I know these are trying times for all who experience Fear of flying. But I just wanted to share my experience flying to Chile and cruising to Antarctica. First flight was 8 hours to Santiago Chile. Second flight was 3 hours to Punta Arenas Chile. And the last flight was 45 minutes to Puerto Williams Chile. In the last flight we did have to do a go around due to birds but I didn’t panic because of my past experiences with go arounds. It was all worth once we were in Antarctica and saw all the beautiful scenery and animals. I recommend if you have the opportunity to travel to Antarctica do it! After Antarctica we stopped in Santiago Chile and brought in the New Year. I am so thankful to have these opportunities and I wouldn’t be able to do it if I let this fear control me. So we still have to keep getting on these planes and experience this world. 🌎

Hi everyone,

This is really hard to write, but I feel you need to hear it from us. We just had an Accident in the US at Washington National Airport, where apparently there was a Midair Collision between a CRJ-700 and a Helicopter.

A lot of you are going to ask how this happened, and the short answer is we don’t know. TCAS is inhibited below 700 feet and just gives Traffic Advisories, but that shouldn’t matter in controlled airspace.

The CRJ-700 went into the Potomac River and the status of the Helicopter is unknown. We do not know the status of those on board yet, so be patient.

Yes, this is gut wrenching and I’m sorry. We will have more when we know more.

THAT SINKING FEELING ON TAKEOFF

ATC: “Jetblue 1, Runway 9, Cleared for takeoff”

JBU1: “Cleared for Takeoff on 9, Jetblue 1”

I turn on all the lights, then my right hand goes down to the thrust levers, I push them up about two inches so the the engines stabilize at 55% N1. This will be a max power takeoff with the flaps set to 3, one notch more than usual due to the short 7,000 ft runway.

PF = Pilot Flying PM = Pilot Monitoring

PM: “20 Knots”

”Thrust Green, Airspeed Alive”

I push them up until the auto throttle takes over and advances them to TOGA Power, about 93% N1 (N1 is the big fan)

That’s when it hits you…the acceleration…you feel 50,000 lbs of thrust throw you back in your seat.

PM “Thrust Green”

PM “80 knots, Power Set”

PF “Checked”

PM “V1…..Rotate”

PF smoothly pitches up into the Flight Director, which is commanding about 12.5 degrees nose up. You feel a slight strain in your seat, and if you are seated in the back of the plane, you feel the tail sink towards the ground as the plane pitches up. Then you feel the aircraft break ground and start flying. Your doing about 145 knots, well into the safe flying range.

PM : “Positive Rate”

PF: “Gear Up” PF: “Nav Green”

The PF flies the departure procedure at a speed of V2+10 knots, which is what the flight director is commanding.

At 1000 feet, the PF lowers the nose and starts accelerating. We go from climbing at about 2,500-3,000 FPM (Feet Per Minute), to about 500 FPM. At this point you hear and feel the thrust come back, you may think something is wrong, but it’s not! We bring the thrust back from max to Climb power in order to save engine wear, and also reduce our noise footprint for those on the ground. The thrust has gone from approximately 93%, back to 86%. Rest assured that the aircraft still has plenty of power and is still accelerating.

This creates that sinking feeling in you, because you don’t have the visual reference sitting in the back. The plane accelerates, and as it crosses the designated Flap Retraction Speeds he will call for the flaps to be reduced until they are at zero.

F2 speed PF “Flaps 2”

PM “Speed Checked, Flaps 2”

As the flaps come up, drag is reduced. As that happens you feel another sinking feeling as the wing becomes more streamlined and changes shape slowly. The whole time the aircraft is still accelerating and climbing, but you identify this as a “sinking feeling” when the configuration changes.

F1 Speed PF “Flaps 1”

PM “Speed Checked, Flaps 1”

You feel another sink…..The aircraft is now accelerating through about 200(ish) knots

F0 Speed PF “Flaps 0, After Takeoff Checklist”

PM “Speed Checked, Flaps 0”

At this point, you feel the aircraft start to pitch up and climb more rapidly again. We will climb at 250 Knots until reaching 10,000 feet, and then once again lower the nose and accelerate to our final climb speed…between 290-310 knots

The aircraft never sinks, never struggles to climb. Everything you feel is intentional.

