Getting the sh1ts with flying

[Masterwoodsman]

Flying has never been an issue with me as my job has been in aviation for 18 years and i've flown all over the world. Only recently have i started watching more programs on air disasters such as Seconds from Disaster and Air crash Investigations. I find these programs really interesting if somewhat eerie so much so that a simple flight to BKK now is making my mind do overtime...

I know most of these accidents are from years ago and are freak one off accidents but all the same it certainly does give you an element of insecurity when next boarding a plane....

I suppose simple fix is dont watch them but its something that i'm drawn to on tv.... Anyone else have similar thoughts having watched these programs ??

[ub2yoo]

Originally Posted by Masterwoodsman

Flying has never been an issue with me as my job has been in aviation for 18 years and i've flown all over the world. Only recently have i started watching more programs on air disasters such as Seconds from Disaster and Air crash Investigations. I find these programs really interesting if somewhat eerie so much so that a simple flight to BKK now is making my mind do overtime...

I know most of these accidents are from years ago and are freak one off accidents but all the same it certainly does give you an element of insecurity when next boarding a plane....

I suppose simple fix is dont watch them but its something that i'm drawn to on tv.... Anyone else have similar thoughts having watched these programs ??

I think it's the fact that if you compile a list of crashes after crashes for an hour and a half in a row, of cause this is scary...

...but yes, I'm flying a lot too and don't need to see this necessarily ;-)

[georgelondon]

i think the most scary programme i watched featured a plane that was going down, and they had recovered a guys video camera which was running the whole time. the blind panic it showed on board was awful to watch.
they said after that on this paticular crash some had survived, but about 200 died.
from memory the series was called "blackbox" and was on uk tv maybe 5 years ago.

[faultytowers]

Do you worry so much when you get into a car ??????

[landofsmiles]

Don't worry...they only crash once :-)

It's still the safest way to travel. I had 20 years working in the airline industry. The last airline I worked for still has a perfect safety record...as in not killing anyone in over 40 years.

Had a couple of close calls over the years though. Both times landing attempts at Jersey. First was in a Sud Caravelle with a Spanish driver in the middle of a storm and very high winds...we did actually hit the runway, bounce, and powered up again and diverted to Bournemouth. The other was in a Shorts 360 which is HIGH wing...in very high crosswinds...and the wingtip actually scraped the runway. Got down ok though.

If you like watching those disaster documentaries, probably the best one is the KLM 747 landing on the Pan Am one at Tenerife...it's posted on YouTube. The one of the BA 747 losing all 4 engines going through the volcanic ash is frightening too.

[Iltis]

i used to have fear while flying but over the years as i fly more i'm getting more comfortable with it. i still don't like starts and landings tho.

when i went back home from bkk in jan 99 they showed a show about air crashes in the airport. nedless to say that most passengers werent too happy about that and eventually they put on another program...

[luv u long time]

Originally Posted by Masterwoodsman

Flying has never been an issue with me as my job has been in aviation for 18 years and i've flown all over the world. Only recently have i started watching more programs on air disasters such as Seconds from Disaster and Air crash Investigations. I find these programs really interesting if somewhat eerie so much so that a simple flight to BKK now is making my mind do overtime...

I know most of these accidents are from years ago and are freak one off accidents but all the same it certainly does give you an element of insecurity when next boarding a plane....

I suppose simple fix is dont watch them but its something that i'm drawn to on tv.... Anyone else have similar thoughts having watched these programs ??

5555 mate i always swear at myself for watching that show.... I used to be a relaxed flyer and not afraid at all... Went through a period where i didnt travel for about a year and a half where in that time this doco come on tv..

I love documentaries all types very facinating and i watched them air crash one week in week out with no worry in my head... untill i boarded the next flight to Thailand not long after... and the air pocket where we dropped alot of metres didnt help either....

Now i have to pop Xanexes and valiams to calm me doen or knock me out and if that doesnt work i get very drunk usually works well but get the drys half way into the flight...

Im actually getting better as time goes, but ive barred that fceking show thats for sure...

A ship takes too long to go to LOS so im gona have to close my eyes and hope for the best... Its all worth it once you step foot in LOS..

[jackknife]

I think the reason some are afraid of flying is because an airplane chrash is so spectacular, with a high number of casualties. As mentioned above, flying is probably the safest thing you do. Much greater risk of dying in a traffic accident, but I guess we're so used to car crashes we don't really notice.

[Dodger]

Its safer than travelling by car, but do you cut down the number of journey's you drive? no, what you do is add the flights onto the number of journeys you drive, so you can say its less dangerous in the plane then going by car but statisically youv'e added extra risk, so your more likely now to be involved in an accident.

And if that little bit of illogic didn't confuse you, then you are cleverer than me, because I'm now really confused and not sure if I should fly or not!!!

I seem to make more sense when drunk than stone cold sober, would conduct a study on the matter except I'm too busy just now working out what the feck I previously wrote!!!!

