Fear of Flying? Free On-line Lessons that Help Keep Those Phobias at Bay

An overwhelming sense of dread used to take over me when I had to fly, and I was like a turtle hiding inside its shell. The last time I flew was in late 2005, my first in 14 years, and it was so traumatizing that I made sure that my next long trip would be taken by bus.

Well, after reading about my Greyhound debacle HERE, it's pretty clear that I can't let my fear control me.

I will fly again; this week in fact. More importantly, I will try to fly with confidence. At fearofflyinghelp.com, veteran flight instructor and airline pilot Captain Stacey L. Chance offers free lessons to help the aerophobic person approach air travel with ease. Whether the fear has to do with a distrust of pilots, loss of control, weather and turbulence, heights, terrorism, enclosed spaces or take-off and landing, Captain Chance promises that the passenger's comfort is of the utmost important. My fear is grounded in a distrust of pilots and the loss of control, so I decided to give the website a little tour and offer my two cents for those of you who would like to keep your own fears of flying at bay.

The first lesson covers the root of the problem: the concept of fear. It's involuntary as most of us know, and acts as a defense mechanism. In other words, we can't act like everything is hunky dory all the time because there are occasional harmful forces out to get us. Nothing is out to get you while you are flying, just people out to do their job to the best of their ability.The Captain reiterates what many of us have been told by our parents, friends, mentors, etc, and that is flying is the safest form of travel. I hear about devastating car and bus accidents all the time, but it's rare to hear of plane crashes (it was in 1994 that Alanis Morrisette used one of the rare instances of a plane crash for that song of hers).

Further along in the course those who are under the airline's employ; flight attendants, air traffic controllers, mechanics and pilots, are introduced with their job description and reassuring pictures. One thing is clear; pilots make a lot of money, so they do not want to die while on the job!

Continuing in the spirit of reassurance, the numbers are the most important feature of the course because they speak of facts. As the Captain says, "In 1993, 1998, 2002-2007 there were no fatal accidents in large commercial airliners in the United States" and the occurence of fatality is 1.4 billion miles flown for every death. 1.4 billon miles. I can't fathom the number of flights I would have to take to cover that much air travel.

What did I bold earlier on in this article? Flying is the safest form of travel. Let's hear that again. Flying is the safest form of travel. The Captain went so far as to say that the car drive to the airport is a lot riskier than the actual flight. Think about that for a second, and notice the irony (but let's not revisit the Morrisette song).

I will still be a little anxious when I fly on Tuesday morning, but the free course did alleviate some of my anxieties. Captain Chance paints a picture of a proud and well respected industry, and I urge you to check out what he has to say.

http://www.fearofflyinghelp.com/