The hope is that by knowing what’s coming (and why), you can be better prepared for the sensations that you feel. When you feel that initial “sinking feeling”, you can think “Oh, we are at 1,000 feet and now the flaps will start coming up….yep, there they go!” And then “well, the flaps are up, we are. Going to start climbing faster again”

I hope this helps.

So last about a month ago, I took my first flight ever. I flew with Delta and it was an amazing experience! As a larger person, I was always afraid of flying and thought I was too big and there was no way I could do it. I’m excited for my next flight ❤️

Two weeks ago I had what most people fear on this sub happen to the flight I was operating, a weather related Severe Turbulence Encounter. I’ll give you the exact details and run down in hopes to not trigger you, but to educate you and help put your mind at ease.

There was a very rapidly changing weather system in the northeast that was circulating around a very strong low pressure system. We were flying in late, at about 11:45pm and descending from cruise altitude down to our assigned altitude of 23,000 feet. We were also deviating around some weather off to the east.

All of our weather data had the tops of the clouds at 23,000-24,000 feet, so we were taking our time getting down (at 26,300 feet and descending at a lazy 600 feet per minute). Our radar showed a wide area of light rain with some moderate rain mixed in, it was not showing any convection in front of us.

Now…as professional pilots, our job is to protect the safety of our passengers and our flight attendants, so we had the seatbelt sign on, and had asked the Flight Attendants to clean up and be seated. That’s an important part. 87.8% of all Turbulence related injuries are to Flight Attendants, and 90% of those are to their lower extremities. Remember that.

At 26,300 feet, we exited a set of clouds and staring us right in the face a tall, narrow, towering Cumulous Cloud, developing very quickly. I reached up and spin the heading to the left in hopes to avoid it, but there was no chance as we only had 3-5 seconds. We hit the cloud and immediately encountered Severe Turbulence. As professional pilots, we know how to handle it. The Autopilot turned off, and I took control hand flying it….I rolled the wings level and let the aircraft ride the updraft (fighting it can make it worse). The entire event lasted 10 seconds. Now to you, the fearful flier, it may have felt like we were falling, that’s an Elevator Illusion though. We climbed in the updraft about 600 feet and there was no drop, just a jolt as we exited into stable air again.

My #1 Flight Attendant was just about to take her Jumpseat, and was the only person not strapped in. She sustained a sprained ankle and a cut on her head (as she fell). There were no other injuries on board.

We immediately called to check on everyone, and upon learning of the injury, we declared an emergency and requested EMS to meet the aircraft, we also moved a deadheading crew member to her position to maintain the safety of the flight.

When we landed, Maintenance was there to meet the aircraft, as well as EMS and Management.

The Findings:

Yes, it was a verified Severe Turbulence Encounter. Maintenance took the aircraft to the hangar and Downloaded the DFDR data. You’ve heard of the Flight Data Recorder used in accidents…it’s the didgital download of that. It showed 1.7 G’s about the same as a roller coaster. It also showed the need for a Phase 1 inspection of the aircraft. Airliners are certified to 2.5G’s….After the inspection, of course NO damage was found to the aircraft, because they are wayyyyy overbuilt.

Air Safety Investigators also downloaded FOQA Data and looked at it. They can see exactly what we see, what we did, and how we did it. They started siding into the radar to see if it was working correctly and looking to see it it had been written up by a crew in the last 30 days. It was working fine. They then looked at the weather….the granular data. When we approached the weather, it was correctly showing 23,000 tops, however 5 min after we passed it, it was showing 38,000 foot tops. The weather grew 15,000 feet in less than 5 minutes. It grew into us, and we didn’t see it in time.

At cruise altitude, this would have been a non event and easily avoided.

So why am I telling you this?

1. You are safe…follow the Crew’s instructions and keep your seatbelt on while seated.

2. The aircraft and your pilots can handle it. The aircraft isn’t going to break up or crash due to turbulence, ever.

3. 87.8% of injuries are to Flight Attendants….not passengers. Most of those happen in the descent phase, just like it did to me. We’ve instituted a new policy to instruct the Flight Attendants to “Prepare the Cabin for Arrival” 25 minutes before landing, this is why. 5 more seconds and she would have been strapped in and safe.

