Premonition of a plane crash

aggle-rithm

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aggle-rithm
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Tomorrow, I'm going on my first plane flight since 9/11 scared everyone out of the skies. Knowing that an airliner's design is so robust that it is very unlikely to malfunction doesn't help my nervousness about speeding at superhuman speeds miles above the ground.

To make matters worse, I find references to plane crashes wherever I look. There have been TWO "Seconds from Distaster" episodes in the last week describing airliner crashes. During one, my wife helpfully provided the information that the type of plane with a defect that causes it to unexpectedly spiral into the ground, killing everyone on board, is the very one that we're going to be flying on.

I thought, "well, thank God they've identified the problem and fixed it by now!" But no. The defective part will take over a decade to replace on all airliners. In the meantime, pilots are trained to work around the defect. Not all that comforting.

I also saw an old Twilight Zone episode yesterday featuring a plane crash. Also, the book I'm currently reading, "Stiff" by Mary Roach, has a chapter describing how the bodies of plane crash victims are used to determine what happened on the plane.

I think this is a good example of "When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Most of the time, I wouldn't notice this sort of thing, but the fact that I'm nervous about a flight brings it to the forefront. Calculating the odds would be meaningless. If you look at what percentage of "Seconds from Disaster" or "Twilight Zone" episodes were about plane crashes (or gremlins tampering with planes, or planes getting lost in time) then it's hardly surprising that I would catch plane-crash episodes on either one of these shows. It's also very likely that, in a book about human cadavers, there would be a chapter on plane crash victims.

And if I'm going to calculate odds, what are the odds of a plane actually crashing right after one of the passengers had a premonition of a plane crash? Well...probably the same as the odds that the plane would crash at all. Very low.
 
On the upside, if you do decide it's a premonition post it here, if you turn out right you'll be eligible. ;)

Sillyness aside, I get jittery every time I step on to an airplane. Statistics are just not as comforting as you would hope when you know if something happens it is out of your control. After the flight, spend another week looking for the same signs as you are seeing now, I bet there will be just as many post-flight as pre-flight.

Have a good trip.
 
Aggle, you are definitely not helping yourself with all those things. Sometimes, it is a good thing just ignore all of the noise around you and focus on the purpose of your trip. Are you going someplace nice? Visiting relatives? Anything you can look forward to at all?

I have never been nervous flying, guess I am lucky that way. All I can say is find something else to think about and try to enjoy your trip.
 
Gah. I've been there, and I know exactly how you feel.

It always makes me feel better to recite something someone once told me whenever get on board "Statistically speaking, you'd need to fly all day every day, for 700 years, in order to be involved in an incident, and even then, chances are, you'll survive."

That statement could be complete nonsense (it probably is, I'd rather not work it out, because it's comforting), but it seems to help.

Also, once I'm on the plane, I tend to be on edge. At this time, I like to accept my fate;, accept the fact that I might die, as messed up as that sounds. I might possibly die, even though the odds are astronomically low on that hapening, but it's too late to do anything about it now, so me being on edge and alert really isn't going to help. I just have to put my life in the hands of the driver and the plane, and trust them.".

I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be, since I'm forced to do it quite regularly now.

ETA: In my experience, those afraid of flying tend to be kinda untrusting control freaks, who hate the feeling of loss of control, and don't really tust the guy in charge, or the builders of the plane, or the laws of physics...and so on.
 
Statistically you are more likely to be in an accident on the drive to the airport than on the plane!!
Think how many flights take off very day.When was the last major plane crash? Probably just after 9/11,that freak crash everyone thought was sure to be terrorism.
If you worry about eventualities you would never leave the house! ;)
 
Reading you numbah one, Aggle

Hey, I invented fear of flying – not just nervous distaste for being locked into a roaring cannister, I mean cold-sweating irrational panic. I could eat Xanax like popcorn before a flight, and all it did was make me sluggishly terrified instead of twitching, monkey-screeching terrified.

