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Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

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Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#171

Post by nasredin »

0x4f3759df wrote: post #106
PerfectElement wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That must have been terrifying. Can you talk more about what happened between the moment the engine failed and the plane landed safely? How long did it take? Did the captain communicate with passengers frequently? How about flight attendants? What went through your mind? I'm nervous about flying and knowing what happens in this scenario may help me prepare.

There's a show called 'Air Disasters' that you might be interested in, answers your questions for other flights.

FYI the show goes by a few different names depending on the region:

Mayday (Air Crash Investigation/Air Emergency/Air Disasters)

Very addictive show (if you like learning about how planes crash)!

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#172

Post by schoen »

GraffitiTim wrote: post #61

We are almost done with our VR program for fear of flying: http://FearlessVR.com It's based on exposure therapy / systematic desensitization. It has special sections for turbulence as well as other common underlying fear of flying issues. I successfully overcame my fear of spiders using Fearless for spiders.

That's a brilliant idea. Have you been working with any mental health professionals to ensure your tools are in line with professional guidance for exposure therapy?

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#173

Post by nasredin »

meowface wrote: post #158
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A lot of my anxiety came from paying attention to the sound of engines. Was something odd happening? Keeping the sound of the engine drowned out helped keep my mind off the mechanics of the airplane. I went of my first flight recently, that was the bit that really stood out to me - a little before landing the engines sounded like they powered down to nothing. I had an (internal) freak out, while I watched everyone…

This should actually be reassuring to you, if anything! Planes can maintain altitude, fly long distances, and land safely even in the event of both engines failing or blowing up. Also, when you hear them power down near landing time, they're still actually running and providing power, but are no longer providing thrust.

Miracle on the Hudson?

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#174

Post by klondike_ »

schoen wrote: post #98

United used to have a feature called "From the Flight Deck" where you could listen to live radio communications between your pilots and air traffic control. Unfortunately, it's now only available on a few routes and planes: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/... I found it very comforting to listen to it during an entire flight, because you could find out what the pilots of your flight were a…

You should still be able to do this with a cheap RTL-SDR dongle (<$20) and a laptop, though you will probably look pretty conspicuous to the flight attendants

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#175

Post by schoen »

anderber wrote: post #161
brosky117 wrote: post #73

I’ve struggled with this for years and missed important events as a result. I went to the doctor and got a small prescription of anxiety medication and it helped me tremendously. I take a small dose once I get in my seat on the plane. It doesn’t make me drowsy or feel very different but the extreme levels of terror that I felt before don’t affect me now. I still have to be calm and rational as I’m preparing for my fl…

Do you happen to remember what medication it was?

I haven't been prescribed medication for fear of flying but the most common options are the families

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker

both of which are rather fast-acting and very effective for many cases of acute anxiety and other stress responses. Most mental health professionals and primary care physicians should be familiar with these uses. They may recommend trying out the medication before your trip so that you're familiar with its effects.

The benzodiazepines (such as Valium, which someone else in this thread suggested) can be addictive with frequent use, so it may be preferable to get small-quantity prescriptions occasionally rather than stocking up.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#176

Post by staunch »

byoung2 wrote: post #157
staunch wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you compare accidents by mile or by hour air travel is still much safer than driving. Can you provide a citation for the per hour stat? > It is true that to drive 12,000 miles would take 12,000 hours... Uh, what? No one drives 1mph. It's just 200 hours at 60mph. > That said you are also more than 50,000x as likely to die in a car accident. Based on what stat? The wiki page said that per mile traveled it's 750x…

Can you provide a citation for the per hour stat? I didn't do the math before, but let's try some back of envelope math. You can estimate it based on mileage. Assuming that a car averages 50mph and a jet averages 500mph, then you spend 10x as long in a car as you do in a jet per mile flown. So if you are 750x more likely to die per mile in a car than in a plane, then you are 75x more likely to die per hour in a car t…

That all seems reasonable. I do think my contention that a cautious driver could probably beat the safety of an airplane is plausible but it could also be untrue.

A quick look at the stats show that most fatalities involve distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, bad weather, not using seatbelts, etc. And there's even more variables like vehicle type, speed, urban vs rural, etc.

Another major factor is averaging short flights with long flights because the biggest danger for planes is in take-off and landing. 10x200 mile flights is far more dangerous than 1x2000 mile flight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/...

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalit...

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#177

Post by Buttons840 »

relix wrote: post #12

I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…

Similarly, you could also read about the physics of flight. I've been reading "Understanding Flight" (http://a.co/dSqr2dS) and enjoying it.

Imagine I asked you "Here's a 100 kg object, and it can produce 10 kg of thrust. Can it fly?" It seems miraculous that the answer is yes. I had always known this, but thinking about it anew was amazing to me.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#178

Post by schoen »

klondike_ wrote: post #174
schoen wrote: post #98

United used to have a feature called "From the Flight Deck" where you could listen to live radio communications between your pilots and air traffic control. Unfortunately, it's now only available on a few routes and planes: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/... I found it very comforting to listen to it during an entire flight, because you could find out what the pilots of your flight were a…

You should still be able to do this with a cheap RTL-SDR dongle (<$20) and a laptop, though you will probably look pretty conspicuous to the flight attendants

I think there are FAA or airline rules against passengers on commercial flights using aviation radios -- and those rules might include aviation radios that you synthesize yourself.

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8939/can-i-fly-...

(It seems that the rules are meant to avoid having unexpected devices onboard using aviation-related RF energy, rather than to prevent passengers from monitoring aircraft communications.)

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome fear of flying?

#179

Post by nasredin »

drcoopster wrote: post #168
nasredin wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off Topic. Listen to the ATC feature (channel 9) on United planes was possibly used by the Sept 11 hijackers.

Sept 11 hijackers possibly ate at McDonald's. So? You can also listen to ATC with a handheld radio.

So it is an interesting fact at least for me.

I was reading recently about the attack and the very detailed planning that went into it, especially WRT timing.

Also if you a "prepper"/security type dude, listening to ATC for situational awareness is an option.

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