Advice for nervous flyers

phobia of flying
Travel topics > Transportation > Flying > Advice for nervous flyers

Travelling by plane can be a scary

experience for people of all ages and
backgrounds, particularly if they've not
flown before or have experienced loss of
cabin pressure or another traumatic event.
It is not something to be ashamed of: it is
no different from the personal fears and
dislikes of other things that very many
people have. For some, understanding
something about how aircraft work and
what happens during a flight may help to
overcome a fear which is based on the
unknown or on not being in control. This
article will seek to help you do that and
help you to prepare for a trip by air.

It should be stated initially and clearly that

accidents involving aircraft are extremely
rare. It is this fact that makes the media
coverage of such incidents so prevalent.
Despite what you may think, air travel is
the safest form of transportation available
to the traveller besides high-speed rail: you
are far more likely to be involved in an
accident on your way to the airport than
you are whilst in the air.

Airlines and pilots take safety very

seriously - and even if they were minded to
cut corners, they are tightly regulated by
government agencies to ensure standards.
Any pilot will not begin a flight if there is
any doubt about the fitness of the aircraft
or the weather - as the pilots' saying goes,
"takeoff is optional, but landing is
compulsory!"

Understand
 See also: Flight and health

A simple diagram showing air passing over an

aircraft's wing and the resultant lift.

A diagram on the basic parts of an aircraft and their

function.

I can fly. I am not afraid. – The Charter

Trip (1980), a classic in Swedish cinema
A rudimentary understanding of what
causes your plane to fly can assist in
allaying anxiety. A plane's wing is shaped
to direct more air underneath it than above
it, creating an area of low air pressure
above the wing; this creates lift, causing
an upward force on the wings. When the
force of the lift exactly balances the
weight of the aircraft, the plane will fly
level; if the lift exceeds the weight, it will
climb; and if weight exceeds lift, it will
descend. Lift is proportional to airspeed:
the faster a plane travels at a given
altitude, the more lift its wings generate.
So to make an aircraft climb the pilot
increases the engine power; to make it
descend, engine power is reduced. The
shape of the wing can be altered using
flaps (on the rear of the wing) and slats (on
the front of the wing), allowing the aircraft
to generate more lift at slower speeds,
such as at takeoff and landing. These
basic principles of physics are what
underpin every flight. Unless there is a
catastrophic failure of an aircraft's
structure (which is extremely rare indeed),
a plane cannot 'just fall out of the sky' any
more than water can flow uphill.

Most aircraft, including all airliners (but not

helicopters and some military jets), are
also inherently stable. The forces acting
on them - lift, weight, thrust and drag - tend
to balance each other out, meaning the
plane will fly straight and level unless the
pilot does something to alter that. For
instance, if the pilot increases power, the
aircraft will climb; but eventually the speed
will reduce, meaning lift will reduce,
meaning the plane will level off. Even if the
pilot let go of the controls altogether, the
plane would eventually reach this straight-
and-level equilibrium. There are limits
beyond which the plane won't correct itself
automatically, for instance, if it flies too
slowly or climbs too steeply it will stall
(meaning the wing no longer generates
lift). A stall is perfectly recoverable, and
are only deliberately created in testing new
aircraft and training new pilots (so they
can recognise the symptoms and learn
how to react). All modern airliners have
automatic systems which either alert the
pilots to these situations well in advance,
or stop them from happening altogether.

A typical flight

It might also help nervous flyers to

understand what happens before and
during a typical flight. All of these
procedures are standard and extensively
understood and practised by all pilots.
A lot of work goes into ensuring that
flights are safe well before aircraft take
off, and the aviation industry has a strong
safety culture. The routes taken by
commercial flights are typically planned by
experts who seek to ensure that the flight
is as safe and smooth as is possible.
Pilots can amend these routes before take
off and during the flight to further improve
the comfort and safety of their
passengers. The aviation industry is also
highly regulated in the interests of safety.
These regulations cover a very wide range
of areas, including aircraft maintenance
standards, requiring aircraft to carry more
fuel than is required (so they can divert to
another airport if needed) and making sure
that pilots are well rested.