At the same time, my rational mind worked perfectly well. I was aware of the fact that I had one chance in 27 million (or some such crazy number) of dying in an airliner crash. Didn’t make a speck of difference: I knew that my little ball of string would be wound up this time.

I had also read that +90 percent of accidents happen on takeoff or landing, but that fact was infinitely remote from my present “reality”: Turbulence scared (and still scares) the Scheiss outa me, while conversely landing (a fraught time up in the cockpit) eases my fears. Ah! The good old Earth is rising up to meet our wheels! How gently, how safely we float down in our kerosene-laden mass of metal! Now all manner of things shall be well!

I’ve been in three car crashes, not mere fender-benders either, and yet every day I calmly drive to and from work in big-city traffic, braving odds far, far worse than flying presents. Risk? Danger? Statistical likelihood of an accident? Pfui, who cares? I’m drivin’ m’ car, ‘n ain’t NUTHEN gonna happen ta ME!

There was one occasion when I flew without fear. The girl friend and I went on a whale-watching flight from Kaikoura, New Zealand, in a single-engine plane. We took off from a grass strip (maintained by grazing sheep, I think) and buzzed out over the Pacific to observe the sperm whales that frequent the deeps there: one engine, 500 feet of altitude, a shockingly young pilot, and me in the back seat holding a silly little yellow lifebelt. Visibility was only so-so, too. Those factors found a corner in the back of my mind at best, and I felt no fear at all. The sight of those great whales made it all worthwhile! Eventually we landed back on the sheep pasture (in failing light), and I climbed out of that deathtrap, excuse me, cockpit feeling as cool as Smilin’ Jack.

So rationality has nothing to do with fear of this sort. Be of good cheer, Aggle. Flight is an ancient dream, and we’re lucky to have lived into an age when Man flies far and free, and more safely than he walks his own streets.
 
I'm the same, sackett, in that I used to be fine, and suddenly wasn't, and there appears to be no incident I can think of to trigger the fear. Maybe getting older did it.

Also, like you, I'm fine on landings. I almost start to relax completely as soon as the descent starts, actually. My brain reasons that we're on the way down now, so if anything goes wrong, well, it won't matter, because that's the direction we're headed anyway - the ground!

Take off and turbulence are the worst bits, for me. I hate the feeling of steeply rising as the plane goes up, and the roor of the engines switching on, and the fact the plane starts to move very fast indeed.

Is this all helping, aggle?
 
aggle-rithm said:
To make matters worse, I find references to plane crashes wherever I look. There have been TWO "Seconds from Distaster" episodes in the last week describing airliner crashes. During one, my wife helpfully provided the information that the type of plane with a defect that causes it to unexpectedly spiral into the ground, killing everyone on board, is the very one that we're going to be flying on.
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Did someone force you to watch this? I'm trying to sympathize, aggie, but I can't help thinking that you're getting a bit of a rush out of scaring yourself. Finding a reference to plane crashes is one thing. Watching TV shows about terror in the skies is another.


And if I'm going to calculate odds, what are the odds of a plane actually crashing right after one of the passengers had a premonition of a plane crash? Well...probably the same as the odds that the plane would crash at all. Very low.
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The odds of a plane crashing are astronomically low. I'd say that the odds of a plane crashing after one of its passengers imagines it crashing are extremely high, but it's not the thought that causes the crash. I would guess that most airline passengers—and close to all infrequent fliers—have thoughts, however fleeting, of what a plane crash would be like. I love to fly, but I have never once been on a plane without having those thoughts. So, when you fly, look around the cabin and know that you're in good, white-knuckled company. A peaceful mantra might help...try "Woo is woe, woo is woe." If that doesn't work, I'm told that Valium is pretty sure-fire.

Enjoy your trip!

ETA: I just read Sackett's post. If you ask for Valium, tell the doctor it's for the tranquilizer darts in your elephant gun.
 
