Motorcycling is considered the most dangerous mode of transporation. I'd take a flight every day if I had to and not worry about dying. Every motorbike journey would terrify me.

Oh no - I see that 16 schoolchildren were involved - unimaginable tragedy.

Stinkle are you me?! My fear has got worse over the past 5 years. The last time we went away was in 2011 to Ibiza (we went twice that year and i met dh in ibiza) i took shit loads of diazepam at the airport and barely remember the flight. I lost weight whilst on holiday as i couldn't eat or sleep due to the fear of flying home. At the airport on the way back i was on the phone crying to my Mum saying i couldn't get on the plane. What was supposed to be a family holiday was completely ruined by this fear. This was all in front of my 2 dc too so I'm not proud of that. I honestly don't know how i will ever be able to get on a plane again. I did the Virgin course and tried CBT but its not helped. I feel most sorry for dh as the dc will grow up and make their own choices poor dh is stuck with me!!