Commercial flights are guided throughout

the journey by air traffic controllers on the
ground, who ensure aircraft stay on course
and remain well separated from each
other (usually by several miles). Air traffic
controllers also assist pilots with the
safest and most comfortable journey from
the moment the plane begins taxiing on
the runway to the point when it arrives at
the gate at which point passengers
disembark.
A commercial aircraft has at least two
people on the flight deck: the captain and
the first officer. There may also be a
second officer, and longer flights will have
an additional captain and first officer to
allow the first team time to rest. Like the
captain of a ship, an airline captain has
ultimate responsibility for the safety of the
aircraft and everyone on board. The
captain and first officer both "fly" the plane;
to clarify responsibilities, one has the role
of pilot flying and the other the role of pilot
monitoring. The aircraft will have a number
of flight attendants, at a minimum one for
every 50 seats, who are responsible for
safety in the cabin. The chief flight
attendant is commonly known as the
purser.

The following is based on a typical twin-

engined jet aircraft, such as the Boeing
737 or the Airbus A320 family (the two
most popular commercial aircraft models
in service). There may be variations to this
typical flight on other aircraft models, but
the general sequence of events is the
same.

Pre-flight
Flight attendants conducting a pre-flight safety
demonstration

As passengers are boarding the aircraft,

the pilots are on the flight deck making
last-minute checks on the weather,
departure procedures, and making sure
the aircraft has enough fuel and isn't
overweight. Once the doors are closed,
you may hear a small jet engine powering
up in the tail of the aircraft. This is the
auxiliary power unit (APU), which provides
power to the aircraft so the ground supply
can be disconnected; it also supplies the
compressed air needed to start the main
engines. A tug will push the aircraft
backwards out of the gate. When the
aircraft is clear of the gate and the tug
disconnected, the pilot will be given
permission to start the main engines.

During pushback, a demonstration will

take place to inform passengers of the
safety features of the aircraft and their
use. This may be given either by the flight
attendants or through screening a video. A
basic safety demonstration includes the
use of the seatbelts, safely stowing
luggage, use of the emergency oxygen
masks, location and use of life jackets,
emergency exit locations, a reminder that
the flight is non-smoking, to put electronic
devices in flight mode and turn them off
for takeoff, and that further safety
information can be found on the card in
your seat pocket (or printed on the seats)
or by asking a flight attendant. If you
happen to be sitting in an exit row, you will
also receive instructions from the flight
attendants on how to operate the exit in
case of an emergency evacuation.

Taxi
Before an aircraft can take off, it has to
taxi (i.e. move on the ground under its own
power) from the airport terminal to the
runway. Aircraft always take off into a
headwind, as this increases airspeed and
so reduces the length of the take-off run,
so the plane will taxi to the downwind end
of the runway. At some small airports this
may only take moments, but at larger
ones, it can take several minutes. At one
extreme, the far end of one runway at
Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam is 9 km
(5.6 mi) from the terminal and takes 15 to
20 minutes to taxi to and from. Aircraft
move slowly on the ground with taxi
speeds ranging from 10–40 km/h (6–
25 mph).

During taxi, the pilots will deploy flaps and

slats on the aircraft wings; the motors
moving the flaps and slats make a distinct
whining sound. In freezing temperatures,
aircraft will need to be "de-iced" before
reaching the runway. The plane will be
sprayed with an anti-freeze solution to
remove built-up snow and ice, as these
can disrupt the airflow over the wings and
reduce lift. Once in the air, the engines will
provide hot air to prevent ice and snow
from re-forming on the wings.
Take-off

A Boeing 747 taking off

When cleared for take-off, the pilot will taxi

the aircraft into position at the start of the
runway. It's normal for the pilot to increase
engine power to ensure all engines are
producing the same amount of power.
Finally, the pilot will apply full take-off
power; this usually means a rapid
acceleration and increase in engine noise.
When the aircraft has reached the correct
speed (i.e., when it's travelling fast enough
to generate the lift it needs to fly), the pilot
will raise the nose and the plane will lift off
from the runway. The speed required for
take-off depends on the size and weight of
the plane and weather conditions at the
airport, but these factors are worked out
precisely in advance. There is always
enough runway left to complete the
takeoff.

As the aircraft travels down the runway,

you may hear and feel bumps as the
aircraft's undercarriage crosses the
runway lights or uneven parts of the
runway. Such noises are to be expected
and are not a cause for alarm. Equally,
when the aircraft lifts off there is often a
noticeable bump. This is a normal event
caused by the hydraulics in the landing
gear reaching their maximum extension as
the plane leaves the ground.

On rare occasions, the pilots may decide

to reject (abort) a takeoff, usually due to a
fault with one of the aircraft's systems.
The maximum speed to safely reject a
takeoff, known as "V1", is precisely
calculated before every flight. After an
aircraft has passed V1, the pilot must take
off or risk running off the end of the
runway. If the fault is minor, the pilots may
decide to continue the takeoff and come
back around to land, since stopping at
such high speeds within the remaining
runway is very hard on the undercarriage
and often results in overheating brakes
and blown tires.

