Repo Cruise and Plane Paranoia

[discruiselovers97]

My daughter is a total plane-a-phobic! Its not like her father is in charge of the MD-80s(Airplanes)! Eversince we had a bad experience and had to do some emergency matters she just hasn't been the same on planes. Before this happened 2 years ago she had flown over 50 times. If you are truly scared (or have another who is scared) of planes all you have to do is just call an airline and ask if they have classes about airplanes. She did this and I was like wow! It made so much difference! She realized that if a plane were to crash there would be airbags and such that it would be ok! We too are doing the repo cruise. Her advice...Talk to a nice flight attendent! They are very helpful! Actually we are packing right now for our flight to a cheer competition!

 

[NancyIL]

We fly across the Atlantic RT most every year - and the great thing about those flights - it is at night. I usually sleep the whole way over, not because of pills, but exhaustion after finishing everything up at work, packing, getting to the airport, etc. Too tired to worry. I get on the plane and tune out.

While most flights to Europe are overnight ones, returning flights generally depart and arrive on the same day because of the time change. So - less likelihood of sleeping through it.

For any flight, I pray during take-off and pray during landing - and hope for the best in between! Most plane mishaps happen during take-off or landing.

 

[inkkognito]

I have this, but it's for ALL flights! What cognitive techniques can you use for domestic flights? Why isn't it the same? Even domestic you still can't fly?

I'll give you the "short version" of how cognitive techniques work. Basically, all thoughts are neutral until we decide what feelings to attach to them. By reality testing your feelings, you can choose to replace them with new ones.

For example, the thought "I am flying from Chicago to Orlando" is neutral. It might cause excitement for some people and terror for others. I ask myself why it causes terror and see that it's because of the idea of going down and knowing we are going to crash. Then I reality check that idea, and use statistics, studying how planes fly, etc. to back up the reality check. Then, when I'm on the plane and start to feel afraid, I use a thought-stopping technique to halt the terror and make a conscious effort to replace it with reality.

One of the things that comforts me is knowing there are lots of places we can land in case of emergency (I never even used to think about that till we had a weather situation in Chicago and had to divert to refuel). I can reality test that fear on domestic flights but not when we're out over the ocean so that's why the transatlantic has me worried whereas dometically I'm okay.

 

[inkkognito]

Oh, and as for the suggestion of talking to flight attendants, I used to do that all the time when we were flying ATA at least twice a month. Our usualy seats were right by the jump seats, and once they realize you are frequent flyers, they will open up and tell you some great stories!!

 

[pearlieq]

Oh, and as for the suggestion of talking to flight attendants,

Speaking of flight attendants, that's one technique I do use when I get nervous on a flight.

I always watch them closely when I'm feeling unsettled or something seems funky. I figure they log thousands of hours in the air and would recognize when something was actually wrong. If they don't look nervous or upset I know I have nothing to worry about.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Statistically, take offs and landings are the most prone to accident. Where you fly in between matters very little. Flight crews are professionals who wouldn't attempt to fly a plane without making very sure their aircraft was safe for doing so. Remember for a minute that the only reason you DO hear about plane crashes is that they are, statistically, quite rare.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled phobias...

 

[slindamood]

While most flights to Europe are overnight ones, returning flights generally depart and arrive on the same day because of the time change.

Right - and that's the beauty of the westbound REPO - fly over during night, and take 14 days to get back with more than the comforts of home.

 

[inkkognito]

Speaking of flight attendants, that's one technique I do use when I get nervous on a flight. I always watch them closely when I'm feeling unsettled or something seems funky. I figure they log thousands of hours in the air and would recognize when something was actually wrong. If they don't look nervous or upset I know I have nothing to worry about.

I used to use that, too, till I chatted with one FA who told me about how he had perfected his "poker face." He said that he rarely got frightened, but on one horrible, horrible turbulent flight he was actually scared himself...but he saw passengers watching him and made sure to maintain his exterior cool. So even tho' they might look calm, you never know what is churning around inside!!

I had another one tell me a story about his flight to Iceland or Greenland or somewhere like that. It was during a flight with "rolling" turbulence, and the wings were bouncing so I was getting a little nervous. He said, "Oh, that's no big deal...I worked the military charters and when we were flying in a snowstorm, the wings were bouncing WAYYYY more than that...I never realized just how much stress they could take till that day. This is NOTHING!"

You have to be careful about your topics of conversation, tho. Once, on a really, really turbulent flight, I was talking to the FAs about how much stress the planes can take, etc. I find it calming (even tho' the topic is scary, talking about it in a logical fashion reassures me), but suddenly we all realized that the guy across the aisle was looking white as a sheet. The FA asked if he was okay, and he said, "I just saw "Final Destination" the other day! Now all I can think about is how that plane was rocking and jolting around!" I guess our talk was bringing flashbacks for him!! They managed to calm him down with lots of reassurance that it was highly unlikely for the turbulence to lead to a fireball scenario.

 

[we're all mad here]

Keep some Xanax for the cruise too, if the Atlantic gets a little stormy you may be rockin' and a rollin' and wishing you were in an airplane.