radiofanatic

I used to LOVE flying. Then 9/11 came and I hate it with a passion - I guess what happened on that day got me thinking too much about the whole weirdness of having such a heavy thing so high in the air. I don't let it stop me though. Since 9/11, I've been to Europe twice, Arizona, Florida several times, virginia several times and will be flying to dc in October. I love the places to which I travel too much to stop flying. What about you?

karens

I never thought twice about flying before I had kids. Now I worry more when I fly when they are not on the plane with me. Like you, I love to travel too much not to fly. But I always get a bit nervous when the plane shifts, or when the engines make grinding noises. I usually just look around and notice no one else is even paying attention and go back to my book.

I am reading an excellent book called Ask the Pilot by Patrick Smith. He emphasises how safe air travel is. Did you realize there were no air deaths among the majors in 2002? I didn't. Also, when statistically speaking, you compare driving with flying, Smith notes that a disaster along the lines of 9/11 would have to happen every MONTH to make flying as unsafe as riding in car. Wow.

jame

I hate to fly but love to travel, so I know what you mean. Two websites I have found very helpful with this are www.fearofflying.com and www.fearofflyinghelp.com.

gail

I am also a terrified flyer, but I fly because the alternative is staying home. Despite enough physics courses to understand the basic concepts, I do not believe that a big metal tube weighing tons can actually safely get into the air and stay there. I am sure each time I get on a plane that it will crash. Each change in sound of the engines just confirms that.

The only thing that works a little is to watch the flight attendants - I figure if the changes in sound and altitude do not bother them, they know better than I. Strangely, my husband travels weekly by air and I have no fear that HIS plane will crash. The only concession I make to my irrrational fears, is that on the rare occasions that husband and I travel together without kids, we fly separately. (I do know how stupid that is - we are more likely to be killed going out to dinner together - but fortunately, he tolerates this nonsense).

I am not interested in taking a fear-of-flying course, becasue I do not want a coure to tell me something I "know" is dangerous, is safe.

Everyone is afraid of something - spiders, thunder, etc - most are irrational - and most peole just cope in their own way.

P_M

Regarding 9/11, of the 3,000 or so people we lost that day, only around 260 of them were on planes. The other 2,700 or so were on the ground, going about business as usual.

As for airline safely, I was recently in an emergency evacuation on British Airways. Although this was a scary experience, it gave me even more faith that in today's world, flying is safer than ever. If this had happened 20 years ago, I'm not sure there would have been a happy ending. If you would care to read about this, I will copy the thread. I sincerely hope this will not make anyone more afraid to fly, but to let you know that although this type of incident is extrememly rare, it is more survivable today than ever. Although I have no fear of flying, I applaud those of you who face your fears and still fly.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...+landing+on+BA