Can anyone explain this fear?

Lundegaard

Hey.

Firstly, I only ever had 1 flight lesson, and 'played' MS flight Sim but I do believe that the most difficult part of a flight (in good weather conditions anyway) is the landing.

But here is my problem. (on passenger flights)

When the plane is taxiing to the runway, bombing down the runway and taking off, I, well, don't like it. I'm nervous, i sweat, i close my eyes and dare not look out the window BUT once the plane starts to level off I take a deep breath and smile and feel a lot better. Then for the duration of the flight (long or short haul) I'm super fine. Then when the planes begins descending I love to look out the window and I feel great, not a bother on me. and I love the actual landing no matter if its bumpy.

So, whats the story? Any tips please?! because I have 2 flights next week.

PS slight to moderate turbulence doesn't bother me either.

Davidth88

Hi,

I am open to correction here , but the laws of physics are such that at a certain speed an aeroplane WILL take off , the pressure above the wing is lower than below it so it rises.

So you are right ( in my opinion ) landing is more difficult that taking off, I remember from my flying days take off was reasonably straight forward.

As to your fear , believe it or not I too share it ( very slightly ) I fly as a passenger about 8 times a month, as we line up I always tighten my seatbelt, then as soon as the gear rises i relax totally.

Tips, I don;t know I watch with interest out of the window to see what I can see this keeps me occupied.

jmayo

Davidth88 wrote: »

Hi,

I am open to correction here , but the laws of physics are such that at a certain speed an aeroplane WILL take off , the pressure above the wing is lower than below it so it rises.

So you are right ( in my opinion ) landing is more difficult that taking off, I remember from my flying days take off was reasonably straight forward.

As to your fear , believe it or not I too share it ( very slightly ) I fly as a passenger about 8 times a month, as we line up I always tighten my seatbelt, then as soon as the gear rises i relax totally.

Tips, I don;t know I watch with interest out of the window to see what I can see this keeps me occupied.

Taking off is easy in comparison to landing, after all as David said if you have enough speed then airflow over the wings give you lift and you leave the ground.
Of course if power goes or angle of climb too high you could stall but lets not go there.

Landing is more complex and there is a hell of a lot of stuff going on:
You need to
a) be lined up with a narrow strip of runway (this applies even if you are landing on open plains or a huge lake - you need a fixed reference point)
b) have the right approach speed for the conditions and the aircarft
C) and the right glide slope
If you don't get these right, you can miss the runway, land half way down it, float on forever and run out of runway, bounce back into the air, stall and spin or worse case plough into the ground.

My other half also hates takeoffs (in commerical aircraft anyway) but doesn't mind the flight or the landing.
She says it is due to fact that there is a high angle during the climbout and she feels that it is very steep.

Somebody might correct me on this but maybe part of it has to do with the fear of being in aircraft leaving the ground and part of it to do with balance within the inner ear telling you not nice position for your body?
She holds my hand and buries her head in book/magazine to try and relax.
BTW she also hates going fast over humpback bridges or encountering bad turbulence in small aircraft.

Biro

Strange, lots of people go silent in the cabin during a slightly bumpy landing.
I love take off, it's the accelleration buzz! Maybe a spin in a Veyron would help!

View Profile

Well the idea of accelerating to over 150mph towards an ever shortening stretch of concrete may seem unnerving.

But your not getting the full picture. Your looking out a side window at a blur of runway lights.

The pilots on the otherhand are in control and have a relatively simple job to preform during takeoff.

Theres a point on the runway (V1- im probably wrong but cant remember exactly) where the aircraft can no longer safely stop if there is a problem. After this speed the pilots have enough speed to rotate the a/c and climb successfully. If an engine fails after Vr the aircraft (say a twin jet) will still have enough power to climb on one engine.

Basically im saying takeoff is very safe, especially compared with landing, so dont be stressing.

On a similar note, ive recently began getting a little more tense on short finals (as a pax). I think its because ive been reading up on landing accident reports recently and because of some recent jet overruns in the media.

WexCan

View Profile wrote: »

Well the idea of accelerating to over 150mph towards an ever shortening stretch of concrete may seem unnerving.

Definitely.

I fly up to four times daily - that's four takeoffs, four landings. In the past year I've worked upwards of 600 flights. On each one I can never relax on takeoff/landing. Now, indeed, part of this is the fact I'm required to be alert and aware, but even as a passenger I'm exactly the same.

cp251

Well I'm the same, tighten my seatbelt to the max and clench my fists and close my eyes until we are safely in the air. Phew:eek: Which is really awkward as I'm supposed to be flying the thing:D

Actually, joking aside. I think you have hit on a point there. I actually enjoy take offs more than any phase of flight. But it is fair to say that take offs are the most tension filled part of the flight. As a passenger or a pilot.