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Gravy said:
I would guess that most airline passengers—and close to all infrequent fliers—have thoughts, however fleeting, of what a plane crash would be like.
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I do quite a lot of flying, and I put myself into this camp. It's usually on the climb after takeoff when we're still quite close to the ground. I never actually get anxious about it - but I do quite often think "What if?". Other than that, I'm fascinated by the process of flying, and takeoff and landing (and approach) are the most interesting bits. Perhaps if you're thinking about what's happening it helps remove any latent twitchiness, rather than leaving you feeling like a trapped spectator. It's this feeling of being out of control that upsets many, I think, and the converse is why you feel so safe in your car, even though you're actually much more exposed to danger there.
 
aggle-rithm said:
And if I'm going to calculate odds, what are the odds of a plane actually crashing right after one of the passengers had a premonition of a plane crash? Well...probably the same as the odds that the plane would crash at all. Very low.
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No way to ever prove this, but I'd bet that in at least 75-80% of every large plane that ever crashed has at least one person on board that had a premonition of a plane crash. And 75-80% of every large plane that didn't crash also had at least one person on board that had a premonition of a plane crash.
 
I really sympathize - I am just the same, mind-numbingly terrified every time. I know it is in some senses irrational - and yes, I am a control freak I suppose. But nothing makes it better...

I still fly though. I wouldn't want to miss out on the world. Some of the trips I have flown to have been the best times in my life. I find the memory of the flight soon fades. But I must admit, my first question when my hubbie & I are planning a trip somewhere is - what's the flight time to there?

Good on you Aggle-rithm and Sackett for still flying... feel the fear and do it anyway, huh? Makes us guys the bravest on the plane!
 
I've never been frightened of planes...but I do have an irrational fear of high places. Funny huh? I figured I'd conquer my fear by getting my private pilot license. I did you know! But it's not the same. Looking down from a high place still gives me a thrilling sensation of fear...but I learned to interpret that feeling as excitement instead.

Now my wife has just become a flight attendant on an international route. I'm scared for her all the time even though she's fine with airplanes. When I know she's up there...well I just stay freaked until I hear from her again.

Weird huh?
-z
 
How many digits are in your flight number? It's always 3-digit numbered flights that crash, never 4-digit numbered flights.
/woo mode
 
Humphreys said:
I'm the same, sackett, in that I used to be fine, and suddenly wasn't, and there appears to be no incident I can think of to trigger the fear. Maybe getting older did it.

Also, like you, I'm fine on landings. I almost start to relax completely as soon as the descent starts, actually. My brain reasons that we're on the way down now, so if anything goes wrong, well, it won't matter, because that's the direction we're headed anyway - the ground!

Take off and turbulence are the worst bits, for me. I hate the feeling of steeply rising as the plane goes up, and the roor of the engines switching on, and the fact the plane starts to move very fast indeed.

Is this all helping, aggle?
Click to expand...


Somehow I knew you'd be in this thread...


Anyways, aggle, you'll be fine.

Unless, ofc, Psi Baba is right, and you've got a three number flight...

KIDDING.
 
Takeoffs didn't bother me much until I read somewhere that "no pilot likes takeoffs."

Did my state of mind no good at all.
 
sackett said:
Takeoffs didn't bother me much until I read somewhere that "no pilot likes takeoffs."

Did my state of mind no good at all.
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Unless I'm remembering misinformation (which is always a risk), takeoffs and landings are the highest stress times on the plane mechanics.
 
Arent landings supposedly safer generally as the plane has less fuel in it?
 
sackett said:
Takeoffs didn't bother me much until I read somewhere that "no pilot likes takeoffs."

Did my state of mind no good at all.
Click to expand...

On takeoff you are slow...at full throttle...close to the ground...heavy....and most of the runway is behind you and facing the wrong way.

Any slight power loss at this moment can ruin your whole day...and there's nothing anyone can do to change these unhappy circumstances should they occur. This is why pilot's don't like takeoffs. They don't like being left with nearly no options.

Most other situations offer "outs". But this not-so-sweet spot is best measured in seconds...and a plane can still fly on a single engine...just can't climb.

Aircraft are very, very safe all in all. But I still worry about my wife being as she is constantly in the sky.

-z
 
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