Climb

Once airborne and climbing, the pilot will

raise the landing gear, which makes a
bumping sound. Since full power is only
needed for takeoff, the pilot will reduce
power to the aircraft's engines and as a
result, the noise in the cabin may
decrease. The flaps and slats on the wings
will also be retracted. It is also normal for
planes to climb steeply and to turn,
sometimes sharply, shortly after takeoff.
These are standard procedures to turn the
plane onto its course as soon as possible
and to minimize noise for people living
near the airport.

Depending on the length of the flight, it

may then take 15-20 minutes for the plane
to climb to its cruising altitude. The pilot
will typically allow the flight attendants to
leave their seats once the plane has
cleared 10,000 feet (3000 meters) but it is
common for the seat-belt light to remain lit
for passengers until the plane reaches its
cruise altitude. While the climb is often
very smooth, occasional jolts (perhaps as
the plane climbs through clouds) can still
be expected.

Cruise

Typical view during a flight, just sit back and relax

As it cruises, the plane rides upon an

invisible cushion of air that has been
pushed down by the shape of the wing.
When there are bumps in this 'cushion'
caused by gusts of wind, the plane may
jolt slightly as it follows the shape of the
air - this is turbulence. Turbulence may
occur in both cloudy and clear skies and is
completely normal; aircraft are designed to
deal with these bumps and other than
fastening your seat belt, there is no action
that needs to be taken. Significant
turbulence ahead can be detected on the
plane's radar, and if it is the pilot will
switch the seat belt sign back on. This
may mean a very bumpy ride for a few
minutes but there is no cause for alarm. If
there is really severe turbulence ahead (for
instance in thunder clouds) the pilot will
normally divert around it. Some turbulence
may cause the plane's wings to bend or
flex a little: this is a deliberate design
feature which actually allows the aircraft
to withstand turbulence more effectively,
just as a tree bends in the wind.

During cruise, the autopilot uses

programmed instructions to fly the plane.
The (human) pilots monitor the autopilot
and make corrections to it as required.

Descent and approach

As the plane approaches its destination, it

will begin to descend. The pilot will reduce
engine power, sometimes so that the
engines are only idling and barely making
any noise. The steepness of this descent
varies depending upon the airport and the
aircraft. The pilot will typically switch the
seat belt sign on as the aircraft begins to
descend, although flight attendants won't
typically be seated until the aircraft has
descended through 10,000 feet (3000
meters). During the descent, the spoilers
on top of the wings may open slightly; the
spoilers decrease lift and act as brakes to
prevent the aircraft from going too fast.

Aircraft always land into the wind, which

helps slow the plane down. So depending
on the direction from which you approach
the airport, the plane may have to make a
series of turns to line up with the runway.
These are usually carried out at slow
speed and can feel quite sharp as a result.

As the plane begins its initial approach into

the airport, the pilots will deploy the flaps
and slats on the wings; the flap motors
make a distinctive whining sound. The
flaps will be deployed in several stages
and to a greater extent than at take-off.
The pilots will also lower the landing gear;
this makes a low thudding noise.

The approach to land can feel unstable.

This is because the air near the ground is
often more turbulent than it is at altitude. If
there is a crosswind, the pilot may also
have to bank and turn the aircraft slightly
to keep it on course.

In some cases the aircraft will have to land

in low cloud or fog, and you may not see
the ground until you have almost landed.
Most airports have instrument approach
systems to help guide aircraft towards the
airport and the runway; landings at major
international airports with modern airliners
can be safely conducted with as little as
50 m (150 ft) of visibility. But again, there
are strict rules that pilots must (and do)
stick to when landing in bad weather. If the
weather is too bad, the pilot may decide to
'hold' (fly in circles) and wait for an
improvement, or divert to another airport
where the weather is better. All aircraft
must carry at least enough fuel to fly to
their destination, hold for up to 30 minutes
and then divert to another suitable airport.