[cybernator_uk]

Oh smeg it, when I go back to England I'm walking.

On a serious note, I hate flying. I really hate it, yet I've flown all over the world. I've only had 2 bad experiences and both were landings. One was on a flight from Phuket to Bangkok with Thai and another was from Barcelona to London Luton with Easyjet... Well then there were the Ryanair flights which felt like cowboys were flying, but that's another story.

Realistically how many flights a day are their around the world? Too many to count on my hands and fingers so I am not gonna try, 55555. The chances of being in an aircrash are small. What other choice do we have? Stay at home and do nothing. I'd rather take the chance.

Maybe part of the problem is that we are not in control, a complete stranger is at the helm. Maybe.

[Denver]

Originally Posted by georgelondon

from memory the series was called "blackbox"

Safest place to sit in a crash that! Even better inside it! They always seem to find the bugger!

Best fun on a plane is either jumping off the back ramp of a C130. The approach to the old airport on Hong Kong (Kai Tak) eyeball to eyeball with the people cooking noodles on thier tenth floor balconys.

You just have to hope it is well maintained and driven by someone who hopefully knows what they are doing (Comments Pabs?) Same Same drivers and thier cars I guess!

[Pad Mc]

I am thinking of getting a few flying lessons...

[dan boy]

I am flying to Bangkok tomorrow and i dont let it bother me, otherwise you would never leave the house...

[nelsonone]

I don't watch those shows and find them so overdramatized as to be laughable....sounds like the same voice over guy narrating the whole lot of 'em....."it was only then that the pilot realised........"

whenever i get on a plane I often think to myself "well this could be it"..... lassts about 10 seconds but then I read a magazine and settle into it.....as long as it was painless I have no real objection to dying in a plane crash....could think of many worse ways to go...

[pablo]

Originally Posted by Denver

You just have to hope it is well maintained and driven by someone who hopefully knows what they are doing (Comments Pabs?) Same Same drivers and thier cars I guess!

I loved the approach into "Kai-Tak", as it was challenging, and clearly separated the men form the boys!

Now they have the man made flat island airport....long straight approach, no checkerboard markers on buildings (kowloon), etc.

Purely "pussified" sissy work, now!

[marc26]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

whenever i get on a plane I often think to myself "well this could be it"..... lassts about 10 seconds but then I read a magazine and settle into it.....as long as it was painless I have no real objection to dying in a plane crash....could think of many worse ways to go...

i have zero problems with flying, especially on a good airline with good service

but time to time i think about how i would react if it went down
i would like to think i'd be peaceful and know that was it

in reality, i would probably be jumping over chairs and knocking down babies 555

or i could do like roadrunner and just jump up in the air right before the plane hits the ground

[The Loop]

I have seen all the Air Crash Investigation shows.

The one where a 5 cent bit of tape was left on the planes height and speed sensors by a cleaner before a night flight was particulaly scary.
The pilot thought he was flying at 10,000 ft,but actually crashed into the ocean.
Another in UK where a plane had engine trouble and the crew shut down the good engine by mistake,causing it to crash when the other engine finally expired.

Those 2 demonstrated how a simple error can bring a plane down.

The Silk Air pilot who suicided by crashing into the ground killing all onboard was disturbing too.

But i would much rather fly than than travel long distances by car or motorbike

[pablo]

Originally Posted by The Loop

The Silk Air pilot who suicided by crashing into the ground killing all onboard was disturbing too.

Same as the Egypt Air copilot a few years ago, departing in a B767 from New York, bound for Cairo.

From what could be found (flight data and voice recorders), the copilot dove the airplane into the Atlantic, while the Captain was in the "biffy". (He was heard chanting "Akhmaa Alla", or whatever...most of the way down.)

A lot of unanswered questions, as the Egyptian government "fired" the U.S. NTSB investigators, in an effort to keep the information silent. Having claimed "proprietary position", as the plane was from and registered in Egypt, I guess they'd heard enough. 55555

Very disturbing, indeed.

[MrDK]

I believe that the last crash of a major US airliner was American Airlines in November 2001.
That is 6½ years without a fatal crash by a major carrier.
Since then there has been two or three commuter airline crashes involving US carriers; the worst and most recent being Comair nearly 2 years ago, when 49died.

As the captain says ..... "Sit back and relax".

[Denver]

YouTube - Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 landing Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport

Kai Tak approach was fun, especially watching the 'first-timers' faces as the plane seemed to still be in a big turn right up until hitting the tarmac! Impressive in a 747. We used to use it for troop rotation, mainly Gurkhas coming in for border patrol. I do miss it.

Thanks for the insight Pablo.

[pablo]

Here's my fav' in Hong Kong...Italy's flag carrier, puts it in the dirt. 55555

YouTube - 'Boeing' MD11 dangerous landing Hong Kong Kai Tak

[MrDK]

Fried Bird