Catmomma

I have a fear of flying---it's post-traumatic stress brought on by two incidents, only one of which involved flying. I cope somewhat, and I'm working on the issue in therapy.

I booked a flight with Sansa, and then my mother sent me some state department page that said something about Costa Rica having had problems with air travel safety not meeting standards. It did say that the gov't says it's addressing those problems. It was pretty vague.

My therapist advised me to get more info. Does anyone have some stats or more info? Thank you.

kimschulze

I do not have any stats for you. I have, however, flown sansa twice. I have a big fear of flying, anywhere, anytime. It was very scary, but I managed. The planes hold about 14 people, and it is pretty cramped. But the flights are very short! Manuel antonio took about 20 minutes, Tambor on the Nicoya Peninsula about 25 minutes. Way better than the hours it would take to drive there. I've also driven around in a car, and I can tell you that is no picnic either! If you are going during the dry season, you will have great weather for flying. Kind of bumpy for a couple of minutes at takeoff, then pretty smooth. Hope this helps.

soniela

Keep researching. Today I was asking questions on a wedding website and a bride planning her honeymoon mentioned that Sansa's safety record is not as good as another local flight operator in CR (I don't remember which one it was). I don't want to scare you in any way, but that comment made me wonder, and now I don't know what to do myself.

Brent

I have flown SANSA and found it to be fine. The planes are twin otters or similar. From what I've read and heard SANSA has cleaned up its safety record substantially in recent years. The other carrier is Nature Air. The bottom line is that you are dealing with relatively small planes, twin engine, with very small landing strips in the remote areas. But I felt safe, given their strict limitations on weight(baggage) and the customer service they provided. I've seen and travelled on much worse.
Brent

Dude

www.airsafe.com has a lot of info. you might find helpful.

kimschulze

Our Sansa flight was a single engine (one big prop in front??) I think Nature Air has twin engines. If you're that freaked, just rent a car or get a driver. The scenery is stunning in the countryside. Just know that it will take a long time to get where you are going and driving can be white-knuckle at times.

Catmomma

Thank you guys so much. I will check out that airsafe website. If anyone wants to comment, the more the merrier.

Suzie2

I have flown more times than I can remember in 20 seaters and 4 seaters all over CR. Both on private charters and regularly sheduled flights. I have hated every minute of it. My husband sat in the co pilot seat one time and I sat in the back with tears running down my face and holding on for dear life as if that would help. (the fact that the pilot was so short that he had to sit on a book didn't have anything to do with that....not!) It is the quickest way to get anywhere if your time is limited. I still subject myself to the torture on at least two flights every year but can't say I like it any more than I did 10 years ago when I first started flying down there. First two years we drove. If you aren't going too far I would hire a driver if you are that nervous. You are going on vacation to get some relaxation not to be traumatized.
I haven't heard of any crashes in quite some time and there are lots of those little guys in the sky at any given time down there if that helps at all. You can do a quick check of the english newspapers for any news on any crashes over the years. am costa rica and Tico Times are the two.

trrtrix

I have flown SANSA many times and they were all fine. Small planes tend to give you a more 'tactile' ride, no matter which airline. I think seeing the country from the air is spectacular

hi50phd

Ask your therapist to teach you deep relaxation and to do a bit of de-sensitization. In combination, these two techniques will give you a powerful tool to overcome your fear of flying. If you check the literature, you and your therapist will discover that you will achieve a faster result than you would merely "working on issues". Good luck. PS: you might also ask your mother to work with you instead of against you.

Catmomma

Thanks hi50phd---I'm not seeing my therapist again before the trip---but I do have some relaxation techniques that she & I discussed a tinsy bit-from the Fearless Fliers handbook. But your email has prompted me to explore that issue further for future trips.

As for my mom, ha ha, that's a good one---in all seriousness though, yes, to the extent that I don't get a concussion from banging my head on a brick wall I will continue to find ways to address these issues with my mother.