Landing

Landing. The smoke is from the tyres skidding as they

come into contact with the runway.
Just before the aircraft 'touches down' on
the runway, the pilot flying will idle the
engines and flare the aircraft by raising the
nose, allowing the main landing gear to
touch down first and take the weight of the
aircraft before the nose landing gear
touches down. The touchdown may be
accompanied by a jolt and an audible
'thud' as plane's landing gear touches the
ground. If the runway is wet, the pilot often
lands deliberately firmly to minimize the
risk of skidding. Spoilers on the wings will
open to stop the aircraft generating lift and
keep it firmly on the runway. To help slow
the aircraft down, the pilot will engage
reverse thrust: the direction of the engine's
output is changed and the engines will
power up again, slowing the plane down
rather than pushing it forward. At some
airports, the aircraft may slow down very
sharply. This is simply to ensure it can turn
off the runway at the right point, and/or
means that there is another aircraft on the
approach which needs to land.

In some rare cases, you may experience a

go-around: when the aircraft takes off
again just before landing. This occurs
when the pilots decide to reject landing
because of poor visibility, the aircraft is not
in line with the runway or gets blown off
course, or a runway obstruction. As a
result, you will hear the engines power up
once more and feel the engines' thrust to
perhaps a greater degree than you did at
take-off. The pilot will partially retract the
flaps and raise the landing gear to help the
aircraft climb. Once at a higher altitude
and depending on the circumstances, the
aircraft will either be turned around and
the landing will be attempted again, or it
will be diverted to another airport. Should
this happen to you, you should not be
alarmed - it is a common procedure and
well-practised by pilots.

What if?
Every year, millions of flights take place
without incident. The few serious aircraft
accidents that do occur receive a large
amount of media attention because they
are so rare, along with media outlets' bias
towards stories about death and disaster
("if it bleeds, it leads"). All serious
accidents are thoroughly investigated by
independent government bodies, such as
the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) in the United States, to identify the
cause and to prevent similar accidents
occurring in the future.
Pilots are trained to handle all kinds of problems that
may arise

Commercial aircraft are designed and

tested to operate in conditions far more
severe than those encountered on nearly
any actual flight. For example, one test
involves filling an aircraft with volunteers
and testing whether the entire aircraft can
be evacuated within 90 seconds with half
the exits blocked and only emergency
lighting. Aircraft are also maintained to
strict and regular schedules. If any
essential equipment on an aircraft has
even minor problems, the plane is not
allowed to take off until it is fixed.
However, with all the precautions there is
always a chance something may go wrong
with the aircraft you are aboard. You
should, however, be assured that pilots are
trained (and refreshed regularly) on how to
respond to common onboard
emergencies, and quick reference guides
in the cockpit are used to assist in
responding to rarer issues. Every
commercial aircraft is built with multiple
redundancies and 'fail-safes', so in the
case of one system failing, the aircraft can
continue flying safely on the remaining
systems. Even in the very rare case that all
engines fail and can't be restarted, the
pilots can glide the aircraft to a suitable
landing place. The 1983 "Gimli Glider" (Air
Canada flight 143; ran out of fuel due to
metric/imperial conversion error) and the
2009 "Miracle on the Hudson" (US Airways
flight 1549; engines flamed-out after
ingesting a flock of geese) are both
testaments that it is possible to do without
fatalities or serious injuries.

If any foreseeable conditions arise that

might endanger flights, chances are,
flights are not even allowed to start or
strict rules are put in place to avoid such
an occurrence. A particular example of
this was the 2010 eruption of the
Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland; volcanic
ash has been known in the past to clog jet
engines but never once caused any actual
crash, even still all flights across Europe
were grounded as a precaution. Likewise,
when the Samsung Galaxy Note 7
smartphone was recalled in October 2016
after faulty batteries caused them to
randomly explode, airlines and regulators
were quick to ban the phone in any
condition aboard aircraft.
Even with all the fail-safes and extensive
flight training, pilot error is still the number
one cause of aircraft accidents worldwide.
To reduce the chance of errors, pilots use
checklists to ensure they have done
essential tasks, as well as using quick
reference guides to handle onboard issues
and emergencies. Pilots and air traffic
controllers must have a good knowledge
of the English language, and use standard
vocabulary to communicate with each
other to ensure there are no
misunderstandings. A heavy emphasis in
pilot training today is put on cockpit
resource management (CRM), that is, the
soft skills such as communication,
decision-making, problem-solving and
task-sharing needed to fly a commercial
airliner and to effectively handle onboard
emergencies. The introduction of CRM in
the late 1970s to early 1980s was a large
contributing factor in driving down the
number of fatal airliner accidents, and
variants of CRM have since been adopted
for other modes of transport, firefighting
and emergency healthcare.