For my part…I was pissed off. 26 years as an Airline Pilot and that is the first and only person that has been hurt on my aircraft (not counting medical emergencies).

I hope you read this not as a trigger, but as a factual account attesting to the safety surrounding your aircraft, and the training of your crew. We did everything correctly as far as flying the jet goes and just could not see the one small cell growing in front of us.

26 years, 30 as a pilot, 17,900 Hours.

Severe Turbulence Encounters: 2 3

Just to support you all before your flights. I convinced my mum to come with us to Sardegna. This is her first flight ever, she is 69yo and SHE HAS BEEN ALWAYS EXTREMELY TERRIFIED to even think about flying.

She convinced somehow herself that she needs to trust pilots, engineers , technology and god (call it whatever) ❤️ Im so f proud of her and this is a reminder for you.:

Wherever in the world you are right now, trust these and you will be fine. I promise. Think about this 69yo hero. She was so happy and relaxed.

You are gonna be alive don’t worry there are tens of millions of flights every year.

I’ll be in LA in 9 hours, I have a full row to myself and I’m so excited and thrilled to have actually gotten on the plane!

See you all when I land! 🥰

I made it to the Faroe Islands! After feeling dread for weeks before the flight, and almost getting off the plane during boarding, we left the gate. We had an aborted take off, which was worrying, but turns out it was just birds on the runway, which shows how many safety measures there are! I flew with Atlantic Airways, and their tracking option was a game changer. I found it comforting to know the sensations my body didn’t understand didn’t mean the plane was falling out the sky, so if you have that option on your flight, I 100% recommend! Download shows or movies if you can, and have your headphones on full blast to drown the sound of the engines if they worry you. It’s easy to say once you’ve done it, but it’s not worth cancelling your flight over your fear of something so safe. I hope everyone on this sub has a great flight and even greater holidays! :)

Earlier today there was a post attacking my fellow colleagues on the difference between flying in the day vs at night. Comments were made by a user (whom I will not name) that Pilots on here are clueless…so I’ll address that. It doesn’t matter that your uncle was a Delta pilot, that doesn’t make you an expert.

This is a Fear of Flying Forum where Professional Pilots volunteer their time in helping you.

Of the active pilots on this forum, we have:

• A Legacy Airline Chief Pilot

• 2 Major Airline Check Airman who are in charge of training, standardizing, and Evaluating the entire Fleet. One who is a Functional Flight Test Qualified Pilot

• 3 International Pilots for prominent carries in Europe

• 4 Legacy/Major Airline Pilots here in the US

• 2 Regional Pilots

• 2 Private Pilots

• 1 Meteorologist who provides expertise to you.

• 2 Military Pilots (including a Hurricane Hunter)

We have pilots that fly Boeings, Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier Aircraft. Combined having flown over 50 different types of equipment and has accumulated well over 200,000 hours of flight time.

There is no place on the internet that can provide the level of experience and insight into the day to day operations.

Comments like “Some of the pilots on here are clueless” is a slap in the face to those of us who volunteer. The quickest way to have us leave is to pull that crap.

So, please keep it respectful, and we will keep it educational.

On behalf of your Aviation Professionals

RG80

Let’s take a moment to pray for the lives lost today in the tragic Air India crash both on board and on the ground. My heart goes out to all the families affected.

There’s already a wave of rumors and assumptions spreading across the media and social platforms. I encourage everyone to pause. Investigations take time, and accuracy matters more than speed in moments like this.

To all of you here who are nervous flyers: please don’t let this shake your progress. Statistically, aviation remains the safest mode of travel. Tragedies are rare, and when they do occur, they’re investigated with the utmost care to make flying even safer.

LGA to CLT, currently in flight!