ForkinMouth

I am not concerned about a SANSA or NatureAir plane falling out of the sky...but I am susceptible to motion sickness (avoid amusement park rides, small boats etc). I am trying to get up the courage to fly down to the OSA in December or January and would greatly appreciate any comments on the "bumpiness" of the flight...just how much bouncing around have you experienced? Thanks

hi50phd

You may find that the small plane is more comforting than a larger one. On a large airliner, there is an air of mystery and concommitant feeling of loss of control. In the smaller Sansa planes, you can watch the pilots work the controls, you're low enough that you can figure out how the route is being flown, you can see them get over the mountains....more like riding in a car....I think you may even enjoy the experience, seriously. Good luck, have a great time.

Catmomma

That airsafe site is fabulous. It didn't have anything about Sansa though. But everyone's thoughts have helped some. Thanks to all.

mspear

I, too, have a strong fear of flying. I just returned from CR and took a flight from Tortuguero to SJO. Before deciding to do this, I researched SANSA's record online. I found that in recent years, they had about one accident per 1.5 years, not all fatal. The worst seemed to be a pilot error incident where the pilot flew into the side of Vucan Arenal -- pretty egregious error, given that it's a giant vulcano rising out of a flat plain. SANSA stopped flying that route after the accident.

With over 70 scheduled flights per day, plus additional flights to meet high demand, I figured I had pretty good odds (1 in 38,000+). The info online also showed where the people were sitting in accidents that had fatalities and survivors. Amazingly, I don't recall if the safest place was the mid-section or rear, but I take my uncle's advice that, "you never hear about a plane backing into the side of a mountain," and sit in the rear!

I have found that I can freak myself out, or consciously try to stay calm & think pleasant thoughts. On the flight out of Tortuguero, the pilots were young, but professional, and the runway was bumpy as hell, and then we climbed through some big thunder clouds and it was rough, and then it cleared and I enjoyed the scenery for the last 10 minutes of the flight.

On my flight back to the US, our AA pilot announced right before takeoff that as we climbed out of San Jose there would be some turbulence as we climb through strong winds, but "you'll be used to that bumpiness by then becuase of the rough runway here in San Jose" which after Tortuguero, I found pretty amusing.

I try to focus on the odds: you are much safer on a SANSA flight than on driving on CR roads (2nd highest highway fatality rate in the world). Also, Kava Kava helps!

Catmomma

Great response from mspear---which I unfortunately didn't read until after we had left.

But I totally agree with you not just based on statistics but based on the experience that I've now had that the flying v. driving safety ratio is even more weighted towards flying in Costa Rica than normal.

While I loved everything else about the Costa Rican people, they must not have strong driver education requirements there. Almost every driver we had went over the center line of the road several times in steep and curvey areas. They also passed other cars when they shouldn't have. And they tail-gated a lot. I kept saying, "No tenemos prisa," -we are not in a hurry. But it didn't do any good.

With that said, the phobia isn't really a rational thing. I was relatively o.k. on the way there. But I guess fatigue, sunburn, heartache for my cats back in the U.S. and various other vacation woes wore me down so that I was terrified the whole way back.

For others facing this issue, here are a few more facts that may help you talk to your fear while you are in the air. Going into Quepos, the turbulence is likely to let up after you clear the mountains and are on the coast. The opposite is true going out. The turbulence is likely to shake the plane a good deal. Going into Quepos, you may think you are crash landing in a pineapple plantation. But actually the runway goes through a pineapple plantation.

A fellow traveler said that one of the pilots he had been talking to said that he had 25 years of flying experience.

I thought I had read somewhere that the volcano crash was caused somehow by an eruption---but don't know for sure.

Catmomma

PS-to ForkinMouth---both my husband and I did feel airsick after getting off the Sansa flight. It was extremely bumpy. I don't normally get seasick or anything. You might want to take some medication for the flight.

ForkinMouth

Catmomma: Thanks for the honest admission of airsickness on the bumpy SANSA flight. I'd probably take 2 dramamine tablets and fly on an empty stomach. I'd also want the earliest flight possible in the morning, as it is supposedly less turbulent. The hardest part will be convincing myself to book the trip, in light of the likelihood of 2 uncertain flights to and from the Osa!

Suzie2

I don't have much problem with large commercial flights but I do tend to get a little airsick on the small flights in CR particularly in the bumpy areas. We try to fly fairly early and I don't eat much beforehand.