There are extensive measures in place to

prevent deliberate acts of sabotage on-
board aircraft, such as hijackings and
bombings. Metal detectors, X-ray
machines and explosive detection dogs
are all used to make sure that nothing
dangerous can be taken aboard an
aircraft. Governments and airlines also
have no-fly lists to make sure that
dangerous or potentially dangerous
passengers cannot buy airline tickets and
board an aircraft. Airport and airline staff
also take aviation security seriously; all
airport police carry firearms (even in
countries where regular beat police
officers are unarmed) and are not afraid to
tackle a person to the ground and drag
them away in handcuffs for something as
simple as making a joke. Israeli aviation
security is particularly thorough and
enjoys a reputation for ruthless efficiency
even though some question the means by
which it is achieved. As a testament to
this, Ben Gurion Airport is considered one
of the safest in the world and flag carrier
El Al has not had a successful hijacking
since 1968 despite probably more
attempts than at any other airline. Unlike
most aviation security, the Israeli doctrine
places great emphasis on finding the
person who has bad intentions rather than
the bomb itself. This still makes the line of
questioning uncomfortable and somewhat
intrusive, but it should assuage your
concerns about safety and security.
Statistics

The number of aircraft accidents has been on a

sustained downward trend for over 20 years.

Commercial air travel is regarded as one

of the safest forms of transport in the
world. Every year, 3.8 billion passengers
and 55 million tonnes of cargo travel by air
around the world and arrive safely at their
destinations.
In the ten years from 2008 to 2017, there
were 1,410 hull loss accidents (i.e. an
accident where the aircraft was damaged
beyond economic repair) worldwide
involving fixed-wing aircraft with six or
more seats, yet from those accidents, only
8,530 people died. For comparison, an
estimated 1.25 million people worldwide
die from road accidents every year. Apart
from one or two outlier years, both the
number of airline accidents and deaths
have been on a sustained downward trend
since the mid-1990s.

In terms of flight stages, final approach

and landing is the most common time for
an accident to occur, with takeoff and
initial climb being the distant second.
However, accidents during landing and
takeoff are the most survivable – they
occur close to airports where the aircraft
are already travelling low and slow and
emergency services can respond with a
moment's notice.
 Sorry Raymond, Qantas has crashed

The 1988 film Rain Man may have drawn

attention to Qantas's fatality-free safety
record, but they forgot to mention that the
airline's record only applies to the jet era
(i.e. 1958 onwards). The airline had several
fatal crashes in its pre-jet days, the last
occurring in 1951. Hawaiian Airlines and
Finnair also have fatality-free records in
the jet era, along with around 40 younger
airlines. Of course, an airline's past
accident record is not indicative of its
future accident record.

In the developed world, there is no

statistically significant difference in
accident rates between different airlines or
between aircraft models of a similar era.
Airlines from underdeveloped countries
generally have poorer accident rates
mainly due to poorer regulatory oversight.
The European Union maintains a list of
airlines banned from its airspace, a list
which has a very low tolerance of even the
appearance of systemic safety issues and
which arguably includes a few airlines for
nothing but political reasons.

Coping
This page has been created to provide
helpful advice to those people who suffer
from a fear of flying. There are many
techniques for overcoming a fear of flying
and many airlines, pilots, and therapists
run courses for this purpose. Here is a
selection of ways in which you might
alleviate your anxieties.

Before the flight

Even before booking your ticket for a flight,

it is worth considering how you will feel
once on board. Some passengers prefer
window seats whilst others prefer one
towards the centre of the cabin. On large
planes, however, a seat in the middle of a
row could mean that you are several
metres from a window to peer out of.
Generally, the larger the aircraft that you
are flying on, the smoother the flight will
be, though factors such as storms will
make even extremely large aircraft
experience turbulence.

Some people are nervous flying on

propeller-driven aircraft, thinking they are
older or more dangerous. Most actually
have turboprop engines - essentially a jet
engine driving a propeller - and are just as
modern and no less safe than jets. They
are cheaper to operate on short journeys,
although they are slower and often noisier.
Once your ticket is booked, it is well worth
notifying your airline of your fear, both on
the day of your flight and beforehand.
Airlines work very hard to make their
passengers feel safe and comfortable, and
can do much to make you feel better.

Alcohol is a poor way to cope with your anxiety.