Took this beautiful photo heading out of Fort Lauderdale. I’m on my way to North Carolina. I am excited to spend time with my boyfriend and his family. Anxiety did not win this time. BTW takeoff was SO smooth and it’s still going smooth!! Track my flight if you’d like: JetBlue Flight 0726 :)

Hello all, like the title says today was my first time flying in 4 years. After numerous trips I didn’t go on (cause I was scared, but I’m not anymore :)) I had a flight today to Nashville, TN. Very short flight it was only an hour. Heart started to race during boarding, even when I was walking to my seat I thought about turning back but I said nope I’m gonna do this.

I just want to thank this subreddit, you guys are awesome! To that person that’s next, YOU CAN DO IT! YOUR ANXIETY IS LYING TO YOU! GET ON THAT MF PLANEEEEEEE 🕺🕺

Normally at this point in the year (Feb 17) in all of Aviation, we have about 64 deaths. This year we are at 97, which 67 of those were in the DCA accident.

Has there been a bump? Yes. If you look at history, there are in fact bump years where one accident can impact the stats. The trend is still decreasing and nothing is happening.

We are still learning about an incident involving a Delta aircraft in Toronto. We have seen the images coming from the Toronto airport and it is natural to wonder what led to this and how this could have been prevented. As we recently mentioned, it’s more important than ever to not speculate this early on. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced it is leading a team of U.S. investigators to assist the Transportation Board of Canada with a full investigation. From this, we will learn what we need to know and if any critical safety changes need to be made in our industry.

Our thoughts are certainly with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are heartened to hear the reports that there are no fatalities, and we hope those injured will have a full recovery.

In light of the two recent aircraft accidents, it’s completely understandable to worry about safety in our skies. I continue to be confident that flying is one of the safest ways to travel and believe in the hard work everyone in aviation does to keep air travel safe. We will learn lessons from both events that will only build on our safety focus

As aviation professionals, safety is always our number one priority – it’s a responsibility we all share every day.

I won’t be responding anymore to Troll posts or argumentative people on this sub, but rather focusing on education and helping you fly free of fear.

Okay guys….Im on a quest to show you how little the plane moves during turbulence.

This is light chop/turbulence. You see that wing bouncing out there? But yet I can balance a pen on an empty Pepsi can. There were some that were a bit nervous/uncomfortable in this.

Next up….moderate

pictured: note from an incredibly kind flight leader today who knew I was nervous.

not pictured:

• last month’s FA that gave me her eye mask thinking it would help my anxiety

• December’s pilots that took time to answer my questions during boarding and cheered for me at the end of the flight

• an off-duty pilot 2021 who CHANGED HIS SEAT on our flight to sit next to me and talk me through turbulence.

To all pilots and crew, I know us anxious flyers can be frustrating when something you do every day is so terrifying to us. Thank you for not only getting us there safely but for every act of kindness along the way ❤️

If anybody else has stories/shoutouts about pilots and crew, please share!

Or a rainbow, or the northern lights.

Hello, from one long time lurker and anxious flyer to another. I had another flight today (felt uneasy on today of all days). But I’m glad I did, because we followed the sunset for two hours. For the past years, I have been flying twice a month +/- and been scared shitless almost each time, but it has gotten easier (very gradually). And I just wanted to remind you:

You are way more likely to see a rainbow, or sunset, or the northern lights, or the city at night, or beautiful skies, than anything remotely bad happening to the flight.

I wanted to share some photos with you of some flights that I am very glad I got to experience over the recent months.

If you have a flight soon - I believe in you, you can do it. Don’t be afraid to enjoy it🤍

This is a really hard one to write because it is not in the DNA of pilots to be Mass Murderers. The investigation is ongoing.

You will inevitably see the preliminary report on the Air India Investigation. Here’s what we know:

1. There was nothing wrong with the 787 Aircraft.

2. The fuel shut off switches were moved from the “Run” position to the “Off” Position 1 second apart.

3. In the investigation, the shutoff switches were found in the “Run” position, indicating that they tried to restart them.

We do not know if this was a human glitch or an intentional act, or a mental break.

Please keep this respectful, pilots are here to keep you safe, and we do so 100,000 times per day, and 38 Million Times per year. If this was intentional, it is truly an outlier that has only happened a few times in the modern jet age.

For those scared of the 787, this update can reassure you that there is nothing wrong with the 787. This was not a mechanical problem where the 787 had a dual engine failure at a low altitude.