To ask you all to remind me how safe flying is?

[Titsywoo]

I bloody hate flying. Have a 4 hour flight tomorrow and am feeling ok now but will get nervous when on the plane. DD is also nervous but luckily DH and DS love it so we won't all be gibbering wrecks. I have read Allen Carrs flying book and one called flying with confidence which have made me feel better but still have a hint of dread in my stomach!

Flightradar should help you see just how many safe flights are buzzing around :)

Look at the calm faces of the air crew on board. They fly all the time, week in, week out. Once you get on board start thinking the lovely holiday that awaits you. All noises have a purpose. Dings mean the crew at one end of the plane need something from the other end of the plane ( milk, coffee, toilet roll) taking off a plane always feels like its dropping slightly- its levelling. Turbulence is just like a bump in the road and very normal, especially over water or mountains. Can you tell I'm a former fearful flyer 😀.

It isn't going to crash. Won't happen. Simple as that.

Besides which, even if you suffered almost any type of major failure up there you'd likely still land fine.

(Father has been flying jets for decades).

Yeah I do hate the turbulence so will remember that. It freaks me out when the plane shudders during turbulence. We'll be flying over quite a lot of mountains I think (passing the Alps).

Thanks betterthan. I wish I was like DH who loves flying and turbulence - weirdo .

Totally agree op but think those people who are calm about flying have absolutkry no imagination.

I have a few big glasses of don't sit by the window, close my eyes at takeoff and when cruising take out my pad and try to write a best seller.

Good luck and you know it will be fine.

Don't ever be worried about turbulence.
It really is just pot holes in the air. They just slow up the engines and bounce through it. You can't damage a plane with it. The handful of horror stories you've heard where it has had many other factors involved.

I totally sympathise, I hate flying and get myself in a right pickle about it. I do loads of flying though as my family love travelling, I flew to New Zealand last year and South Africa this year. I literally sit there doing breathing excersises all the way! It is probably the safest form of transport though, far far safer than driving! You will be fine, enjoy your trip

I sympathise OP, I hate flying. I'm determined not to let it stop me from seeing all the places I want to see though. Got a 6 hour flight in 2 weeks time, longest one I'll have been on so far!

Looking at Flight radar has actually really helped me. There's thousands of planes in the sky at any given time and they're all fine.

Take lots of things you really like to do so you have something on the flight to look forward to. Eg a new album on the iPod, a new book, extra-fluffy socks, luxury eye-mask, new crossword book, that sort of thing. Take sweets to suck on take off and landing if you get sore ears - nothing like sore ears for making you feel miserable. I highly recommend those sausage-shaped neck pillows too - no more cricked necks. Basically, distraction with treats is your friend :)

I'm former cabin crew. Been on more flights than most people have had hot dinners and still here to tell the tale.

Gottachangethename is bang on.

Years ago we used to let nervous passengers sit in the flight deck, but obviously that is no longer allowed.

Can you get a script for a small dose of Diazepam? Seen that work wonders on the most terrified of passengers.

Just think of turbulence as a bumpy road like on a car or bus.....the air is just a bit bumpy

I hate flying too (specifically the take off and climb), I'm okayish after that. I get all lightheaded even just walking down the airbridge onto the plane. Breathing exercises really helped me.

I loathe flying, but you gotta do it if you want to go to nice places!

I drink a few glasses of wine (they better not bring in this ban on alcohol on morning flights!!). I always sit by the window - I have to look outside or my head tells me the plane is plummeting and I go through all the sounds in my head - (that's the pilots running engine tests; that's the flaps moving, etc)

Flying is so safe. There's hundreds of flights in the air right now. They will all reach their destination safely.

wine
breathing
i say goodbye and i love you to my friends and family (in my head, obv!)
i'm better on bigger planes than small.......... thinking of doing a fear of flying course soon

Fear of flying courses are brilliant.

But in terms of tomorrow Titsy, can you give your friends or family your flight number and get them to track it? Or look it up on Flightradar and see how often it hasn't had a problem?

Distraction is a good technique and I think there's some anxiety things you can download on your phone, which may be worth investing in.

I had a huge fear of having another c section after I had one in which the anaesthetic wore off, so I downloaded some specific c section anxiety stuff (or maybe a friend gave me a CD, I can't remember) but I listened to it every night and it took me through what would happen with help practicing breathing techniques etc. It really worked! There must be something similar for flying.

In years of flying both long & short haul, I never once had an incident which caused me to think my number was up. I think one stat is that you would have to fly every day for 40 years in order to have an evens chance of experiencing a (highly survivable) cabin decompression.

And for every incident which has tragically happened (rare as rocking horse poo) makes future flights safer. But your flight will be fine. British aviation is amongst the safest in the world and flights which leave and arrive from U.K. airports have to meet exacting standards even if the airline itself isn't British. Which is why several airlines are banned.

I stopped being scared of flying when

a) I looked at flight radar and saw how many planes are in the sky, all day and night, every single day

b) I saw as I travelled, crew on the aircraft bored out of their minds but doing their best to smile at us passengers, and then at the other end, preparing for their flight right back again with scarcely an hour's break. They were doing a job, they were bored as anyone would be bored during a day of work. They weren't terrified, thinking 'oh god how do they stay up' and 'what if it falls out of the sky' - they were not expecting this to happen.

These two things really made me realise that flying is OK. It's fine. There's no need to worry. Just let the time pass.

Many years ago I was flying business from Frankfurt to Heathrow on an early morning flight. The passenger announcement came from the cockpit. At first I wondered how anyone could be so bloody cheerful at that time in the morning (and I am a morning person), then I nearly died laughing when the pilot introduced himself as "Mr" Angel. Although I love flying and have just done a holiday involving 9 hours there and 10 back, the short trip to London was so much better with an angel at the controls.
Some years later, online, I met a chap with the same name, turned out he was the pilot in question and we have been "seeing" one another for 10 years.
He even offer to teach me to fly!
So basically, flying is fun and safe, especially with an "Angel".

I hate flying too!!! Just decided to spend a week alone in fuerteventura last eeek and travelling alone I was a bit scared - had a stress free trip to the airport ... some wine (it was an afternoon flight!!),it was fine!! (4 hours£ - back a we later - more scarf and they put me I. The emergency exit seats!!!!! Anyway all was fine!!! There are hundreds, even thousands of planes flying all the time ... how many crashes?! Not many!!! Enjoy and relax X

The odds of you being on a flight that crashes are 1 in 11 million PER FLIGHT (and that is the average, you are even safer than this on major airlines). You are more likely to die falling out of bed.

I don't really like flying either.

I believe statistically, you have to get on a plane EVERY DAY for 19 THOUSAND YEARS to be guaranteed of being in an incident (and even then it may not be a serious one).

It is very safe.

I agree with Game I watch the flight attendants faces like a hawk, if they start to look panicked, then I do too

Oh also saw on a documentary that a plane takes off or lands somewhere in the world every 5 seconds - 24 hours a day.

Heaven help the planet with all this aviation fuel being burned!

Also, don't start worrying if the seatbelt signs come on out of nowhere. It doesn't always mean there is going to be turbulence.
It's just that everyone has to be seated when the Captain and Co-pilot want to wee or take a dump.

You'll be fine.

I did some experiments with my children at a science museum.
howthingsfly.si.edu/activities
And I remind myself that all crew and passengers are highly motivated to arrive safely.
Have a smooth flight!