Aboard the plane

Once you're aboard, it can be well worth
having some form of distraction with you
to avoid flying phobia. Many airlines offer
in-flight entertainment systems, but books
and magazines can also be good to take
your mind off things. Sleep too can be a
good way to pass the time whilst flying,
although you are not advised to take any
medication that may make you drowsy or
sleepy. It is also ill-advised to counter your
fear of flying with a large helping of 'Dutch
courage': excessive alcohol or drug use
normally causes more problems than it
solves, and will often result in the aircraft
diverting to a nearby airport and you being
handed over to local law enforcement.
Additionally, alcohol contributes to
dehydration: your body already loses water
faster than usual due to factors like dry
cabin air and sweating. Resulting
dehydration causes discomfort (dry eyes
and throat is one example), so it's
recommended to drink some water every
now and then, and to be moderate with
tea, coffee, and alcohol. If your vice is
nicotine, note that smoking is banned on
nearly all commercial flights worldwide. E-
cigarettes (vaping) are also banned, but
nicotine patches or chewing gum is
generally allowed. Don't think you can get
away with it; there are ultra-sensitive
smoke detectors in the cabin and in all
lavatories. On longer flights it's important
to keep your circulation going: standing up,
walking in the aisle, perhaps doing some
simple stretching helps. However, walking
around increases chances of injury during
sudden clear air turbulence.

If you have any medical conditions,

remember to keep to your regular routine
as much as possible. Every year, hundreds
of aircraft are needlessly diverted because
a nervous passenger has forgotten to take
their medications and is now in need of
hospitalisation.
Try not to keep looking at your watch or a
clock while flying. It will make the flight
feel longer, especially on long-haul flights.

Turbulence

Turbulence is a completely normal part of

flying. It can help to think of your plane as
travelling along an invisible 'road' made of
air and that the turbulence you feel is pot-
holes in this 'road'. Turbulence can
sometimes be unexpected and may vary
from just a few minutes to throughout the
whole flight. It is highly recommended you
wear your seatbelt whenever you are
seated, even if the fasten seatbelt sign is
off, just in case of unexpected turbulence.
Injuries and deaths from turbulence are
rare, but all have resulted from
unrestrained passengers and crew being
flung around the cabin during unexpected
severe turbulence.

Though turbulence is not in any way a

threat to an airliner, turbulence feels like a
threat to anxious fliers. This is because the
amygdala, the part of the brain that
releases stress hormones, reacts
automatically to downward motion. If we
were on a ladder painting the ceiling, lost
our balance and began to fall, the
amygdala would immediately release
stress hormones to force us to shift our
focus from painting to falling. In
turbulence, stress hormones can be
released each time the plane moves
downward. As stress hormone levels rise,
they cause physical sensations, such as
rapid heart rate, breathing rate, tension,
and perspiration, that are associated with
danger. Thus, though the intellect may well
understand that turbulence is not a danger,
the emotional and physical state
contradict the intellect. If stress hormones
rise high enough, what psychological
theoretican Peter Fonagy calls psychic
equivalence takes place, causing the
person to conflate what is imagination
with what is perception. Imagination that
the plane is "falling out of the sky" can,
when stress hormones are high, become
all too real to the fearful flier. Some are
helped by conceptualizing how the plane is
being held in the air as suggested in this
video .

Noises

Like any large piece of machinery, an

aircraft makes mechanical noises along
with 'clunks' and 'thuds'. These are entirely
normal and should be seen as a positive
indicator - your plane is functioning
correctly! Other sounds that you may hear
are whining sounds, whistling sounds and
loud banging sounds.

Airbus A320 and A330 families of aircraft

are well known for producing a "barking
dog" sound, especially during engine start-
up and taxi. Again, this is completely
normal - the noise comes from the power
transfer unit (PTU), which equalises
pressure between the aircraft's two
engine-powered hydraulic systems when
one engine isn't running (aircraft engines
can only be started one at a time, and
some airlines taxi on one engine to save
fuel).
Turning

To turn an aircraft, the pilot cannot just use

the rudder as you would in a boat. S/he
also has to bank it - to raise one wing while
lowering the other, making the aircraft turn
in the direction of the lowered wing. This
should be smooth and gentle, and the
angle of bank doesn't normally exceed
about 30 degrees.

Courses
As noted above, airlines, pilots, and
psychologists offer programs for people
who suffer a fear of flying. Some are listed
below:
 Air France
Anxieties.com
Flying with Confidence - British
Airways
Fearless Flyers - QANTAS
FearofFlying.com - SOAR, Inc. .
VALK - KLM
Flying Without Fear - Virgin Atlantic

See also
Flight and health
Jet lag
Travel basics
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Last edited 2 days ago by RockyMa…

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