I suspect it's as much to do with human nature as anything else. We are committing ourselves to something which is quite unnatural for us. Once airborne we can get used to the idea. Landing is also a release from tension. 'It's nearly over'. But take off is different. I have often had an attack of nerves before take off. I should add, not fear of flying but of the 'Please God, don't let me screw up' variety. Once airborne it goes. I can only remember one incident of nervousness while airborne and that involved a touch of carb ice.

I would say it's a normal reaction to something which as a human, you know is out of the ordinary and potentially dangerous and as a passenger you have no control over. For example I sometimes get nervous while being driven by someone whose driving I don't really trust. It's pretty much the same thing.

I would say it's a good thing, if you are ready for something to go wrong. If it ever does you will react in the right way. It's the flight or fight instinct. You will be out the emergency exit and halfway home before all the 'relaxed' passengers are waking up to realise it's all gone wrong.

Lundegaard

Cheers lads!

The explanations and the fact that i'm not alone in my 'take-off fear' may make my flights a little more tolerable....

I just hope the engines don't fall off the wings just as the plane leaves the ground!

I think my biggest fear actually is engine failure. I never think "ohh no, whats if the pilot sticks this thing into the sea" or something...I have faith in pilots and the engineers. But sometimes those pesky engines just go BANG - right after take-off - and then much fear and death follows..

God, I'm so negative!

View Profile

Aircraft are built to takeoff even with an engine failure.(Expect single engined a/c )

There's a very good video on You Tube of a Thompson Fly 757 that ingested a bird on takeoff. Engine starts to chug and is shut down. The aeroplane continues to climb successfully and after some time circling to burn off fuel it lands successfully.
Video is excellent because it has the ATC converation between flightcrew and tower.
Worth a look!

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Here is a linky:

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=EReN9K9qWvQ

pclancy

I must admit to being my most worried when taking off also, and im a complete plane nerd! For me its the fac the plane is fully fuelled and its at its heaviest of the flight, there's a big difference in something going wrong at 100ft compared to 30,000ft!

But the thing to remember is that everything has redundancy and if one engine was to fail, the other has more then enough capacity to safely fly the plane, even on to its destination if desired! Pilots practice engine failures and takeoff situations regularly and are tested on their ability to respond so its second nature to them when they have to handle something like the Thompson Fly incident. They could go years without experiencing a single Engine failure or problem on takeoff.

Remember too that what you're sitting in has been checked many times that day by pilots and engineers and has been scrutinised for even the tiniest of faults before being filled with passengers. The odds of the engines "just falling off" are about the same as me waking up in bed beside Britney Spears in the morning, pretty dam poor!

Wexcan have you any stories of takeoff or inflight problems to share?

Steyr

OP your not about to start flying Tiffies are you??

OPENROAD

Funny, I'm fine taking off from Dublin, but taking off from Heathrow I'm always slightly nervous, I always see if I can try and spot the type of plane taking off in front of us, if it is a similar to the a320 I'm not too bad but if it is a 747, I do get slightly nervous because I feel a greater risk of Wake turbulence exists.

WexCan

pclancy wrote: »

Wexcan have you any stories of takeoff or inflight problems to share?

Very little to be honest, and you'll find most crew are the same. Personally, I've had two low fuel diversions and two rejected takeoffs. Rejected takeoffs can be a bit unnerving because it can be like hitting a brick wall when the brakes kick in. At my company, whenever we have an RTO we set ourselves on full alert, start running through evacuation commands and actions in our heads etc until the flight deck stand us down. One RTO was because of a runway incursion, the other a problem with instruments.

I've also had countless go-arounds, which can be scary for passengers but 99% of the time everything's fine and it's just because the guy taking off in front was taking his time.

Had a few fire signals going off, nothing serious though, two were smokers, the rest people using aerosols in the lavs.

My comany has had only one "major" (depending on how you look at it) incident recently, a slow-to-rapid decompression that resulted in the masks dropping and an emergency descent being made. Everyone was fine, no injuries except one woman who fell over getting off the aircraft.

(Which just goes to show, flying is very safe. It's getting to/from the plane that's the bad bit.)

Safe flying everyone - enjoy!

ThOnda

I have to admit that I also can't wait to get airborne. Maybe I just think that the acceleration isn't so big as I feel or as I would like to expect. However being in the air is wonderful.
And landing? The noise of breaks is not nice, but it is nice to hear that :-)

Bob the Builder

Could the instinct of sound have any implications? When trying to be airborne, a plane makes a lot of noise, and often people feel a "force" holding them back in their chair(ie. gravity)

When landing, people's necks are in a more relaxed position which is a pressure point on the body. Also, the sound is a lot less in many cases.

just a suggestion rather than a thought

Lundegaard

Oh well............I just heard about that "incident" at heathrow......and i'm flying there at midnight tonight and with BA too....:(

Oh lord, save me!

WexCan

BA's a good airline and you won't be on a 777 anyways. Nothing to worry about.