get over my fear of flying

When I was a teenager, my family and I were on a small plane heading to Ft. Lauderdale. The tower directed the pilot of our plane into the path of a commercial flight. Realizing the mistake, the traffic controller frantically redirected us into a terrible storm. The plane was tossed like a toy in the wind. We lost and regained altitude repeatedly while spinning like a top. I thought we would all die. I flew several times after that with no fear, but in the last few years I have developed a claustrophobia on planes that sends me into panic attacks. This keeps me from traveling to far off places. I’ve conquered my claustrophobia in other closed-in places, but just the thought of boarding a plane makes my hands sweat. Not only getting on an airplane again is a goal, but I would like to enjoy the flight as well.

...I’m just terrified of crashing.

I think this sort of sums up my issue. I’m not really scared by the act of flying or even dying. I’m scared of the possible ways of dying as a result of flying. Make sense?

This phobia is one that has taken root in me sometime in the last 6 years or so. There was a time that flying never bothered me, actually I looked forward to it. And then I snapped.

It first hit me when I wanted to fly to visit family in South Carolina from Vermont, where I lived at the time. I got the time off of work, booked my flight, and let everyone know I was coming. Then, a week before I was supposed to go, it hit me… oh shit I’m getting on an airplane.

I went through with the trip, and when I’d landed in Philadelphia after the first leg from Burlington, VT I actually felt a bit silly about losing sleep for week about it. However, instead of it being a one time freak out it has just gotten worse at time goes on.

The last time I flew was about 4 years ago to a conference in Boston for work. I couldn’t sleep for weeks leading up to the day, literally drank my face off before boarding here locally and during a stopover in Charlotte. By the time we were ready to leave Charlotte for Boston I would have flown on a winged unicorn…

Now I avoid air travel at all costs. Two years ago when I had to take a business trip to Chicago I rented a car and drove 11 hours instead of flying. Last summer when my brother got married in New Jersey I rented a car and drove over 13 hours.

However, this summer, I have an event that I must fly to. As in there is no physical way to drive a car to it. So here I go… trying to attempt to figure out some way around this fear.

I’ve been flying since I was a baby, and was fine up until my early 20s. I don’t know why it hit me then, but for some reason I’ve gotten tense during the weeks building up to a flight. For someone who has successfully flown to places as far as Japan and Greece, it sucks to be dealing with this now. Since developing my fear, I’ve flown several times, but I want to get over the severe case of nerves I feel before and during so that I can learn to enjoy flying again.

took a trip to San Francisco asked for a non windows seat got a windows seat had a layover in Las Vegas for a hour both ways

i did it hated it and hope to god i never have to do it again

so yes i still have the fear but i did it hated it but still i well stick to the ground maybe a cruse that sounds enjoyable but would have to cruse both ways that cost a lot more soo oh well

as a kid and early teen, i flew a lot and had no issues. i was never scared until maybe age 13 or 14. i remember hearing about a plane crash (maybe twa 800?) and i began thinking what it must have been like on that plane, or any plane crash.

now i have mini panic attacks when i have to fly (which i hate, because i LOVE to travel), and am nervous for loved ones to fly. even though logically know that the chances of anything happening are sooo minute, and that air travel is safer than car travel, it still freaks me out.

i tend to be against the quick jump to meds that doctors seem to do these days, but i would definitely consider an anti-anxiety pill if it would help me calm down.

this spring i plan to look into it! good luck everyone.

ahh!such a relief!!!i’ve finally flown in an airplane!!!it was actually pretty enjoyable!the only parts that were a LITTLE scary were take off and the few turbulance instances we had.i also didn’t like the wide turns when the plane seemed to go to one side.but the view from the planes were a whole other worl and totally worth it and my trip to st louis was awesome!good luck!

I realized lately that I feel fine again. After an awful experience on a transatlantic flight in the winter of 1999/2000, thanks to a terrible storm and the (terrible) insider stories provided by my friend, a flight attendant himself, I couldn’t enter a plane for a long time without taking tranquillizers first. Indeed, it’s only now, eight years later, that I finally feel relatively confident again. What has helped in the past years was a book on how to fight the fear of flying, which I carried with me whenever I boarded a plane. It was nice, to say the least, to have s.o. explain the weird noises that an airplane makes, tell you why planes don’t drop from the sky, and provide info on how to breathe and relax. ;-) The kindness of other people also helped a lot: Besides my boyfriend, who held me close and sang into my ear whenever I got scared, I was thankful for the retired couple from America who chatted me through my next transatlantic flight, and totally smitten with the cute children who sat in front of me on another flight, or the kids who clapped their hands when the plane took off. And then there was the pilot who announced that there’d be “smooth sailing” all the way from CDG to JFK. I can’t always count on friendly skies, but I hope that even in a winter storm, I’ll never be afraid for my life as I was back then.

I just finished a vacation where I had to take 4 flights to get there and back. I did pretty good, but did have a little bit of a nervous attack when my last flight got delayed for problems with the tires. So I am getting better, but not there yet.

This year I took first airplane trip to see my father in Florida.

I have always had a fear of heights and airplanes. As a child I never had the urge to fly to exotic locations with my family even with the promise of Disney World. As a child I didn’t understand how planes work and I thought that if God wanted us to fly he would of given us wings.

Even in my fear I dreamed of flying, especially in my teenage years. I wanted to see the world and I knew realistically I would have to eventually fly.

I am 32 year old and this year I decided that I needed to get out of zone and try something new. I wanted to see my father and the easiest and fastest way from New York to Florida was a plane.

I decided that if I didn’t like the experience on the way down I would take a bus or train back home.

The trip out was scary at first because you sit out on the runway for a moment but when you take off and glide into the air it’s kind of cool. Once we leveled out it felt like being in a bus or train. I choose a aisle seat on the outbound because I was afraid if watched anything I would panic.

But let me tell you one thing: It was beautiful. I am a photographer and it took my breathe away. The clouds, the sky, and the view of the city above was better than I could of ever imagined. I ended up changing my return flight to a window seat.

Now I am not going to tell you that it’s not scary because it is in a sense. My thoughts are you can get comfortable with flying but will never lose the fear. I am cool with that. When we hit turbulence it disturbed me but only briefly. I closed my eyes and focused on trying to be calm.

The trip back home was more amazing that the outbound. I left in the late evening and there is nothing more beautiful than watching the sun set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from in the sky. Everything seems calm and at peace. You feel as if nothing is wrong in the world. That the troubles from the ground looking up are petty. At least that’s how I felt.

My favorite part of the experience was take off. I thought that would be the part that would scare me the most. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

In the end I will do it again. I decided that I would start with short trips like my trip to Florida. I want to go to Jamaica before the year ends for a three day trip.

Some things that helped me during my flight was a good book, some of my favorite music, writing my feelings out in a travel journal.

when will i, is the question